“I’m not letting someone else retire me,” Kyle Walker says defiantly in the Houston Dynamos dressing room. “I’m going to let someone have a decision to make where you’re going to have to pick me.” Just before Manchester City are about to head out to train ahead of their first pre-season friendly in Houston, Walker sat down with reporters for a chat about his plans for club and country. When the time is up, it’s clear that Walker, 32, has no plans of giving up his status as first-choice right-back for City and England any time soon. The first question sets the tone for the conversation — ‘do you get the respect you deserve?’
Kyle Walker said: “I feel in certain parts of the country I do, it’s about opinions. That’s why we all like football, just because your opinion could be different to mine. You look at Trent [Alexander-Arnold], Joao [Cancelo], Reece James. We’re blessed in this league to have the array of fullbacks that we do. I just try to go out and do the job, the things I’m good at. My main objective is stopping goals and making sure we don’t concede goals and get a clean sheet.”
Those three full-backs Walker lists are players that he has successfully seen off challenges from for his place in the last year or so, and he credits them with making him a better player.
Kyle Walker continues: “Having the competition I had at England and also here at Man City has made me a better player, made me having to adapt my game in a certain way and probably study the game a little bit more. Before, we could all play football in the Premier League, but it’s the 10 per cent that makes a difference between being a good Premier League full-back to a world class one. I think it’s mental [improvements]. Keeping your head on the game. You train for an hour and a half each day, you need to make sure you’re concentrating for that hour and a half and you have to perform on a Saturday. Live right on and off the field, and just dedicate yourself to the game.”
So how long can Walker keep up that lifestyle and level of performance?
Kyle Walker said: “I feel fantastic, if you said to me at 21 that I’d still be playing Premier League football at 32 at the standard I’m playing at, I’d have probably said no. Was I probably living a little bit different to what I am now? One million per cent. I’m looking after myself the best as I can. I feel healthy and fit, I feel quick still and sharp. I’m still eager to learn. Whenever there’s a question to ask the manager or something I feel I can improve on, I’m the first to ask him and make sure that’s something I can do to benefit the team. You can’t have an off day. If you have an off day you get found out. If you get found out in training you don’t play the game. I said before the World Cup that if I didn’t work under Pep for the year I did then I don’t think I could have played in a back three under Southgate. It’s learning the game, the game’s evolving. The standard of players coming in, the quality of players coming in is incredible.”
That brings us onto the topic of England, with a World Cup coming up where Walker will be looking to fend off the challenge of Alexander-Arnold for a third successive tournament. Even with a host of talented right-backs in the country, Walker says there is no chance of him surrendering his place any time soon.
Kyle Walker said: “I’ll try to [continue for as long as possible]. To get to where I’ve got to with the amount of caps I’ve got to, again I never thought I’d do it. Just each year after each tournament you assess what you can do. Also there are people biting on my heels who are very good players and sometimes you have to lead the way for them. I got sent off against Iceland on my 49th cap and I did an interview after basically writing myself off. I came back, looked through the interview and said I can’t act like that. When I’m ready to say I’m done, then I’ll say I’m done. I’m not letting someone else retire me, I’m going to let someone have a decision to make where you’re going to have to pick me. If I’m in the squad, fantastic, to represent your country at a World Cup, not many people can say they’ve done that. I’ll keep performing for Man City and keep doing what I need to be doing and hopefully I’m on the plane to Qatar.”
Walker speaks of putting his body on the line, specifically in the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, but he assures us that he’d have played through the pain if City got to the final. And with another reference to the need to be on top of his game in every training session, it’s clear he sees himself as a leader of the group at the Etihad.
Kyle Walker added: “Over the last few years we’ve missed Kompany, Silva and now Fernandinho. They’re big characters. They know the blueprint of the club. This is my sixth season now so hopefully the younger lads will look up to me more and kind of lean on me if they need advice, whether that’s football or in life. We’re a team, we’re one big family and we get through it. There’s Gundo, Kevin, all experienced international players who can help the younger lads coming through who might need a push on certain games.”
After Walker was ushered out of one dressing room to another to begin the training session, he went on to wear the City armband the following day against Club America when Kevin De Bruyne was replaced. With a new captain to be decided ahead of the new season, don’t bet against Walker getting a few votes from his teammates, and certainly don’t write him off ahead of the World Cup.
