England fans slam Southgate for bizarre claim of struggling to replace Phillips

Gareth Southgate has been slammed by England fans after claiming that England don't have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips.

He claimed that natural right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is being used in an 'experiment' to fill a void he believes was left by Phillips.

His revelation came after England's lacklustre 1-1 draw with Denmark in which Alexander-Arnold was again taken off for Connor Gallagher.

Fans were unimpressed by the result, with many baffled by Southgate's claims which essentially suggested that the Three Lions miss Phillips.

Twitter account 'Out out of Context Football Manager' joked that Southgate saw Phillips to the same standard as Spain and Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets.

One fan said: 'He. Did. Not. Say. This. KALVIN PHILLIPS,' while another exclaimed 'you have to be winding me up' in response to Southgate's claims.

A Twitter user named Gianfranco Shola wrote: 'Not a single drunken idiot across the entire nation turned to his mate any point during that ninety minutes of hell and muttered the words 'what we need is prime Kalvin Phillips back.'

Another account posted a video of a distressed man saying he 'can't do it' with the caption: 'English fans asking Southgate to forget about Kalvin Phillips and move on.'

The social media account for LADbible posted an image of Ant and Dec laughing on their Saturday Night Takeaway show, with the caption of them saying: 'Now say 'we don't have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips'.

Paddy Power's account commented: 'Trent gets a lot of flak, but surely the gravest insult he's ever received is his own manager coming out and basically saying he's not as good as Kalvin Phillips.'

England fans also pointed out that Southgate could make use of youngsters Kobbie Mainoo or Adam Wharton.

@jonhotspur88 wrote: 'Cannot get over this. Phillips last played for England November last year. So he’s had seven months to adapt and find a way to play without a natural No.6 & he’s 'experimenting' at a major tournament.

'He took Wharton & Mainoo. Nobody forced him to. Use them or why bother?'

While another fan wrote: 'Imagine being Mainoo and Wharton sat on the bench hearing your manager saying we haven't replaced Kalvin Phillips.

'Wouldn't even bother turning up to training for the rest of the tournament.'

Alexander-Arnold has started alongside Declan Rice in defensive midfield for both of England's Euro 2024 games, only to be replaced by Chelsea's Gallagher.

Asked about Alexander-Arnold after the draw with Denmark, Southgate said: 'He's had some moments where he has delivered what we thought he would.

'We know it is an experiment and we don't have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips, but we're trying some different things and at the moment we're not flowing as we'd like, that's for sure.'

Phillips' last cap for England was in November last year as the Three Lions stuttered to a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia in Euros qualifying.

The midfielder had a disappointing loan spell at West Ham in the second half of last season after starting just two games for Manchester City in the opening months.

Southgate had been perceived by some as overly loyal to a star who had struggled for game time, partly due to injury, after joining Man City from Leeds for £45million in July 2022.

Between September and November of 2023, he played as many games for England as he did Premier League games in the first half of the season - four.