When Kalvin Phillips came off the bench at half time in Manchester City's first pre-season run-out of the season, he might not have expected his first minutes for his new club to come at centre-back.
But with two senior defenders left at home and another missing the Club America friendly with illness, Phillips was called upon to make his City debut in defence, rather than midfield. He would later get a 15 minute run-out in midfield towards the end of the contest, and it is that formation that will be more indicative of how he will fit into Pep Guardiola's plans this season.
If he is to play in the role he excelled in for Leeds — as a sole holding midfielder — he will have to oust Rodri, who has been superb for at least 18 months now. However, Phillips is under no illusions that he will have to fight for his place, so perhaps those 15 minutes are a sign of things to come.
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Phillips was eventually moved into a double pivot alongside Rodri, where the Spaniard kept things ticking and Phillips was asked to bring the ball forward. It was the formation that many have expected if the pair are to play together, but there is only so much that can be read into the tactics as the other five forward players were all from the academy by that stage, and there were three more senior midfielders or forwards unavailable who may have featured.
On the other hand, the fact that Guardiola moved Kyle Walker into central defence to trial Phillips next to Rodri, even for a few minutes, was telling, and it's a role Phillips told reporters this week at City's team hotel that he would enjoy moving forwards.
"When I was younger I played more as an eight than what I did now. At the Euros it was new to me but I did reasonably well. Playing in midfield with Rodri, Kevin [De Bruyne], [Ilkay] Gundogan will only make me a better player. Just to understand the role and how the manager wants me to play and go from there.
"Everything Marcelo [Bielsa] taught me was a lot of movement without the ball, creating space for yourself to get on the ball. At City it's more moving into spaces to help your teammates get on the ball or getting in position to turn on the ball first time and play forward all the time. It's just getting used to that, these training sessions will let me get used to it a lot more."
Phillips was honest in saying that he doesn't expect to oust Rodri straight away, and he may have to wait and work hard off the pitch to get minutes on it. He accepted that his World Cup place might be at risk in the process.
But Rodri, when speaking at the same media event, said he was open and ready to playing alongside Phillips, given his previous experience alongside Fernandinho.
“It was a great chance for the club to sign that kind of player," Rodri said of his new midfield partner.
“Of course, Fernandinho was one of the best but now he has gone and Kalvin is in. We are both pretty young and I think we can play together or alone. It’s good for the team to have competition and he has qualities that can improve the team.
“Ask the coach [about the formation]. Sometimes with 'Dinho last season I played a lot of games with him, many parts of the game you need that consistency. Sometimes you are winning and have to be a bit more solid defensively.
“I remember last year, the game against Atletico, 'Dinho came in, we played together and he saved us. I think there will be chances for us to play together. I think he can play a little forward also and it’s a good point – to have players who can play in different positions.”
So it's clear that both new players are on the same wavelength over what will be expected of them this season. Both will have times when they are alone in the holding role, and the Club America friendly was an example of a time where they may be partners. For Phillips, he could be dictating play at the base of a diamond one game, or bombing forward as a box-to-box midfielder the next.
And for that sort of rotation to work, you need players ready to adapt and be completely tuned in to the approach Guardiola wants. Both Phillips and Rodri backed up their words with their performances on Wednesday in Houston.
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