Nat Phillips

Nathaniel Harry Phillips

Current Club: West Bromwich Albion.
Previous Clubs: Liverpool, Bolton Wanderers.
Loan Clubs: Derby County, Cardiff City, Celtic, AFC Bournemouth, VfB Stuttgart, VfB Stuttgart.


International: N/A.
Trophies Won: English Premier League 2019/20. English League Cup 2022. Scottish Premier League 2023/24.


A cult hero at Liverpool, due to his performances when he had to step up following injuries to the rest of the centre-backs at the club, as well as the ones recruited in January to fill in the gap. However, much as Phillips will always hold a place in Liverpool fans' hearts, there was never a time when he was seen as anything other than a useful back up option.

That does tend to highlight his weaknesses, rather than show his strengths, unfortunately. Like many players, he does need a run of games to settle in and begin to play his best. You can see his growth in confidence when he is playing regularly, to the point when he will pull out a Cruyff turn in his own box against AC Milan to send two of their players the wrong way! I doubt any Liverpool fan will ever forget seeing him do that to Zlatan.

Phillips does lack pace, like most big centre-backs, he is a bit cumbersome at times on the turn and his passing is not great, though not as bad as it is often said to be, he is decent enough on the ball. He just does not possess a great range of passing, like the top end players do. That lack of pace, and mainly acceleration, added to him not being great on the ball, has meant that he was always going to struggle to make it as a first team player in the top flight.

He is defensively sound, once he settles into a team, particularly good on set pieces, in fact it often seems like corners from the opposition are being deliberately aimed at his head as he so often gets to them. That is a sign of how good he is at positioning himself and attacking the ball, you do get the feel at times that he would head his own mother clear if she was holding the ball, such is his desire to deal with crosses.

Phillips' lack of pace is always going to hinder him when playing in a high line, no matter how good his positioning or reading of the game, he is always going to be susceptible to a quick ball over the top in behind him for someone to run onto. He is also slow on the turn, which exacerbates the problem, it means that the player running onto the ball in behind does not even need to be that pacey themselves, he will always struggle to catch up to them.

Watching Phillips play is like being taken back to an earlier era, when defenders were big, strong and brave and put their bodies on the line for their team. Sadly, for all it is great to watch a player actually make tackles and attack crosses with their head, throwbacks like him struggle to find a place in the modern game, with its emphasis on possession. He is a good, solid defender on his day, but lacks the extra skills that are required to play at the very top of the game.

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