Leeds United welcomed the return of Kalvin Phillips to the starting eleven as they drew 0-0 with Arsenal on Sunday evening, and it was a huge boost to have him back in holding midfield.
Without Phillips patrolling the midfield against Aston Villa, Leicester City and Crystal Palace, we’ve struggled to settle a key area of the pitch and were picked off in the latter two games while Pascal Struijk struggled in the Villa meeting.
However, with the international break providing him with ample time to get back up to speed, he started in his usual spot against Mikel Arteta’s Gunners at Elland Road.
The game started and finished firmly in Leeds’ control with the pressing and intensity in midfield a real strong point of Leeds’ performance, something that had been lacking of late.
While Arsenal looked lacklustre in most areas, Leeds were on top form in the same ones and first to pretty much every loose ball.
Dictating the tempo from the off was Phillips who was a constant presence in and out of possession, playing like he’d never been away.
The stats behind his marvellous performance say it all that he was one of Leeds’ best players and a key reason for why the hosts ended up on 66% possession against a side with top four ambitions.
https://twitter.com/lufcdata/status/1330591627459637254?s=21
Backing up the idea that Phillips was in charge of the very high press and maintaining that intensity, any vertical passes made out of Arsenal’s backline were constantly picked off by Phillips, with his 11 ball recoveries the game’s highest.
What is most impressive, and something that should be noted by Gareth Southgate, is his distribution in the final third.
With 63 out of his 85 passes in the Arsenal half and 24 of those into the final third, his rate of playing aggressively and into good spaces is something the England squad is crying out for.
We’ve sorely missed that pivot at the base of midfield to keep the game in a vise grip, where we rarely concede chances to counter attacks and limit the opponents’ most talented attackers.
What it proves is that Phillips is clearly our most important player under Marcelo Bielsa.