It’s not been a good week for Kyle Walker. Left out of Gareth Southgate’s 25-man England squad for their upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers and hooked off at half time by Pep Guardiola in Manchester City’s shock 2-0 defeat to Wolves, the past few days have been some to forget for the full back.
After also missing out on the previous England squad and with competition only increasing in that area of the pitch, Walker faces an uphill struggle to force himself back into international contention.
Although Walkers form has been topsy turvy since the start of the new season, he has also fallen victim to circumstance arguably more so than from his own performances.
Trent Alexander-Arnold only seems to be getting better and better under Jürgen Klopp’s tutelage at Liverpool, demonstrating solidity in defence whilst also showing he also possesses the willingness to get forward and contribute to the Reds forward play, a style of which we would usually associate with Walker.
His superbly taken effort against Chelsea a fortnight ago demonstrates his ability in the final third which has helped propell his remarkable rise, and for now placed him ahead of Walker in the England pecking order.
Kieran Trippiers decision to head abroad with Atlético Madrid has proven an inspired one thus far as he’s proved a vital component of a backline which has only let in 4 goals in 8 La Liga matches. He also currently finds himself behind Alexander-Arnold in the international set up but has been favoured over Walker for backup duties.
Walker now also faces stiff competition for his place at City themselves, the summer arrival of Portuguese João Cancelo placing significant pressure on the Englishman’s shoulders to retain his place in Guardiola’s starting line-up.
Cancelo proved a mainstay in a Juventus side who won their eighth successive league title last year, and over the course of the season will undoubtedly provide Walker with a tug of war over who cements the right back slot as their own.
One silver lining for Walker is Southgate has demonstrated before, most notably at the 2018 World Cup on that sensational run to the semi-finals, is his willingness to deploy Walker as a centre back in three-man backline.
Walker showed great adaptability in a new role on the biggest footballing stage of them all, and It could prove an avenue for his return to the international set up should his rival full backs continue to be favoured by Southgate and the England boss decides once again to operate with 3 at the back and wingbacks either side.
Part of that favouritism is of course down to Walker’s performances individually as well, as Manchester City have shown a defensive frailty that has seen them sink eight points behind Liverpool in the title race at this early stage.
Walker’s poor decision to drop back against Norwich allowed Teemu Pukki to remain onside, and then in his attempts to rectify himself with a challenge on the Finn left Todd Cantwell completely free to put Norwich two goals to the good in an eventual 3-2 victory for the Canaries.
Manchester City conceded 23 goals in the entirety of last years title winning campaign. They have already conceded 9 after 8 games this time around, and Walker must take some of the responsibility for that as a member of the back four who was around for last year’s triumph but seemingly been unable to transfer that solidity over to this campaign.
Of course there is still plentiful amounts of time for City and Walker to turn it around but for now, it has resulted in Walkers absence from the international side, an absence which unless City’s defence improves quickly doesn’t show any signs of changing anytime soon.
(Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports)
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