Nat Phillips: Liverpool defender on Cruyff-turning Zlatan Ibrahimovic and life on loan at Derby and elsewhere

It is the Champions League. 

You're at the San Siro. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is closing you down inside your own box. You're a centre-back, one renowned for his physicality, aerial ability and general no-nonsense approach.

So what do you do... ?

• A) GET IT OUT! Whack it for a corner, a throw-in, anything. Just get rid.
• B) BACK TO 'KEEPER! There isn't much space, but you can probably just about shepherd it back to him and hope he clears it.
• C) PANIC! This is the San Siro. This is Zlatan. The situation is hopeless. Just give up.

Or D) Cruyff-turn your way coolly out of trouble. Calmly step out of defence and stroke the ball into a team-mate in midfield.

Nat Phillips, of course picked option D.

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Derby County
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"It's not like I thought, 'I'm going to do something to try and showboat here!' he tells Sky Sports, a big smile on his face.

"The ball dropped at my feet after it had kind of ricocheted around a few legs. It was a bit of an awkward situation.

"I was actually going to whack it out of play. But out of the corner of my eye I saw Zlatan closing me down from the angle.

"I think he was trying to read me smashing it out, so I just kind of naturally had a quick change of mind. I rolled my studs over it and turned out the way.

"Afterwards I could hear the reactions of my team-mates and the stadium, so I know it must have looked nice.

"It was only when I saw the replays after it that I really got to see it properly for myself."

Now at Derby County on loan, I put the question to him of whether his current manager, Paul Warne, would be keen on such a move.

"I don't think he'd be a huge fan of it!" Phillips laughs.

"Like with any of these sorts of moments, if it comes off then it's great and everyone's happy. But it's not something you want to be making a habit of as a centre-back."

It is hard to think of anyone who has played fewer games for Liverpool who is thought of as warmly among the fanbase as Phillips.

Just 29 appearances in total, but 20 of those came in the 2020/21 season, when an injury crisis struck their defence and he was called upon, pretty much from nowhere, to fill in.

Phillips was brilliant. He became a leader at the back in the absence of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip. Helping steer the club to multiple clean sheets and into qualifying for the Champions League.

Manager Jurgen Klopp, and club legend Jamie Carragher, were among those to fall a little for the centre-back.

"To have gotten that opportunity to play at that level for Liverpool, it was an amazing time for me and I look back on it really fondly," Phillips says.

"It was a strange season. But it was something I was proud to be a part of, and I was delighted we managed to finish so strong.

"It really helped my confidence and I thrived off it. The whole run-in was great, but to get the goal against Burnley was a real special moment for me."

Unfortunately for Phillips, the injury crisis at Liverpool abated the following season and he was back on the sidelines. Loan spells have followed since at Bournemouth, Celtic, Cardiff and now Derby.

Phillips is now 27, and is in a strange situation where he has never really had a permanent base.

There may be some frustration at the constant loans, but he has only ever made moves he feels have benefitted his own journey.

"When I go back to Liverpool for pre-season it's always about keeping myself in good shape and training well, then just seeing where the cards are lying and go from there," he says.

"There's been talk of me going out permanently for a while. It was never really that anyone closed that door, it's just circumstances unfolded over seasons.

"I just wanted to play as much football as possible. That's always been my goal and what I've always wanted to do.

"It would be nice to nail down something a bit more permanent at some stage. It certainly makes life easier in general when there's less moving around.

"I try not to look too far ahead, but I know I'm no longer in my early '20s.

"Ultimately, I've always prioritised my career and I'm happy to make those sacrifices if I need to.

"But I do feel in general centre-backs tend to put out their best years later in their career. Hopefully I can do the same."

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With Phillips' journey has come an element of reflection. He knows what he has to offer, and he is starting to show his best for Derby again.

"I've gained a lot of experience from my previous loans, and my spell playing for Liverpool as well," he says. "That is something I can bring to everywhere I go now.

"I've learned to live in the moment really, because there's only so much you can control about the future in this game.

"You can tie yourself in knots thinking about what may happen in certain situations, but all you can do is try and give your best every day and see where it leaves you."

Sometimes football can leave you at Derby, other times it can leave you silkily turning past an icon in an Italian amphitheatre. It is the beauty of the game, really.

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