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Nat Baresi

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I think we all know he is ultimately an Origi-type cult hero. But huge plaudits to him for stepping in and delivering performance after performance. What a wonderful story for this bizarre season.
 
Most people who are saying he should move on, myself included, are looking at the way Klopp wants to set up his defence when he has a full team available. Klopp wants quick players who can play a high line and pass the ball out from the back. That's just not Phillips, doesn't mean he can't be a decent PL player but Klopp isn't likely to change his entire defensive strategy just to accommodate Nat. If we sign Konate then Phillips would be 4th or 5th choice, in those circumstances cashing in now while his value is high makes sense.

Otherwise we risk another Origi situation where a player goes to shit by sitting on the bench their value plummets and nobody wants to take them off you.

Phillip’s ball handling and playing out of the back has been really good the past 10 games.

I first really noticed during the 2nd Madrid match, when he steeped with the ball like Matip.

Some beautiful balls into the channel towards Salah today. He isn’t speedy, but playing out of the back is not the worry I would have. And, he seems more rugged that most of our lot and a potential Konate.
 
Never thought either of this two would ever play in the Liverpool first team for a PL game.

E2FuV0WXEAIS3gU
 
Never thought either of this two would ever play in the Liverpool first team for a PL game.

E2FuV0WXEAIS3gU
Rhys Williams is an interesting one... He lacks pace but a bit of time in the gym and sone first team action for championship team or abroad will give him a decent platform to develop. People have been criticising him but to play in the last few games as he has and not be on the losing side is a positive. I wonder if RB Salzburg would take him in loan? They play similar type of game to us and it works allow him to get some high level football.
 
Rhys Williams is an interesting one... He lacks pace but a bit of time in the gym and sone first team action for championship team or abroad will give him a decent platform to develop. People have been criticising him but to play in the last few games as he has and not be on the losing side is a positive. I wonder if RB Salzburg would take him in loan? They play similar type of game to us and it works allow him to get some high level football.

He also may get faster as his body develops to match his height. His legs are all gangly and awkward. I have seen that settle in players with much more speed and agility at the end. I like the Salzburg idea, but Championship would be good also. Blackburn maybe?
 
I think Phillips will compete next season. I don't like the term fourth/fifth choice CB. There's no reason he shouldn't be aspiring to be on Gomez/Matip/Konate level now. Maybe he'll never reach there, but we all thought we wouldn't make CL with him at CB and here we are. Training alongside, and learning from the best, can take players to new heights.

His resilience, availability and aerial dominance is a decent skill set to have. Against teams like Burnley or Everton then Phillips could well be the best option.
 
I think Phillips will compete next season. I don't like the term fourth/fifth choice CB. There's no reason he shouldn't be aspiring to be on Gomez/Matip/Konate level now. Maybe he'll never reach there, but we all thought we wouldn't make CL with him at CB and here we are.

His resilience, availability and aerial dominance is a decent skill set to have. Against teams like Burnley or Everton then Phillips could well be the best option.

Yeah, definitely. I'd be extremely tempted to use.him in those games instead of say Gomez. He could be an important squad player. Funny how football careers work out sometimes.
 
A good interview with Nat in the Echo and the little things Thiago, Milner & Gini said to him during games.

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{td}“Milly said to me when there was a headed goal (against Leeds), “You’d have headed that away.” For him to say that to me, that was a moment when I thought, “Wow” and felt so proud,” he recalled.


“For someone like James Milner to say that, that they missed having me in the team, was a huge moment for me. You look at what he has done in the game, the levels he’s reached, the trophies he’s won and just how respected it is.

“For him to say something like that was a huge compliment for me.

“Thiago would, on a few occasions, make a point of offering me praise in certain moments. Going out of his way after a goal to come over to me and say that that was from my header or my tackle. Gini did it as well.{/td}
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And how being able to speak German helped playing beside Kabak.

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{td}“If I was playing alongside Ozzy for example, he’d come to a new country and while he spoke English, he couldn’t really be loud on the pitch, so I’d have to be the loud one for both of us.

“We’d speak to each other in German because I had picked up a bit over there and he was playing over there. That helped him a bit and we’d speak in German at set-pieces so defences didn’t know who was going front and who was going back.”{/td}
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https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/spor...t-20751186.amp
 
Serious question, is Nat Phillips not worthy of an England call-up or are we overhyping him?

I think some of the 'lesser' England CBs would probably actually end up making the best line up for England e.g. Ben White, Lewis Dunk, Conor Coady. All in my opinion superior to Mings & Maguire.

I don't see Nat yet having the experience or nous to play at international level where the pace is a bit slower and he'll face some more wiley characters.
 
Agreed. I'm far from sure Maguire's international class and I'm darn sure Mings isn't. I actually think Nat would do as well as either of them, but I do agree he isn't really ready yet. White and Coady on the other hand have looked at home for England and, though Dunk doesn't offer much going forward, IMO there are few better English out-and-out defenders.
 
With Burnley apparently paying Stoke £12m for 20 yr old Nathan Collins, surely we should be holding out for more?

Could we possibly sell Philips and Williams and bring in someone who can play CB and RB? 🙄

 
Ideally I would rather we kept Phillips, but I guess it depends how far down the pecking order he is now with Konate arriving and Van Dijk, Gomez and Matip back (if all of them stay).

I imagine that he would get games for us if he stays, but you can understand that someone of his age who has now had that bit more experience and has had a lot of praise for his performances would be looking to play regularly.

The problem is that anyone else who is any good would presumably also want to be playing regularly rather than relying on others getting injured. I am not quite sure that we would get anyone who would be happy with that situation and would be as reliable as Phillips.
 
Now is possibly the best time to sell him if you're going to sell.
I hope we learned from our mistake with Origi. Should have been sold after we won the CL.
 
Now is possibly the best time to sell him if you're going to sell.
I hope we learned from our mistake with Origi. Should have been sold after we won the CL.

Definitely.

It doesn't look like we'll ever sell a first team player again so Nat is not really going to get many games next season and so makes sense for him to move on.

Could always try follow Real's lead and go for a buyback clause - perhaps with a discount on the purchase price to sweeten the deal.
 
I'll be disappointed if Nat goes. Matip is finished and it's pretty alarming that we might be going into a season yet again counting on his availability. Gomez's injury record isn't much better and all three of the maintstays are coming back after lengthy, serious injuries. We're seriously putting all of our eggs in one basket if we think they will all a) be less injury prone this time and b) come back the same players. It's a massive risk.

It should be down to the returnees to earn their place back in the side, as it always should. Not just through showing their obvious quality, but by being match fit again and not playing through niggles or a lack of fitness. Phillips did nothing wrong for me and wouldn't be a huge difference in quality to Matip (who doesn't have age on his side) or Gomez, who is still prone to regular lapses.
 
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Lol
Philips has developed into a good defender, but he isn't even close to being as good as Matip is or was.
 
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