Kyle Walker's durability and versatility have made him one of Manchester City's most important players
Kyle Walker was correct when he suggested he had moved on from what he described as "bad decisions" earlier this year when he broke Covid-19 lockdown guidelines twice.
At the time he was out of the England squad and his club took a dim view of him hosting a house party when the public were urged to socially distance. Yet this season he has been the model professional, starting every match this season as others fall injured.
With Gareth Southgate welcoming him back into international football, Tuesday’s victory in Marseille was his 11th game in 37 days as he became Pep Guardiola’s only constant in Manchester City’s defence this season.
Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Benjamin Mendy have all had spells out injured while Walker has been required to start every game.
The clash at the Stade Vélodrome would have been a perfect chance to rest him but Guardiola needs Walker’s reliability ahead of Joao Cancelo, the £60million signing who has been seen off as competition.
It was clear to see why Walker is so important to City and the way Guardiola sets up his team. His first touch was in a central-midfield position, cushioning the ball to Ilkay Gundogan to start an attack.
Walker finds himself in this “inverted full-back” role often, coming inside to be part of the play further up the pitch. He will be aware that Guardiola converted Philipp Lahm into a defensive midfielder and Walker has the intelligence to follow this path in his career.
As it stands, his pace is an asset that means he quickly shifts to a traditional full-back role and he matched Jordan Amavi, the dangerous former Aston Villa winger, for speed on his flank.
When he found himself backtracking with a bouncing ball and Nemanja Radonjić charging him down, he remained calm and cleaned up the situation, doing his defensive work first and foremost. Yet going forward is the key part of the full-back’s role in a Guardiola team and Walker can switch play to his opposite full-back with an attacking pass.
Guardiola will now try and choose the right time to give him a proper rest. He has played in Carabao Cup games to add to his toil in a period of the season where Guardiola says muscular injuries have increased 47 per cent.
“In terms of Kyle, he is a special footballer in terms of his recovery,” Guardiola said. “He can play every three days, I have no doubts. He’s played almost all the minutes and sometimes needs a break. Oleks is back, Nathan will be back and we can give Kyle a rest. He’s one of our captains, his influence is huge. His sympathy, his humanity, he has an incredible heart.”
Walker played at Marseille’s stadium at the 2016 European Championships and his career has been one of longevity. His place looked under threat when Cancelo arrived but he remained first choice.
He was behind Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kieran Trippier for England but is now firmly back in Southgate’s plans as a centre-back. He played as an emergency goalkeeper for City last season and it has paid to be versatile.
Walker has even recovered from his red card against Iceland in his first appearance of the season when it would have been easy for Southgate to leave him out again.
When Guardiola made his changes on Tuesday it was Zinchenko who was replaced, not the full-back who has slogged his way through the busiest start of to a season. Then Laporte needed protecting after City’s lead was doubled through Gundogan. Walker’s time for a rest will come soon but at the moment he is playing out of necessity.
