Why Kalvin Phillips was left out of Jesse Marsch's starting line up for Leeds United's Watford clash - YEP 9/4/22
Leeds United fans were disappointed to find that Kalvin Phillips was named on the bench for the Watford game.
By Flora Snelson
The Whites star came through 24 minutes against Southampton
at Elland Road last week after missing out on 14 Premier League games to a
hamstring injury.
United supporters had hoped to see their key player return
to the starting eleven for a crunch relegation clash against Watford on
Saturday afternoon.
Leeds could draw a whopping nine points clear of the drop
zone with a victory at Vicarage Road, with the need to prevent
bottom-of-the-table rivals Watford from gaining ground on them an equal concern
in this vital Premier League game.
But with Adam Forshaw dropping out of the squad with injury,
it was not England international Phillips who replaced him but his German
counterpart Robin Koch, sparking outrage among the Whites fanbase. Jesse Marsch
explained that his decision was not tactical - the so-called Yorkshire Pirlo is
not 100% fit.
"The one issue was just he didn't have a full training
week," Marsch said.
"We're still trying to monitor him carefully to make
sure that we're not jeopardising him in any way.
"We were hopeful to start him this match but wasn't
quite ready.
"But no problem, I think he's at least 45 minutes fit
and he'll be ready to go."
