Manchester City fans were unimpressed by midfielder Kalvin Phillips’ performance in their pre-season friendly against Celtic on Wednesday, July 24.
Pep Guardiola’s squad started their pre-season tour of the United States with a 4-3 defeat to the Scottish club in North Carolina.
Celtic’s Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn opened the scoring just 13 minutes into the game.
City’s Oscar Bobb then equalized in the 33rd minute.
Kühn scored his and Celtic’s second goal three minutes later,
before assisting his side’s next goal by Kyogo Furuhashi in the 44th minute.
Máximo Perrone got one back for Manchester City just a minute into the second half
before Erling Haaland equalized in the 57th minute.
Luis Palma then scored the winning goal for Celtic in the 68th minute of the game.
Fans took to social media, sharing their opinions on Kalvin Phillips’ gameplay.
While some fans criticized the 28-year-old English midfielder,
some wanted City to sell him this summer. Here are some of the reactions on X:
“Phillips is so bad in tight areas that he makes Erling Haaland look like Xavi.”
“get rid of phillips NOW.”
“Kalvin Phillips, joao cancelo and Kyle walker NEED NEED to leave my club,” chimed in another fan.
“It’s only the first game of pre-season, but Kalvin Phillips started the game almost forcing Ortega into an OG, then has pushed up so much that Celtic have twice played through the midfield to score identical goals. Pep furious on the touchline with his midfielders. #mcfc”
“Phillips genuinely worst player on the pitch.”
“Yeah. Very poor. He’s just not made for this kind of team. Put him in a team like Everton and he’d be fine.”
While another wrote:
“Omar Berrada definitely sanctioned off the Phillips deal.”
Manchester City will face Inter Milan in their next pre-season clash on Saturday, July 27, at the Yankee Stadium in New York.