‘Big and strong’ – Ashley Phillips is already earning lots of praise away from Spurs
Ashley Phillips appears to be enjoying life at Stoke City and, after his first outings for the club, the Spurs loanee has been attracting praise from fans and media connected to the Championship outfit.
Two clean sheets in two games
The Tottenham youngster is yet to feature for the Lilywhites, but he has been making the most of his loan spells since joining Spurs last summer.
After a brilliant stint with Plymouth Argyle last season, during which time he won the club’s Young Player of the Season award, Phillips has another term in the Championship to show what he is capable of with Stoke City.
The towering centre-half has now started the last two games for Stoke; a 5-0 win in the Carabao Cup and a 1-0 win in the league.
With two clean sheets in two games, it’s easy to see that things have been going well for Phillips at his new club, but he’s also been getting lots of credit for his individual performances.
Phillips received a 7.5 rating from Stoke On Trent Live for his role in the league win over Plymouth, with the outlet writing: “League debut. Very big and strong, literally carrying opponents on his back at one stage.”
A look at the stats
Digging deeper into Phillips’ role in those two wins for Stoke, it is clear what a big factor he has been in shoring up their defence.
In the win over Middlesbrough in the cup, Phillips made three interceptions and blocked two shots, while also registering a 93% passing accuracy rate from 43 passes. He won one aerial duel in that game, too (WhoScored).
Meanwhile, in the game against Plymouth, Phillips registered a whopping seven clearances and one interception in defensive areas. His passing accuracy was a little lower, though, at 86.5% from 37 passes.
Spurs Web Opinion
If Phillips has another strong year this year, there’s no reason he can’t step up into Ange Postecoglou‘s senior squad next season as our fourth-choice centre-back. It would be great to see, and I’ve every confidence that he will have a brilliant campaign with Stoke this season.
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