24 May 2021 10:10:27
Good morning one and all. Hope we are all happy at getting champions league football again for another year.

Questions for the Ed's regarding Nat Philips. Do you think that he has done enough for Liverpool to have him as one of our centre backs next year or do you think Liverpool will look to cash in? Thanks.

{Ed002's Note - It is not a case of "cashing in" - I expect his future will depend on arrivals and other departures.}


1.) 24 May 2021
24 May 2021 12:11:45
VVD, Konate, Gomez, Matip and Phillips. That’ll do for me, I’d definitely have 5 CB’s because we don’t know if VVD and Gomez will be fully ready at the start of next season. Matip has his injury issues and Konate needs time to settle. Keeping Phillips would be a smart move.
If he’s not had much playing time by January maybe he or Matip moves on in the transfer window.


2.) 24 May 2021
24 May 2021 12:14:12
I think its more in the player's court than ours. He will at best be 4th choice once everyone is fit (VVD, Gomez, Konate/ A N Other will be ahead of him) . Matip is a better fit for our set up when he is fit. As that tends to happy on Tuesday evenings when we rarely has games, I think Nat's reliability may count in favour of him getting more games than Matip in a season.

If he wants to go hunting for regular first team football then I guess we will have to say goodbye. However, I can see him getting at least 20 games a season if not more.

If I was him, I would stay for next season, as VVD and Gomez will be coming back to fitness and new CB will be settling in, and then make a decision by Jan 22. He is in contract until summer 23 (AFAIK) so there will be plenty of time to either sign a new contract or to get a decent return on a sale for the club.


3.) 24 May 2021
24 May 2021 12:27:27
I'd rather we kept Philips and moved on Matip. Matip is a great player just his injuries mean he's in for a game or two then out for eight. That's not a sustainable defensive strategy.


4.) 24 May 2021
24 May 2021 14:18:38
Second that Baz. Phillips has proven his metal.


5.) 24 May 2021
24 May 2021 14:45:20
Philips made 20 appearances this season.
I don’t see how he matches or betters that again next season.
Unless we’re really really unlucky again.
Theres big financial reasons for both selling and keeping Philips.
In all likelihood his value with us will never be as high as it is now. However if we want to save the £18mil on Kabak to use elsewhere (help fund Konate? ) we could let Kabak go and hold onto Philips as a 4/ 5th choice option. Down side there is his value will very likely depreciate. That would leave us with VVD, Gomez, Matip, Konate, Philips.
In football terms Kabak seems the better “footballer” than Philips but as we’ve seen Philips is aerially dominant. Between the 2 I think Kabak has the higher ceiling.


6.) 24 May 2021
24 May 2021 15:09:16
I can see him being first choice in cup games (and I think he will be very useful against lower league teams in the early rounds) and I think he will get a handful of appearances in the prem in the early stages as well.
So for us he’s well worth keeping, he’s reliable as back up and doesn’t have the fitness issues of Matip.
But I do think he’s good enough to play regularly somewhere now so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go at the end of next season or even this summer.


7.) 24 May 2021
24 May 2021 16:45:26
how much do people honestly think Phillips would fetch? My guess around £7m so he is a keeper for me.


8.) 24 May 2021
24 May 2021 17:19:40
I don't see how anyone could doubt Nate Phillips abilities. He has shown in 20 league games that he has what it takes and at no time was he really exposed as not fit for purpose. Stick him beside Virgil for a few games and see how it goes especially with an operational midfield in front of them.
Why Liverpool are spending money they don't have on players they might not need when it could be used in other areas of the pitch is beyond me.


9.) 24 May 2021
24 May 2021 17:56:29
I don’t see how Phillips hasn’t shown his worth. He’s never played in the prem and most of the time been the ‘most experienced’ centre half. He’s young, we can trust him and he’s not half bad! Typically we have been bad in the air, he’s good in the air. Say vvd got injured again. would you want Kabak and gomez or Phillips and Gomez. I know who I’d take. I don’t see any benefit of buying Kabak ad selling Phillips personally. Kabak is no quicker, not as good in the air and has a questionable history at best.


10.) 24 May 2021
24 May 2021 18:01:03
I'd sell, unpopular opinion but i just don't think he's good enough. Eventually he will get found out and come in for dogs abuse on here. There was a time yesterday were trent gave the ball away to Townsend and Nat looked like he was in slow motion trying to catch him. When Virg/ Gomez returns we'll be defending near the halfway line and in that case Nat will get exposed big time.


11.) 25 May 2021
25 May 2021 06:15:53
Gomez and Matip will miss 30-50% of games through injury. Nat Philip's should at least be given another season if he wants to stay as back up.

Suspect he will want regular games and that would mean move. And good luck to him if he does, he has been fantastic this season.