Formed by Hammers supporters Jack Elderton and Callum Goodall to offer their fellow fans in-depth but accessible analysis of their team and its players, Analytics United will provide content for the Club's official website, app, Official Programme and social media channels over the course of the 2023/24 season.
For their latest column, Analytics United use performance analysis and data to examine the contribution Kalvin Phillips will make to West Ham United...
West Ham United have confirmed the signing of 28-year-old midfielder Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City.
The 2020/21 England Men’s Player of the Year will be a familiar figure to most fans already, either for the pivotal role he played in helping Leeds United achieve a ninth-place finish upon their return to the Premier League, or for his performances alongside Declan Rice at the base of England’s midfield.
Before we dive into the minutiae and analyse what exactly Phillips can bring to this West Ham side though, it is worth discussing some of the intangibles – his strengths that are not easily assessed with tactical analysis and data, but are equally, if not more important to his game.
West Ham are heading into the second half of this season in sixth, with ambitions of maintaining impressive domestic form while mounting a challenge in the Europa League too. In this pursuit, players with top-level experience and leadership skills will be valuable.
Enter Kalvin Phillips, whose CV certainly checks out.
He started all seven of England’s games at Euro 2020, including the heart-breaking penalty shootout defeat to Italy. He has more than 13,500 minutes of Championship football under his belt, inspiring Leeds in the title-winning campaign that took them back to the English topflight. And, whilst he would have preferred to have played a more prominent role, he was part of Manchester City’s historic treble-winning side last season.
All this is to say that, in signing Kalvin Phillips, West Ham have added a player with leadership credentials and experience playing in high-pressure situations – a valuable addition to a dressing room that will be hoping to play in some big games as the season plays out.
Tactically, there can’t be many footballers that can match Phillips’ footballing education over the last five seasons, having played under Pep Guardiola, Marcelo Bielsa, and Jesse Marsch. This should excite West Ham fans and the coaching staff alike, as his experience playing in a range of systems means he can be deployed in several midfield roles, allowing Moyes to use him in a range of systems and game states.
Though he has often been utilised as more of a box-to-box midfielder for England, capitalising on his incredible engine, his best form came playing at the base of Bielsa’s Leeds midfield. Taking on the role of quarterback, one of Phillips’ greatest strengths in that team was his ability to pick out cross-field passes to switch the play and find teammates running in behind. He finished the 2020/21 season as one of the best long passers in the league, ranking in 83rd percentile with a completion rate of 65.8%, ahead of his England teammate and former Hammer, Rice (60.2%; 61st percentile). When you consider this in the context of his new teammates, most notably channel-running forwards like Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus, this should prove to be a very useful asset.
Phillips’ passing range is diverse though, and whilst the first pass that will come to mind for most is the lofted switch into space described above, it is worth noting that his ability to play zipped, vertical passes into the channels ahead of him has often been underrated; he completed 75.1% of his passes into the final third in 2020/21, an above average rate (54th percentile). With players like Bowen, Kudus, and Lucas Paquetá all doing some of their best work in the half-space, Phillips, who can sit deep and play balls into their feet, represents a perfect complementary piece.
His deep build-up contribution in general will be a huge positive for the side – at Leeds, his versatility and willingness to get involved in the first phase of possession was crucial to their impressive first season back in the Premier League. Whether he was forming a diamond with the goalkeeper and two centre-backs or dropping in alongside them to form a back three, Phillips’ spatial awareness and comfortability on the ball, even under immense pressure, were central to the way that Bielsa wanted his team to play. This influence in possession extended across the whole pitch, with wide combination play, third-man runs, 1-2s, and late arrivals in the box all in his repertoire.
The final thing to mention is his out-of-possession work, which is crucial to succeeding in a David Moyes side – luckily, Phillips excels in this area. Bielsa’s Leeds were known for their risky high-pressing approach and Phillips was key to the system’s success.
On the one hand, he represented a competent counter-presser, springing onto ball receivers, poking the ball away, and sparking counter-attacks against unsettled defences – this could be a useful means of chance creation for a counter-attacking Moyes side. And on the other hand, his ability to position himself well, win duels, and intercept passing lanes meant that he could cover all three channels when defending counterattacks. Only three midfielders finished that season with more possession-adjusted interceptions than Phillips’ 8.58 – N’Golo Kanté (8.9), Oriol Romeu (8.99), and James Milner (10.4). It is no coincidence that Bielsa was sacked, and Leeds were relegated, in a season where Phillips missed 16 games due to injury.
With his technical proficiency, tactical versatility, top-level experience, and leadership qualities, Phillips’ arrival at West Ham just makes a lot of sense. Sure, the high-profile move to Manchester City might not have gone as planned, but the Yorkshire-born midfielder has shown that he has the quality to be one of the Premier League’s best midfielders, and in a Moyes side that should get the most out of his passing range and out of possession strengths, we’re thrilled to welcome him to the squad.
