Kyle Walker: Back To His Best?

The signing of Kyle Walker is synonymous with the resurgence of Manchester City under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola.

In many ways he is the defining signing of the current era. Derided by critics as an expensive folly – another multi million-pound defender to join the array of randomly assembled defensive talent.

Yet the arrival of Walker allowed Guardiola to fully implement his style of play because he suddenly had a full back capable of carrying out the detailed plan. Or at least most of the plan, but more of that later.

Walker had cut his teeth in the Premier League as a powerful and marauding full back, full of pacey direct running and physical power. Initially under the Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino he had looked impossible to play against. Yet Pochettino tweaked his tactical set up and increasingly Walker was sidelined in favour of Kieran Trippier, a player who offered more discipline and perhaps a better crossing ability.

More from Man City Square

It was no surprise that Walker requested a transfer, fearing his reduced starts would impact upon his England future. The surprise was that Tottenham were willing to sell to a rival top Club in the same division.

Now, at the time the media were happily reporting that the fee City agreed to pay Spurs back in July 2017 was excessive. It was widely ridiculed in the media – paying £47 million for a full back. The world had gone mad suggested the pundits.

However, right now that fee is seeming like a bargain. Not much more than half the fee paid last summer by Manchester United for Harry Maguire. Rather than the fee being a mill stone hung around the neck of Kyle Walker, limiting his performances, he simply used it as a starting block to outpace everyone else.

In the 2 full seasons since signing, Walker has won every domestic trophy available. Many more than once. The only medal eluding him is the one that so far has escaped the clutches of City – the Champions League.

That is not to say it has been an easy ride for Walker. In recent months there has been a dip in his performance and concentration levels, which crucially he has acknowledged. Understanding he still has room to grow and improve is an important feature of any top player.

Walker is expected in his role to undertake a variety of tasks. He comes into the midfield to help create overloads and support the attacking play. He is trusted to rampage on the wing, sometimes over lapping, sometimes under lapping, careful not to fill the space occupied by the attacking winger. Nowadays he is also expected to leave room for De Bruyne too who has occasionally played like a right quarterback in the space behind Walker.

Those demands have not always played to his strengths and have on occasion left Walker exposed, marooned in a no man’s land by a poor pass or failure to control the ball. Most of the time his pace alone has helped to cover those errors, yet not always.

The dip in City’s performances, the dip in Walker’s performances and his axing by Gareth Southgate from the England Squad have all undermined Walker. A perfect storm has been created and it takes courage and belief to rise through that. Especially considering City signed some real competition for him in the Summer with the acquisition of Joao Cancelo from Juventus.

Despite all of that Walker has applied himself and focused on the task at hand, which is why his performance against Southampton was almost doubly pleasing. He defended well throughout and posed a significant attacking threat. He achieved an assist for the first goal which was scored by Sergio Aguero. It was his whipped delivery which served to beat the solid Southampton defence. He topped that by adding the winning goal himself in a triumph of determination and belief. The knee slide towards the corner flag in celebration is being copied already by thousands of kids in school playgrounds the world over.

Walker appears to be back to his best and has secured his first assist and goal in the same game, ever in his Premier League career. At just 29 years of age he is capable of learning the other aspects of his game, which when added to his vast experience will prove invaluable as we continue our hunt for success.