MOT View: Leeds fans will absolutely love this Kalvin Phillips clip from England v Denmark
Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips’ skills were on show on Wednesday in the Euro 2020 semi-final.
The 25-year-old was once again at the heart of things for England as they beat Denmark 2-1.
He covered the most ground of any player on the pitch and his vertical long passes proved to be a constant thorn in the Danish side.
The smooth first touch shared by @LUFC1992_v2 was one thing that went unnoticed in the game. It was executed to perfection and set Mason Mount through on goal.
He waited a few seconds for the ball to fall to the field and knew instantly what he wanted to do with it – square it to the Chelsea attacking midfielder.
Attacker Jack Harrison is also known to have an exquisite first touch and would’ve been impressed with his teammate.
Pure finesse
We’ve loved every minute of watching Phillips play at Euro 2020. Gareth Southgate took a big call which proved to be the right one when he opted to start the Yorkshire Pirlo over Jordan Henderson in midfield.
He’s dictated the tempo, played as a box-to-box midfielder and often has been providing the killer passes that have split open defences.
Even against Denmark he was constantly looking for Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling to run behind the lines and drag the Denmark defenders out of position.
He also worked tirelessly to win the ball back which is testament to Marcelo Bielsa and his Murderball training drills which have led to Leeds being so easy on the eye and the neutrals’ favourites.
It’s going to be a completely different ball game against the Italian midfielders but we’re confident of Phillips showing up and stopping the onslaught.
He has gone toe to toe with some of the best players in the world in the Premier League so is unlikely to be fazed by the biggest game in international continental football.
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