A unique system and a new language: How Nat Phillips is adjusting to Stuttgart life

Liverpool loanee Nat Phillips has to get used to a unique system and a new language with Stuttgart but is doing well during the first stages of his loan.

The Reds only sent Phillips out to the German side fairly late in the day and the deal came around because Marcin Kamiński got injured and new signing Maxime Awoudja sent off, so cover was required.

And that cover came in the form of the Liverpool youngster, who is on his first loan away from the club and is playing his first batch of senior football at the age of 22.

With four appearances so far, Phillips is doing well despite the stacked squad and competition for places. Stuttgart already have Marc Oliver Kempf (66 Bundesliga appearances) and Holger Badstuber (166 Bundesliga appearances) in the squad, but Kempf is also currently crocked and fate just seems to be aligning for Phillips.

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But you can tell he lacks the experience of his squad mates, but Phillips often makes up for it with his raw skills. 90min.com’s Bundesliga writer Ben Carter elaborated:

"“His tackling and passing are good, positioning is sometimes a bit iffy (again probably down to game time) and he needs to work on his communication, but that’ll come with the language and once VfB have a settled defence – we’ve started with the same back-four just twice out of five games.”"

Kempf is currently sidelined with a muscle injury so Phillips could be in line to get those minutes he needs. And as he’s playing a lower standard, any inevitable mistakes that he will make aren’t punished as much – Carter added.

"“Overall he’s been impressive, but you can tell he’s not had enough game time for his age. (He’s made) a couple of individual errors which luckily aren’t punished all that often in the 2. Liga.”"

And that point is a good one. At 22, the defender is playing the first senior football of his career and will want to kick start quickly. However, Phillips has been able to get used to manager Tim Walter’s unusual formation, which often uses the central defender as an attacking midfielder.

"“He’s been pretty quick to fit into Walter’s system. There’s a lot of movement with the back four to start attacks, CBs sometimes end up in a No 10 position when VfB are on the ball. Overall it’s a very unique style so it’s unlike anything most players have played in before,” explained Carter."

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will want the youngster to come abroad, experience something new, work on his technique and come back a more rounded footballer. That looks like it’ll happen here, whether it be recovering from mistakes or receiving the ball in advanced areas.