Liverpool fan favourite Nat Phillips believes there is an opportunity ‘you’d be daft not to take’ following the return of Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, and Joe Gomez from injury.
Last season’s unlikely hero was thrust into first-team action following long-term injuries impacting the heart of the central defence. Now those players have returned to training it is anticipated Phillips will struggle for first-team football, but that has not stopped him from identifying the positives.
When asked about the return of Liverpool’s three senior defenders, the 24-year-old told Liverpoolfc.com:
“You’ve got to view it as an opportunity. They are three of the best defenders in the world – you’d be daft if you didn’t take that opportunity to try to take on new things yourself and try to learn things from their game.”
Phillips was also asked about the challenges he will now face to his playing time.
“That’s nothing new in football, you’ve always got high competition for places,” he said. “Obviously with those boys coming back and seeing them play again, it is nice to have them back in front of you and be able to try to pick things up again, like I always used to and try to learn from their games when you see them in training.”
Phillips enjoyed unexpected exposure to first-team football last season as he became an ever-present name on the team sheet. The bruising central defender said that he won’t allow his achievements last season to let him get carried away.
“I’ve always been the same in that I don’t like to overthink or buy into it too much – the positives and negatives – because you don’t want to get carried away with yourself and start getting complacent or, I don’t know, believe the hype too much,” he said.
“It’s the same with any bad games or negative aspects, you don’t want to concentrate on them too much and get yourself too down.
“You’ve just got to stay level-headed throughout, which is what I’ve always tried to do.”
RTK view – What to expect from Phillips next season
The return of van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez from injury gave Liverpool an obvious boost to a depleted centre-back unit. With the addition of Ibrahima Konate, an area of severe concern last season has instantly become a position of strength going into this one. That makes the role of Phillips all the more difficult.
It will likely be a competition between Phillips, Ben Davies and Rhys Williams as to who Jurgen Klopp keeps as the fifth-choice option. The exposure to first-team football and his reputation among Liverpool fans and management certainly give Phillips an advantage.
Unfortunately for Phillips, the amount of playing time he sees next season may prove to be a good indication of the potential success the club can achieve. Should he feature heavily, then I anticipate this will only be because other defenders are ruled out through injury. In which case, Liverpool may be facing a battle for top four rather than competing for the league and Champions League as we hope.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
