Topic: Nat Phillips

[Ghost Town]

One of them turns like a barge, the other like...Baresi...

One of them makes you wanna tug...

[afc tukrish]

One of them makes you wanna tug...

Ibou appeared to be considering doing so, had to calm himself down...

[BobPaisley3]

Hopefully he’s of the same mindset as Div in that he’s happy to play when called upon with a chance of winning medals rather than being down the bottom with more game time. Never lets us down.

[stockdam]

Had another great game today. Just magnificent.

[newterp]

GIF???

[amir87]

Welshred text me to say he watched Nat today and said it wasn't his proudest wank.

[John C]

https://youtube.com/shorts/SZjiSnJxaX4?feature=share

[duvva 💅]

https://youtube.com/shorts/SZjiSnJxaX4?feature=share

Might ask the missus if she can get one of those live picture frame things for Christmas so I can have that on loop on the mantelpiece

[zero zero]

https://youtube.com/shorts/SZjiSnJxaX4?feature=share

Marvellous!

Nice one John

[rafathegaffa83]

One to tell his grandkids: How I Cruyff Turned in my own box in the San Siro

Might ask the missus if she can get one of those live picture frame things for Christmas so I can have that on loop on the mantelpiece

[oojason]

GIF???

All credit and kudos to Caramac on TLW:-

[newterp]

Thanks!!

[newterp]

I also agree with the posters above who were getting criticized unfairly when they were supporting Phillips and saying he was actually a very good player - deserving of a start here or there. Clearly a beast in the air, very good passer of the ball, and isn't slow like some claimed. And now getting to work alongside and learn from VVD and Matip everyday - he's got a long PL career ahead of him.

Baller.

[jckliew]

He is becoming a classy player! 

[tornado]

Great game, did it seem like he is a little bit pacier or just illusion since he was generally sharp. With world class trainers and regime, it might be possible to add a step or two at his age?

[PoetryInMotion]

I told you he's better than Maguire didn't I.

Oh, yeah! He is nowhere near the English setup, and yet, he might be one of their best CBs they have right now, along with, guess who? Joe Gomez!

[harleydanger]

I’d love to see a Phillips v Maguire radar

[KurtVerbose]

I told you he's better than Maguire didn't I.

Let's be honest, he's much better. I agree with van der Vaart - Maguire is pub team fodder.

I think he'll be leaving soon though. He wasn't sold in the Summer as we had one new player and two, maybe three, players returning from long term injuries. Now that situation has changed he'll want to be playing and he's earned us a decent fee and himself a good contract. Will be a shame to see him go though.

[Fromola]

I'd be happy with him as 4th choice. There has to be a point where he wants to play regularly though.

[Sangria]

I’d love to see a Phillips v Maguire radar

Unfair match up. One of them has a much bigger radar signature.

[MrGrumpy]

He has certainly made the most of his chances. Morever, with the chequered injury history of Matip and Gomez, I am happy to have a reliable and dependable player like Phillips around even if he’s 4th choice at best.

[Crosby Nick]

Welshred text me to say he watched Nat today and said it wasn't his proudest wank.

Jos Buttler top scoring for England too. Double whammy for Welshy.

[robertobaggio37]

I’m going to be devastaded if he leaves us, there’s a perfect love story between him and Liverpool FC that needs to happen. Call me naive but I genuinely think him and VVD would make a great pair, certainly no worse than what we currently have.

[slaphead]

I'm not so sure he will want to move on. Bit like Origi. They'll get a few games and they're part of something really special and the likelihood is they will win more things. People criticise players for staying when they're 3rd or 4th or 5th choice for having a lack of ambition but some players would rather play a a bit part for an elite team than a big part for a lesser team. I know lots of people don't like him bit Micah Richards was making that exact point the other night on Five Live and I agree with him, there's nothing wrong with it.
The role of the manager is key too. Klopp clearly has a great relationship with these lads, if they did move on it would be difficult to find someone as good to step in and then people have a go about squad depth again.

[rob1966]

Yep, you got too much unwarranted stick for what was a reasonable call at the time and an even more pertinent one as the trajectories of the two players pass each other like ships in the night

I first saw Nat in the pre season Torino friendly and he looked like a decent player then, played alongside Virg, but he wasn't going to be a starter any time soon with VVD, Matip, Lovren and Gomez all in front of him. I've also suffered seeing Slabhead due to the missus watching their games and I've seen him make mistake after mistake after mistake, costing a lot of goals. Maybe Maguire is better technically, although I've not seen it, but on pure doing your job, Nat does his time after time after time, while Maguire is a liability. He runs about like a headless chicken and causes more issues than he solves.

Klopp has admitted he made a mistake putting Fab and Hendo in the back 4 last season, I think he realised he should have trusted Nat and Rhys a lot sooner than he did.

I'm not so sure he will want to move on. Bit like Origi. They'll get a few games and they're part of something really special and the likelihood is they will win more things. People criticise players for staying when they're 3rd or 4th or 5th choice for having a lack of ambition but some players would rather play a a bit part for an elite team than a big part for a lesser team. I know lots of people don't like him bit Micah Richards was making that exact point the other night on Five Live and I agree with him, there's nothing wrong with it.
The role of the manager is key too. Klopp clearly has a great relationship with these lads, if they did move on it would be difficult to find someone as good to step in and then people have a go about squad depth again.

