Kyle Walker has extensively defended himself and the criticism he has faced as he prepares to lift a second trophy in five months as Manchester City’s stand-in captain.
Walker, who almost left City to join Bayern Munich in the summer, promised they could live with the “fire” of expectations and said the pressure and scrutiny was always intense and never more so given City’s recent results.
“I will always be warm,” the 33-year-old said. “If I’m not doing something right, I will always be subject to scrutiny. This has been my entire career but it gives me the fire to keep going. I received a lot of criticism from the fans that I was the captain and that it was all my fault. We are a team. We are in a team game. “I’ve always said throughout my career that if I wanted to do a solo sport, I’d go play tennis or golf.”
Since Kevin De Bruyne was injured in August, Walker has taken over the captaincy from the Belgian, who was also appointed following the departure of Ilkay Gundogan, and delivered a stirring pre-match speech on the pitch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.
It was an incident before City beat Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds in the Club World Cup semi-final and takes Walker and his teammates into Friday’s final against Brazil’s Fluminense. Walker captained the European champions to their win in the UEFA Super Cup final in August and although De Bruyne has returned to training with the first team, Pep Guardiola has said he will not feature this week.
Walker remains the Premier League’s best right-back in his seventh season at the club and also captains England, having made 81 international appearances. It was clear that the ruthless nature of maintaining City’s dominance would have negative consequences.
“As one of the most experienced players and captain, I think I have to take on this burden. It’s something I have to carry on my shoulders. I told the boys in the meeting that we are here because of what we have achieved. Nobody is going to roll out the red carpet for us. We have to go and earn our rights. Other teams think they can come and play against us and. ..you know what?Full credit to them.
“Liverpool, Tottenham and [Crystal] Palace games – we always advocate. I’m not an advocate for defense, but we’re not finishing games like we used to. We always defend on a knife edge. But listen, we defenders have to deal with that pressure. “Sometimes we have to get caught up in the games and save the day.”
How did this criticism reach him? He primarily talked about the radio calls he listened to in his car and a few selected highlights sent to him by his parents. Walker’s rise as one of Europe’s best players was accompanied by a rather chaotic private life, and he often said he found it difficult to cope with the consequences.
“I’m sending him [criticism]. This is natural. I have a mother and father who care about me, and when their son gets beaten… I feel like football is unstable. [Fans have] short memories. I remember driving home. Jeremy [Doku] He came in, he was on fire and suddenly ‘Jack Grealish should have come out.’ Now Jack scores a goal and they say, ‘Keep him at the club.’ He is. This gives me motivation. Keep beating me and I’ll keep coming back.
In a discussion of City’s current situation – they have taken seven points from their last six Premier League games to drop them into fourth place – Walker said it was harder to win the Premier League than the Champions League. He also said this City generation needed to win more for longer to be comparable to the great Manchester United teams of the 1990s and 2000s and the Liverpool dynasty of the 1970s and 1980s.
Hasn’t City, which has the possibility of winning five trophies in a year, already taken its place among the great teams in the recent history of English football? “It sounds easy when you put it that way, but like Manchester United and Ryan Giggs, who has won 13 titles, doing it is as simple as flipping a coin,” Walker said. “I have been involved in the Premier League since I was 19 years old. I am currently 33 years old. “I can assure you that winning the Premier League is much more difficult than winning the Champions League.”
“In the Champions League, like in the final for us, you need a bit of luck to find your way. We played a good game but if [Romelu] Lukaku puts this on the internet, are we here now or not? In the Premier League, this is a 38-game campaign. And I would say that’s a challenge. We take great pride in doing what we do but for me, we’ve won five out of six years, we’ve got to do that a bit more to be recognized as one of the best clubs in the world. [longer].”
Another Premier League title this season would be a record fourth consecutive title for English football. Nothing like this has been done in this period or in the Football League. The epic legal battle with the Premier League rages in the background and casts a shadow.
“I don’t think we’ll be looked at differently for another few years,” Walker said. “To achieve what teams like Liverpool and Manchester United have done… they’ve done it every year for a number of years. So of course it’s a huge achievement to be seen as the best club in the world, but the lads know we’re just starting to build the building blocks of this club. The club has won the Premier League in the past.” won, but to do it in a more dominant way than we’ve ever done here before.”
‘Maybe this is what we need; ‘to return to reality and set out again’
Walker stated that the departures of Gündoğan and Riyad Mahrez had an impact and said, “Experienced Premier League players who know the game inside and out know how the manager wants to work.” De Bruyne’s absence also played a role in this. “Who wouldn’t want Kevin De Bruyne on the pitch? Everybody does that,” Walker said. “Because he scores, he scores assists.”
As for the second half of the Premier League season, he said City’s players are feeling confident.
“We are there. I’m confident. Young people feel safe. Maybe that’s what we need after such a high point; A momentary return to reality and we are on our way again. “Hopefully this will be a starting point where we can go on a good run and pick up points over the Christmas period as well.”
Walker said he was not worried about the prospect of being 10 points behind Arsenal when they returned. “NO. We were in a position where we were ten points clear – [ahead of] Liverpool and then suddenly they attack you on your heels. Whatever happens will happen. We can’t do anything about the Premier League while we’re here [in Saudi] … we’re in the finals now, let’s go win this. Then when we come back, think about the Premier League.”