Jose Mourinho does not want Kalvin Phillips starting for England v Ukraine
Jose Mourinho wants Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips to be rested for England’s Euro 2020 quarter-final.
The Three Lions are set to take on Ukraine with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs and the Special One wants Gareth Southgate to drop the player who’s played every single minute for him in this campaign.
Phillips has played as a holding midfielder alongside Declan Rice and has also operated as an eight or part of a midfield three in different matches.
In his column for The Sun, Mourinho wrote, “I’m so confident England will beat Ukraine that if I were in charge I would rest both Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips to save them for the semi-final.
“Rice and Phillips have been magnificent so far but look at the way they worked in the last match, and how Declan finished the game completely exhausted and with cramps in his legs.
“Rest Rice and Phillips so they can then play the semi and the final to the maximum potential. But that’s me speaking.”
Being too critical of Ukraine
No game at this stage of a major tournament is a foregone conclusion and we’re baffled that someone like Mourinho, who’s won it all, is almost writing off Ukraine.
Did he not watch the previous round where Switzerland knocked the world champions France out or when the Czech Republic completely played the Netherlands off the park?
Resting one of the two makes sense and we think Rice should be the one that misses out. Phillips is used to dictating the tempo from deep while having two midfield runners next to him bombing up and down the pitch.
England will be needing to start some creative players in midfield, but Phillips shouldn’t be the one that makes way. He knows what Southgate wants and is the team’s only outfielder to play every minute of the EUROs.
Of course, the final decision is in Southgate’s hands, but we completely disagree with Mourinho’s assessment.
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