Nat Phillips: I dreamed of a Premier League debut as a kid
Nathaniel Phillips achieved a lifelong dream at Anfield on Saturday.
The central defender was handed a first-ever Premier League start in Liverpool’s 2-1 comeback victory against West Ham United and produced an accomplished performance to repay Jürgen Klopp’s faith in him.
Phillips’ only previous competitive appearance for the Reds came in the FA Cup win over Everton last season – an occasion that was sandwiched by loan spells in the German second tier with VfB Stuttgart.
And the opportunity in the top flight – in a game that was won courtesy of goals from Mohamed Salah and substitute Diogo Jota – marked another big step for the 23-year-old, who is now eager to build on a Premier League debut he had been aiming for since childhood.
Read a summary of our post-match interview with Phillips below…
Watch in full: Phillips on PL debut and West Ham win
On it being a dream Premier League debut…
Yeah, and growing up as a kid it’s something I’ve dreamt of throughout my whole life – making my Premier League debut. I’m happy to have got that opportunity today and, most importantly, to have got the good result.
On when he knew he’d be playing…
It was Thursday that the manager mentioned to me that I would be starting as long as nothing happened before then. So, I knew as long as I kept myself fit and ready, then it was going to be something that would happen for me. But I would also say, over the past few weeks, with what’s been happening lately with injuries, I’ve known there might have been a call, so I’ve just been keeping myself ready in case the call did come.
On the character Liverpool showed to come from behind…
Obviously West Ham frustrated us a lot throughout the game and they were good at that. But we were very dominant in possession and we just had to remain patient and have faith in our own abilities that we would get that winner. We’ve done it before, so why couldn’t we do it again?
On the team being motivated further by the goal that was disallowed after a VAR review…
I noticed that as well actually, it was just sort of an instant reaction from the boys. I think once we’d put it in the back of the net, we knew we could do it again. So it wasn’t so much sometimes when a goal gets chalked off and you can think, ‘Oh, it’s just not going our way.’ I don’t think it was like that today, once it got chalked off your reaction was sort of, ‘Right, we’ve done it once, we can do it again.’
On Jota’s impact so far for the Reds…
He’s done really well. What you see is what you get with him – he is just very lively in and around the box, he is obviously good at finishing and has finished off the opportunities he’s got so far. He’s a great player to have, to come off the bench like he did today or to start. He’s been a good addition.
On wanting more experiences like this…
Definitely. At the age I am now I think it’s important I’m playing first-team football. By no means does that mean I’m going to be storming into the manager’s office demanding first-team football, but I need to be pushing on. And after tonight, I’m sure myself I’m capable of playing at this level so I just need to maintain those standards and build on it.