Liverpool had a 2-1 upstream victory over West Ham in the Premier League, and Nat Phillips was a big contributor to this result with a great performance.
Who is Nat Phillips?
Phillips full name is Nathaniel Harry Phillips. He started his career at home club Bolton Wanderers before joining Liverpool’s youth academy in 2016. He made a total of 26 appearances for The Reds U23 team, but barely had a chance to play for the team. one by quality craftsmanship.
The inability to compete to squeeze into the first team caused Phillips to be sent to VfB Stuttgart on loan last season and played impressively. He made a total of 22 appearances before returning to Liverpool in the summer of 2020 with a blurred future.
Knowing that it is difficult to create a first-team stage because Virgil van Dijk is irreplaceable plus many other formidable competition, Phillips seriously considered his intention to break up with Liverpool to open an exit. me. He was aiming to either play football in the Championship or return to Germany, where he settled well during his time with Stuttgart.
However, in such a wrenching context, Phillips was suddenly kept by Liverpool because their defense fell into crisis. Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk and stuntman Fabinho collapsed, causing The Reds to fall into a dire situation. And from here on, the opportunity opens up for Phillips.
Before West Ham, Phillips played for Liverpool for the first time in the Premier League. He started from the beginning in the center of the defense, side by side with his fellow, Joe Gomez. Instead of being overwhelmed, the 23-year-old defender showed that he was fully capable of replacing Van Dijk with Liverpool’s defense during a period of boiling water.
During his time on the field, Phillips captured West Ham striker Sebastien Haller. Most especially, Phillips had an excellent rescue header in the last seconds to help Liverpool retain 3 full points at Anfield.
Only Diogo Jota and Xherdan Shaqiri were scored higher by BBC Sport than Phillips (7.14), while Sky Sports expert and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher rated Phillips as the best player in the match.
Meanwhile, coach Juergen Klopp himself is somewhat stunned by Phillips’s super performance. Playing great against West Ham will probably help Phillips make a big change in his own career. Although not named Klopp in the list of Champions League 2020/21, Phillips will have more opportunities to show his ability in the Premier League.
If Matip or Van Dijk recover from injury and return, Phillips is fully capable of competing with Gomez, who has not shown any improvement over the past time. From having to play the stuntman, the path to taking the lead is clearly open for Phillips.