Danny Murphy has expressed frustration towards David Moyes for his handling of Kalvin Phillips since the midfielder’s arrival at West Ham in January.
Murphy has recently questioned why Phillips was signed in the first place. It has been a challenging start to Phillips’ career at the London Stadium, marked by key errors in his initial games, and the talkSPORT pundit has criticised Moyes’ choice not to persist with him.
The Manchester City loanee was excluded from the starting lineup against Manchester United and Arsenal, a decision which, according to the former Liverpool midfielder, Danny Murphy, likely diminished his confidence and compounded the pressure on him.
Phillips was recruited to West Ham to inject quality and experience into the first team, drawing on his winning experience at Manchester City to give the Hammers an additional edge for a strong finish to the season. However, his initial errors swiftly dampened the anticipation surrounding his arrival.
As Murphy emphasises, it was incumbent upon the manager to stand by his player, instill trust in him, and aid him in rediscovering the form and fitness he previously displayed.
He said on talkSPORT: “Of course, there’s the physical aspect of Kalvin, I don’t know that so I’ll have to trust David Moyes on that one, but I wouldn’t have left him out of the next game. You’re killing him.
“He’s not building fitness because he’s not playing and you’ve killed his confidence. Why bring him in if you’re not going to play him? Have some trust in the player, the manager has got to help a player like that.”
The midfielder has faced widespread criticism for his weight during his tenure at Manchester City. However, he recently revealed that the toughest period of his career occurred in the past few months following public comments made by Pep Guardiola. So far, Moyes has not taken any action to support him.
Moyes has his undroppable favourites which in itself is not good for squad morale. But, his consistent calling out of players he apparently doesn’t like, or treating his non favourites with borderline contempt is surely a contributory factor to squad players not giving their all when eventually called to play in the first team. How many players during his 4 year tenure have come out and said how much they enjoy playing for Moyes? He blames everyone but himself and that would annoy me if he was my manager.