Kalvin Phillips given new position in shock Man City call vs Barcelona

Kalvin Phillips has been handed a new position by Pep Guardiola, following two frustrating summer performances in midfield.

Manchester City are taking on Barcelona in their third friendly of their US tour, having lost to Celtic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and then to AC Milan in New York at the Yankee Stadium. Phillips played the first half of the Celtic defeat, where he was caught out of position for all of the Scottish champions' three goals before the break.

And he came off the bench for Erling Haaland in New York, in what was a better performance but still with a handful of errors. Now, he has been dropped back into defence, with Mateo Kovacic returning in midfield in his place.

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Fans had been given a clue to the new system, with coaches putting the back line through their paces in an open training session the previous day. Phillips and Gvardiol were partnering each other in defence, and were practicing pushing up into midfield in and out of possession.

Youngsters Rico Lewis and Josh Wilson-Esbrand were selected in their natural full-back positions against Barca, with Nico O'Reilly earning his third start of the tour in midfield.

James McAtee, scorer in New York, was selected at number 10 with the in-form Oscar Bobb on the right wing. Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland completed the line-up, with Ederson selected in goal and given the captain's armband.