Kyle Walker : 2018/19 performances

[mccity]

He has played a hell of a lot of football and is suffering for it. Danilo is growing into our squad and should start ahead of him for now.

With England he is possibly losing ground to others. With Gomez and Alexander-Arnold fit you would probably have both in (1), Stones and Maguire as the other centre backs. I recognise both are currently injured but he isn't a certainty to start for England at RB or RCB. Trippier has had a worse season so he is probably ahead of him but Trippier has been excellent for England so probably gets some leeway for poor form with Spurs.

Rest him against Burnley too and hopefully he is back to higher levels against Newcastle. If not, with Mendy returning, Danilo has the right back slot. Better on the ball even if he hasn't the pace to get out of defensive difficulties. In general he is probably a better defender anyway (2) and Walker hasn't offered much end product this seaaon (3). Danilo has probably done more in the handful of games he has played.(4)

Some decent points there that I can get behind, except for:

(1) No. Don't let the media influence you too much. A decent number of Liverpool fans were starting to get a bit upset about Alexander-Arnold prior to his injury. Don't forget Gomez is a centre back now.
(2) I'd personally have it the other way around, I've always had Walker as the better defender and Danilo as the better attacker. Walker's ability to read play is underrated because of his physical prowess.
(3) When has Walker EVER offered much end product? He's always good for the odd assist and such but his role, at least for City has always been in the buildup rather than the finish. When you see him busting a gut to overlap it's more as a means of positional influence to stretch play more than anything. And he does that well.
(4) More how? Like more in his individual games than Walker has done in any individual game? I disagree but that's subjective, you could totally be right about that. But more for the season in total? That's not very fair.

 

[mosssideblue]

I feel when Mendy is back up to speed, Walker will have a job getting back in

 

[domalino]

I feel when Mendy is back up to speed, Walker will have a job getting back in

Definitely. On form he should be nowhere near the side.

He needs some time out, you can see he's frustrated at his own performances now as well.

 

[mosssideblue]

Definitely. On form he should be nowhere near the side.

He needs some time out, you can see he's frustrated at his own performances now as well.

I'm hoping it is just fatigue, but he has not been playing well recentky

 

[SebastianBlue]

I'm hoping it is just fatigue, but he has not been playing well recentky

I think you are right about it being down to fatigue, physical and mental. He often looks like his body is either trying to catch up to his mind or the other way round.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

I thought he was pretty good today going forward but more defensive lapses including the loss of ball control and challenge that got him a booking.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Definitely. On form he should be nowhere near the side.

He needs some time out, you can see he's frustrated at his own performances now as well.

He’s not worked on his weaknesses, which is a shame within this set up..

Hes constantly boxed in, targeted, to put pressure on his weak left side, which he has to check in on under pressure... it’s been exposed countless times this year

 

[christened at st marks]

Pep il sort it on way or other

 

[Gabriel]

Walker and Otamendi were both guilty of the same thing yesterday: taking the ball towards a player who is face on. Both players did so through poor touches and both errors could have been costlier. It’s not the first time Walker has done this in recent weeks. He is encouraged to drive infield before laying the ball back, but he simply cannot do that when the opponent is facing him rather than adjacent to him. If he does, then the likelihood is that his touch will see him over hit the ball and he’ll end up throwing himself in to recover it.

In the last few weeks, we’ve had Delph sent off as well as Kompany and Walker carded for throwing themselves recklessly, sometimes repeatedly, into challenges. In all cases, the decision was marginal, but a red card could have been shown. So, unless players stick to the system, it’s almost inevitable that we’ll lose a player in a key game. They either stick to the script and pass it in the first and secon thirds of the pitch, or Guardiola either benches them or waits for the inevitable, and thereafter it’s going to be difficult to regain his trust.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

Walker's game is all about his pace and looking at him recently he has lost half a yard hopefully this is just fatigue , Danilo is the better option on current form but Walker will eventually regain his place he is still one of the best right backs in europe when fully fit , and when the chips are down and we are scrapping for a result then Walker gets my vote over Danilo because Walker is a player who gets stuck in regardless and is rarely second best to any winger.