Gareth Southgate snubs titanic Liverpool vs Man City clash to watch the worst England audition of the weekend
IT was Kalvin Phillips’ performances for England which convinced David Moyes he would be a good January signing.
But the West Ham midfielder’s move now looks to have placed his Euro 2024 spot in jeopardy rather than saved it.
Instead of watching the pulsating clash between Liverpool and Manchester City, England boss Gareth Southgate was in the stands to check in on Phillips during West Ham’s draw with Burnley.
Southgate announces his Three Lions squad for the March international break this week and will have been looking for signs that Phillips deserves to keep his place.
Even for the most loyal of managers, as Southgate has proved to be, it will be hard to select the former Leeds star off the back of his showing.
Phillips was at fault for the opening goal, wasteful on the ball and hooked at half-time.
An eye-catching performance for all the wrong reasons.
It has not been an easy start to life at the London Stadium for Phillips.
Moyes had tried to sign the 28-year-old before his ill-fated move to Manchester City, and was encouraged to offer him a way out by his displays for England.
Southgate had stood by the midfielder, who still impressed for the Three Lions while not getting a look in under Pep Guardiola.
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The Hammers boss hoped a few games was all it would take to shake off the rust brought about by just two Premier League starts in 18 months at The Etihad.
But his early West Ham showings have not offered encouragement. There was a nightmare start minutes into his debut against Bournemouth, handing them an early goal by gifting the ball to Dominic Solanke.
A red card at Nottingham Forest followed before the Burnley horror-show.
Phillips has spoken candidly about the impact of his time playing under Guardiola, watching on in isolation as City won the Treble.
It is not an experience he is able to shake off lightly.
West Ham was supposed to be a new dawn, a fresh start to get him back to being the player who shone alongside Declan Rice at Euro 2020 as England reached the final.
But it has not materialised.
Southgate had made it clear to Phillips he had to find a new club to keep his place in the squad ahead of this summer’s tournament, but it is hard to see how his standing with the Three Lions boss would be any worse if he was still warming Manchester City’s bench.
There is still time, of course.
Aside from Rice, the former West Ham captain, England’s options in a midfield two are limited.
Southgate has been out to Amsterdam to watch Jordan Henderson try to rediscover his form with Ajax after his short-lived Saudi adventure.
But that has hardly got off to a flying start and Henderson is another player whose inclusion is becoming harder to justify.
The lack of depth at the base of midfield helps the case for both, but the squad announced on Thursday is the final one before Southgate selects the group for Germany.
Missing out this week would be a crushing blow for Phillips, but hardly surprising given there are no guarantees he will find form between now and the end of the season.
He may not even get much more of a chance to.
Moyes is fighting for European qualification in the Premier League and for progress in Europe – he cannot afford many more first halves like the one Phillips contributed to on Sunday.
If you cannot be trusted at West Ham, what hope is there with England?