2 | Kyle Walker - 2023/24

[Gaylord du Bois]

It’s the yard head start thing that’s the problem, though, isn’t it?

I'd be interested to see anyone beat him with just a yard start.
My one criticism is that he maybe guilty at times of not closing down the space by making a more angled run to shorten his distance.
But in fairness I rarely see anyone do it nowadays. Even the best can done for pace by getting drawn into a race with the player.
Great defenders used to cut off that angle against pacey players but that's all they had to offer, in a race.
Timing not times is everything, when you're defending.

 

[BlueMonkey79]

It’s the yard head start thing that’s the problem, though, isn’t it?

Who the fuck cares. If he's got enough pace to catch the attacker does it matter if they get a 1, 2 or 3 yard head start on him.
That happens to Ruben or Stones and they ain't catching any quick attackers.

You've answered your own critique. It would be far more of a problem if he wasn't quick enough to catch them, by giving them a head start.

He's confident of his pace and we haven't seen many, if any attackers outpacing him.

He's not faultless this season, but you can point fingers elsewhere at other defenders as well, for the goals we have conceded this season.

He's been no worse than any of our defenders over the course of this season.

Out of the players we signed this summer, he was the most important for me.

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

Sometimes the lack of football understanding and why we are successful, is staggering on here.

I actually noticed this at the start of the season, there was some kind of mindless meltdown as soon as Pep gave him the contract and then the campaign against him began. Also, I'm not sure if certain posters know this, Pep doesn't read the posts here so he doesn't give a fuck how bitter or upset certain "fans" are about Kyle getting a new contract and honestly I don't think Kyle reads the posts here either, although in his case I believe he would if he had the time...but he's probably too busy on Tinder or something, the horny bastard ;)

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I'd be interested to see anyone beat him with just a yard start.
My one criticism is that he maybe guilty at times of not closing down the space by making a more angled run to shorten his distance.
But in fairness I rarely see anyone do it nowadays. Even the best can done for pace by getting drawn into a race with the player.
Great defenders used to cut off that angle against pacey players but that's all they had to offer, in a race.
Timing not times is everything, when you're defending.

What I’m talking about is his defensive abilities seem to have been reduced to “enough speed to make up for his deficiencies.”

As an established, experienced, international full back, one would hope we could talk more about his actual defensive abilities, not just his speed being sufficient to cover up for the lack thereof.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Who the fuck cares. If he's got enough pace to catch the attacker does it matter if they get a 1, 2 or 3 yard head start on him.
That happens to Ruben or Stones and they ain't catching any quick attackers.

You've answered your own critique. It would be far more of a problem if he wasn't quick enough to catch them, by giving them a head start.

He's confident of his pace and we haven't seen many, if any attackers outpacing him.

He's not faultless this season, but you can point fingers elsewhere at other defenders as well, for the goals we have conceded this season.

He's been no worse than any of our defenders over the course of this season.

Out of the players we signed this summer, he was the most important for me.

You’re missing the point that his defensive abilities are almost non-existent, with the exception of speed allowing him to get goalside of an attacker.

How about positioning, covering his man, holding an offside line, making the defensive header (instead of bending and undercutting him), etc.?

He can run fast enough to make up for certain mistakes, but not all of them…and it’s the mistakes that concern me.

Ignore it at your peril.

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

What I’m talking about is his defensive abilities seem to have been reduced to “enough speed to make up for his deficiencies.”

As an established, experienced, international full back, one would hope we could talk more about his actual defensive abilities, not just his speed being sufficient to cover up for the lack thereof.

It's the same as it's ever been. Pep obviously picks him, factoring in his capabilities. He's the only recognised full back in the squad.
It's obvious to me that Pep puts great faith in his ability, as a player and as a captain.
Let's face it, there's no better judge.

 

[fuskarn]

It's the same as it's ever been. Pep obviously picks him, factoring in his capabilities. He's the only recognised full back in the squad.
It's obvious to me that Pep puts great faith in his ability, as a player and as a captain.
Let's face it, there's no better judge.

That same Pep benched him last season, so what has happened this season? Why is he undroppable?

 

[ChicagoBlue]

It's the same as it's ever been. Pep obviously picks him, factoring in his capabilities. He's the only recognised full back in the squad.
It's obvious to me that Pep puts great faith in his ability, as a player and as a captain.
Let's face it, there's no better judge.

Then, let’s close all the player threads and just say, “Well, Pep picks him, so case closed!”

I’ll keep my own counsel on my own opinions, but Pep’s welcome to give me a call anytime if he’d like me to change my opinion.

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

You’re missing the point that his defensive abilities are almost non-existent, with the exception of speed allowing him to get goalside of an attacker.

How about positioning, covering his man, holding an offside line, making the defensive header (instead of bending and undercutting him), etc.?

He can run fast enough to make up for certain mistakes, but not all of them…and it’s the mistakes that concern me.

Ignore it at your peril.

Ignore his/ our record, at yours.
We all know he's going to go at some point. But let's embrace him not castigate him.
He'll be gone soon enough. However, he'll leave with an impressive record as one of our best ever buys.

 

[Barcon]

That same Pep benched him last season, so what has happened this season? Why is he undroppable?

He’s not undroppable. If Pep thought he should be dropped, he would drop him.