For a professional, playing for Liverpool, at Anfield and at places like the San Siro, being on the bench at these grounds, training at Kirkby every day with world class players, playing for Klopp, loving your job and picking up medals that matter, surely that is a dream job. I'd rather that than play week in week out for Burnley.

[AndyMuller]

Somewhere, both Welshred and Hightown Phil are sitting in a corner of a dark room, rocking and shaking their heads in disbelief.

[Redknight60]

Great game, did it seem like he is a little bit pacier or just illusion since he was generally sharp. With world class trainers and regime, it might be possible to add a step or two at his age?

Looks a lot leaner aswell. All our players are incredibly fit absolutely no passengers that you see at other clubs.

Not to bash the guy but it was clear why it was never going to work out for Sturridge under this management.

[Fruity]

The thing that has been really impressive is he doesn't seem to need a few games to get up to speed either. First start for us in ages and he looked comfortable from the off.

Honestly think he would have been a better option against the likes of West ham this season as well. For me Nat is a very good defender. He might not have the pace required for our set up in most games but there are definitely games where we might need to defend a lead.

[Sharado]

What a fella.

[Magix]

I'm not so sure he will want to move on. Bit like Origi. They'll get a few games and they're part of something really special and the likelihood is they will win more things. People criticise players for staying when they're 3rd or 4th or 5th choice for having a lack of ambition but some players would rather play a a bit part for an elite team than a big part for a lesser team. I know lots of people don't like him bit Micah Richards was making that exact point the other night on Five Live and I agree with him, there's nothing wrong with it.
The role of the manager is key too. Klopp clearly has a great relationship with these lads, if they did move on it would be difficult to find someone as good to step in and then people have a go about squad depth again.

I don't get why would any Liverpool fan not like him? Deemed not good enough or something?

[slaphead]

I don't get why would any Liverpool fan not like him? Deemed not good enough or something?

Oh no, I meant lots of people don't like Micah Richards, I may have worded that wrong. Everyone loves big Nat !

[-Willo-]

Has he played many games with van Dijk? He's been impressive every game he's played with lesser centre halves next to him too.

It is hard to compare his performances with the likes of Matip/Gomez/Konate when them 3 seem to play with Virgil more than Nat does, yet he arguably has impressed more than all of them in recent times.

I hope he is happy with his current position, I mean being 4th/5th choice centre back for the best team in the world might be more appealing than being first choice for Southampton as a random example.

He is class, and deserves to be pushed up the pecking order to maybe 3rd choice until proven otherwise.

[slaphead]

For a professional, playing for Liverpool, at Anfield and at places like the San Siro, being on the bench at these grounds, training at Kirkby every day with world class players, playing for Klopp, loving your job and picking up medals that matter, surely that is a dream job. I'd rather that than play week in week out for Burnley.

Same here Rob. It's easy for people in the media to say he should go and play but they're not in his shoes. Imagine having to swap all that to play at Turf Moor, getting elbowed up the bake all day long in training by Ashley Westwood and having a human fish finger as your manager. Nah you're alright.

[Magix]

Oh no, I meant lots of people don't like Micah Richards, I may have worded that wrong. Everyone loves big Nat !

Ah no worries.

And like others have said, I would love having Nat around as the Origi of defenders.

[El Lobo]

I’m not sure it helps the lad when people talk about him ‘deserving to start next to VVD’ or ‘deserves to be 3rd choice’. He’s a cracking fifth choice CB for us, we should be happy with that without trying to push him above better players.

[VVM]

Apart from that Torino friendly, I don't think he ever has played alongside Van Dijk. The other defenders seem to up their game when next to Virg so I wonder what kind of beast it would turn Nat into.

[MonsLibpool]

He played a key role in getting us there in the first place so I was made up to see him boss it.

[rob1966]

I’m not sure it helps the lad when people talk about him ‘deserving to start next to VVD’ or ‘deserves to be 3rd choice’. He’s a cracking fifth choice CB for us, we should be happy with that without trying to push him above better players.

His role is deffo a defensive version of Origi. We all know in reality Virg, Joel and Gomez when fit are first choice and Konate needs games to bed in, but we know when needed Nat can be called upon and more importantly, relied on to do his job and deliver.

[smutchin]

Klopp says he's the second most improved player he has had playing for him, after Lewandowski. He's here on merit, though as a backup player, and he knows it. He's happy at the moment to be part of this amazing club. So he can tell stories to his grandchildren of playing at the San Siro and sharing in the celebrations of winning great trophies for Liverpool FC, as opposed to slogging week in, week out for some lesser team for no reward.

He's still young enough that his game can continue to improve too - and that's more likely to happen by training every day with Virg than playing every week alongside Ben fucking Mee.

It says a lot that Klopp decided to keep Nat on rather than let him go and buy Kabak. We should know by now that Klopp knows what he's doing.

And if Nat loves the club enough that he's happy to accept a back-up role here rather than be first choice elsewhere, that's also to his credit.

[Crimson]

He's still young enough that his game can continue to improve too - and that's more likely to happen by training every day with Virg than playing every week alongside Ben fucking Mee.

I don't know, it builds great mental strength and focus to keep your eyes off that during training.