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Kyle Walker

superfaisty said:
Personally still have high hopes for both Kyles- I have no doubt given time and proper coaching Walker and Naughton can both develop into good full backs for us.

We shouldn't give up on them just yet!
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totally agree.... dont see Naughton as anything other than cover though.

hopefully they both keep improving and that investmet a few years ago pays off.
 
Pandy said:
With the sort of mentality being shown by some people here we would have got rid of players like Assou, Lennon, Huddlestone, Dawson, even Bale (!) long ago - players who were all important last season to some degree. That's excluding players like Kaboul and Boateng, who we actually got rid of. Kaboul had these 'brain fades' in his first stint, yet he was one of the best CBs in the league last year, Boateng has won titles with Milan.

Even the best scouts don't get it right every time, so I don't know how people can say with such certainty that Walker will never be good enough for us. His has the physique and is improving with every game. Right now he isn't brilliant but still we would struggle to do better (especially considering our other needs in the market this summer) so until he hits a plateau in his development it would be an incredible act of hubris to assume a 23 year old full international will never have what it takes to make it in a team currently only good enough for the Europa League.

His technique might not improve markedly, but how he uses the ball and learns to use his stronger attributes will. For example, I think it was for Dempsey's goal against City which Bale crossed from the right with the outside of his left foot, Walker got the ball in a position where earlier in his career/the season he would have had a pointless pot-shot and wasted possession, but instead he played a perfect ball to set up Bale's cross. This exemplifies the improvements to his game this season in terms of decision making, which is key in a player using their strengths and compensating for their weaknesses, even the ones which cannot be improved upon.
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The diffference is every player you mention, Dawson apart, has well developed techinical abilty. In the case of Dawson, he knows his limitations, whilst Walker does not.
 
Gilzeantoscore said:
The diffference is every player you mention, Dawson apart, has well developed techinical abilty. In the case of Dawson, he knows his limitations, whilst Walker does not.
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That's partly my point though, there was a point at which Daws was berated for his hoofing and general lack of composure on the ball. Now though, he has shaped his playing style to compensate for his weak areas and I doubt there are many who think he cannot challenge for a first-team place.

Daws is 29 now, Walker is just 23. Just as 6 years ago many who would now see Dawson as a legitimate and proven member of our squad would have judged him inadequate for our ambitions, in 6 years time I am sure Walker will better understand both the weaknesses he cannot improve on, and how to alter his playing style to compensate for them, just as Dawson learnt to do.

To be a serious threat going forwards he does not need exquisite technique. He has the pace to cause anyone problems if he learns to time his runs correctly and interact cohesively with the players down the right flank (RCB, RCM, RW, [R]ST).

Moreover, his delivery is and will continue to improve. Against Chelsea in the FA Cup Semi last year I was in the Chelsea end, my mate (a Chelsea fan, to whom I owe that wonderful experience...) saw Walker raging forwards into space and was terrified, I assured him the cross from deep would be ballooned straight into the stands. It was. We used to have the same problem with Lennon, just like Walker, all he seemed capable of were cutbacks from the byline. By better understanding how to accelerate into enough space to have time to slow down and deliver a more accurate ball, just as Lennon did, Walker's crossing from range will improve.

Nearly every 23 year old full back of this nature has many weaknesses (name me some who have been perceived as world class before the age of 26?). It is up to the management and the player himself to improve upon or limit the effect of these weaknesses. For a full-back, decision making has a lot to do with this, and decision making only improves with experience.

I'm not saying he will become world-class or will even improve significantly, but to write him off now is nothing other than short-sighted.
 
Think Walker finished the season strongly. I I feel it might have been since his horrendous error at Liverpool he has tightened up. I didn't used to like him much but after seeing Naughton at right back and how poor his positioning was in comparison, he was never closer than ten yards to his man, I've come to appreciate Walker more. Naughtom has had a tough time moving around a lot, I don't think he's a bad player either.

He does have technique too. His touch is fine and he shoots well. Also I remember one pass around Xmas time when he sliced this outside of the foot pass to set Lennon free on the flank. He was about 30 or 40 yards back and it went through three of four players. It was better than any other pass I can remember last season other than that Bale one for Dempsey. Forget who they were against.
 
Walker definitely improved as the season went on and by the end he was actually our stronger performance.

His performances against Basle away and Chelscum away were exceptional.

I like him and he does make mistakes, he does have a bit of a Carragher about him in that the recoveries may make him look better than what he actually is but Walker is still learning and will only get better. His crossing has to be improved though, so many times he was in great positions and crossing was wayward.
 
I concede he was better than earlier in the season, but he was coming from a very low base. As to other young defenders I don't know of too many who have made so many blunders in crucial moments of crucial games as Walker.
 
Gilzeantoscore said:
I concede he was better than earlier in the season, but he was coming from a very low base. As to other young defenders I don't know of too many who have made so many blunders in crucial moments of crucial games as Walker.
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is that because you do not watch many other right backs on a regular basis? It was his second season after a great first, he is potentially rb for 6-10 yrs we are not a team that can afford to overlook potential.

Johnson is considered the best RB in England and he makes mistakes almost every game. Richards was once the next great hope but he made a hash of things regularly.

Walker is what he is a great prospect with one very good season and one very bad.
 
Just turned 23 and two seasons as a regular and being written off by some, he is still a kid and last season would have taught him that fans who raved about him the previous year and who now slate him are fickle.

He has not reached his peak yet for christ sake.
 
parklane1 said:
Just turned 23 and two seasons as a regular and being written off by some, he is still a kid and last season would have taught him that fans who raved about him the previous year and who now slate him are fickle.

He has not reached his peak yet for christ sake.
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I'm not fickle, as I did not think much of his first season either. Vastly overrated right from the start IMO.
 
I don't think he'll ever be that great since his technical ability is not outstanding enough, BUT if he works on his decision-making and positioning then he can still be a big player for us, we just need a more cultured, possession-oriented LB on the other side. Assuming Bale plays RWF most of the time next season, whoever plays behind him wouldn't need to be an intricate playmaker playing triangles with Bale so much as someone fast, energetic, and high-stamina enough to cover the huge expanse of space Bale vacates in both an attacking and defending sense - which I think Walker can definitely do, if he can iron out the mistakes and someone (eg. a striker) finally makes crosses useful in the final third.
 
Re: Kyle Walker to Chelsea

£20m and they can have him. Would cost us £10m - £15m to get a established, international but still promising and young RB so would need a good bit more than that
 
Re: Kyle Walker to Chelsea

Funny thread, this. He is our automatic first choice, an England international but I never conceded the possibility that another club could want him!
 
Re: Kyle Walker to Chelsea

There's been rumours bubbling under the surface for a while that Mourinho was interested in him. The links originally suggested that he would be a transfer target for Real Madrid.
 
Re: Kyle Walker to Chelsea

Azpilcueta is a top class right back, I would say he is better than our Kyle. Doubt he would go there to be 2nd fiddle to him.
 
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