Man City boss Pep Guardiola feels ‘bad’ for not playing Kalvin Phillips more

Pep Guardiola admits he feels bad for not giving Kalvin Phillips more playing time at Manchester City.

The midfielder made a big-money move from Leeds to the Etihad in 2022 but has made only two Premier League starts for Guardiola’s side, while loan spells at West Ham and Ipswich have also proved difficult.

Phillips, who has not played for City since December 2023, is now back training with City after an Achilles injury scuppered his chances of a summer move.

Asked why it had not worked out at City for the 29-year-old, Guardiola said: “It’s a good question. Maybe because I didn’t give enough minutes.

“In that moment, Rodri was fit and looks like our father in that time, protecting the other 10 sons. Maybe the way we played, it was completely different to Leeds.

“Always I believe in that level, all the players are really, really good. It’s just the environment, how they connect with the way we play. And the players play good when they have games, games, games, and I didn’t give them.

“When that happens, I feel bad, but he’s an incredible person. Now he’s come back here. He will train with us, we’ll try to help him and maybe he can play some games and get confident.”

City have had a stuttering start to the season, with Sunday’s draw against Arsenal leaving them eight points behind leaders Liverpool after only five games.

Guardiola believes the biggest difference to their years of dominance is a change in the prevailing playing style of the majority of teams.

The Catalan cited veteran Italian coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who spent nine years with Atalanta before moving to Roma this summer, as the key influencer in a more combative era.

Guardiola spoke about his players’ fatigue after the Arsenal draw, and he said: “More than