Manchester City star Kalvin Phillips has said criticism over his weight from boss Pep Guardiola was "hard to take".
Phillips was dropped from the City squad for their Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool last December, with Guardiola claiming he'd returned from the Qatar World Cup "overweight" and "in no condition to play".
That was a low point of a tough campaign for the midfielder, 27, who has more trophies than league starts to show from his first season at the Etihad.
Reflecting on it on BBC Radio 5 Live, Phillips admitted: “I'd probably say it was a little bit hard to take just because of how much it was oversized and how many people started talking about it.
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"I know obviously the manager made his comments and stuff like that, and I respected them because I did come back and I - I wasn't overweight for me, but the manager has seen it in a very different way.
"I did my best to try to get as fit as possible and I was on the bench for the Leeds game straight after that and I was fit for every game since. It was just one of those things where there was just a misunderstanding between me and some staff members.”
Did Guardiola treat Phillips unfairly? Let us know in the comments section.
Phillips is set to be the focus of a new Amazon Prime documentary, Kalvin Phillips: The Road to City, which will be available from July 19. It will give a behind-the-scenes look at his move to City and his struggles over the last 12 months.
On that point, he added: “I spoke to quite a few of the lads about their first season at City and how difficult they found it.
"They said exactly the same thing, saying it takes at least 12 months for somebody to really understand what the manager wants you to do, the way he wants you to play and how he wants you to work.
"Hopefully, next season will be a lot better for me. I am just looking forward to getting my head down, seeing the lads again and just getting the season underway."
