Former West Ham star Anton Ferdinand has described the debut performance of Kalvin Phillips at West Ham as “one of the worst” he has seen in terms of the midfielder’s ability on the ball.
The England star joined David Moyes’ side on loan from Man City until the end of the season and he has had a tough start to life in East London.
Phillips was made to pay for a mistake a little over two minutes into his London Stadium debut against Bournemouth last Thursday as Dominic Solanke opened the scoring.
Speaking on the Vibe with Five podcast about the midfielder’s debut, Ferdinand said: “It was one of the worst debuts I’ve ever seen in terms of ball retention in those first 25 or 30 minutes.
“He lost the ball about five times after that [mistake] – 10-yard passes.
“You’ve got to get him fit. You can train as much as you want – you only get fit playing games.”
The Man City loanee also struggled at the weekend against Man United as another mistake led to a goal during the 3-0 defeat.
It is too early to judge Phillips but the early signs are not good for Hammers fans.