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Alan Shearer says Leeds' Kalvin Phillips is his MOTM against Croatia
Raheem Sterling was awarded Man of the Match ahead of Leeds United ace Kalvin Phillips following England’s win over Croatia.
The Three Lions kicked off their European Championship campaign with a 1-0 narrow win, and while the Manchester City star bagged the winning goal, it would not have been possible without Phillips’ incredible assist.
First goal for England at a major finals ✅
🏴 Raheem Sterling = Star of the Match 👏
🤔 Did you predict that? @Heineken | #EUROSOTM | #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/T9gmvPyRzB
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 13, 2021
Premier League legend Alan Shearer is not having none of the official decision, though, insisting the Leeds star is the deserved winner of the prize.
The former Newcastle United striker took to his official Twitter account to react thus: “It was a very positive start and plenty of good performances but Phillips was MOM (man of the match) for me.”
It was a very positive start and plenty of good performances but @Kalvinphillips was MOM for me. 👍🏻 https://t.co/gqjtYilZfG
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) June 13, 2021
“Kalvin Phillips was man of the match for England today,” Shearer said on BBC.
“He was superb for us from start to finish. He had an energy, he had a maturity, he had everything you need from a midfielder. He was up, he was down.
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“The pass for the goal was superb and was protecting the back four at times. Fantastic”
Spot on Alan
It is surprising to see Sterling emerge as the Man of the Match ahead of Phillips, and we are as surprised as Shearer.
Apart from his assist, the Yorkshire midfielder ran the show from start to finish, and to say that he was immense would be an understatement.
The Leeds man put in a man-of-the-match display in both halves, and watching scouts would have been left impressed with his box-to-box abilities.
The England Twitter account also singled Phillips out via one of their posts, highlighting his heat map.
Bossed it.
😎 @Kalvinphillips pic.twitter.com/H7Jhi7gqjV
— England (@England) June 13, 2021
According to famous stats account Opta Joe, Phillips was the only player on either side to complete all of his pass attempts in the first half at Wembley, while no player completed more long passes than him.
100% – Kalvin Phillips was the only player on either side to complete all of his pass attempts in the first half at Wembley (18/18), while no player completed more long passes than him (3). Pirlo. #ENG #CRO #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/aYn14vtXkb
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 13, 2021
The Leeds star bossed a midfield that consisted of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic, and Premier League fans can finally relate having seen us constantly going on about how good Phillips is.
Leeds fans and data account LUFC DATA posted the midfielder’s numbers, and there is no denying that he has been robbed.
Kalvin Phillips vs. Croatia:
44 touches
94% pass accuracy
31/33 successful passes
7 ball recoveries
4 duels won
3/3 successful long passes
2 successful take-ons
1 tackle won
1 interception
1 assist 🅰️Magnificent performance and provided the all-important assist at Wembley. 😍 pic.twitter.com/zoYyjKxyNG
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) June 13, 2021
In other Leeds news, Gary Lineker has reacted to Kalvin Phillips assisting goal in England v Croatia.