Pep Guardiola believes that dropping Kalvin Phillips for being “overweight” has taught the Manchester City midfielder a valuable lesson – that he has to be “perfect” all year.
Phillips returned from the World Cup in a condition unacceptable to the manager and was left out of City’s 3-2 Carabao Cup win over Liverpool on 22 December. Phillips, a £42m summer signing, was back in the squad for the 3-1 Premier League victory at Leeds six days later.
