Kyle Walker, the man of the match in England’s plodding 1-1 draw with Ukraine, tried to retire from international football after Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, Gareth Southgate has revealed.
The news, subsequently confirmed by Walker, stirs both a sense of alarm at how close England came to losing an outstanding defender and competitor and also provides a clear window into the England dressing room.
Walker’s plan to step down stemmed from his appreciation of the other talent piling through at right back, such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James and Kieran Trippier, reflecting England’s remarkable strength in depth. Walker was twice talked out of it by Southgate, reflecting both the manager’s human touch and the respect in which players hold him.
This sums up where England are under Southgate: a gifted collection of footballers and a manager with good people skills who has changed the culture around the team. But England need more. Southgate’s job patently revolves around expert decision-making as well as astute man-management.
To Walker, first. It was quite the revelation by Southgate. During a post-match chat about Walker’s stellar performance, and his first international goal coming on his 77th appearance at the age of 33, Southgate said: “I’ve talked him out of retirement twice!
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“Out of international football,” he clarified. “After the Euros and after the World Cup. I think he loves being here and he’s wanted to keep going and now he’s thinking about how many caps he can get. He’s critical to us. If we’re talking about world-class players in their position in our team then he’s probably one of them.”
Noting the surprise in his small audience gathered near the team bus by the Tarczynski Arena, Southgate added: “I probably realise I’ve overstepped here. I think he [Walker] didn’t realise how much value we have for him and how important he is for us. He’s probably not going to thank me for sharing that!”
Walker caps a stellar solo performance against Ukraine by scoring his first England goal in 77 appearances
ADAM NURKIEWICZ/THE FA/GETTY IMAGESADAM NURKIEWICZ/THE FA/GETTY IMAGES
Ten minutes later Walker hurried past towards the team bus but stopped when asked to confirm Southgate’s disclosure. As the full back was about to reply, the manager suddenly appeared behind him and said, “I told you!” This was good man-management. Southgate realised he had overstepped the mark, giving news that really was Walker’s to give, and had headed back to the dressing room to alert the player.
Walker took it in his stride, laughed and explained his thought process, especially, as it was mentioned to him, because he was playing so well. “Yes, I am playing well,” he said. “At the time that me and Gareth spoke, the likes of Trent [Alexander-Arnold], Tripps [Kieran Trippier], Reece James coming through . . . you do think your days are numbered. And to sacrifice how many holidays and summers that I’ve sacrificed? I’ve been doing this since I was 19 [actually 20] when I joined the senior team. I’m 33 now.”
Walker was first called into the England squad aged 20 by Fabio Capello and made his senior debut at 21. Roy Hodgson, Sam Allardyce and Southgate all picked him, although he had a season, 2019-20, out in the cold and was promptly sent off on his recall in Iceland. But Southgate values him highly. “Me and Gareth have a good relationship off the field,” Walker added. “We do speak and I feel that I can still bring something to the team. So why stop?”
Southgate believes Walker, a Treble winner with Manchester City, has improved with age. “He’s become a really mature leader for us,” he said. “He’s got huge experience of winning big matches and all week . . . his focus was really clear, the way he was organising on the pitch, his influence on younger players in the group. He’s enjoying the extra responsibility he’s had at his club [as vice-captain] and I know he’s ready to embrace that with us as well.”
In the past year Walker has embraced the challenge of coping with elite flyers like Kylian Mbappé, of France, at the World Cup and Vinícius Jr, of Real Madrid, in the Champions League.
Here in Wroclaw, Walker stifled the pacey if haphazard Mykhailo Mudryk, the Ukraine left winger. “Mudryk has not hit the heights yet in the Premier League but he’s a bloody dangerous player,” Southgate added. “His [Walker’s] ability to control those counterattacks was critical.”
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Further testimony to Walker’s quality came from Jordan Pickford, also pausing to talk en route to the bus. Asked whether “people properly appreciate” Walker, England’s goalkeeper replied: “They should. He’s the best right back in the world for me. [Look at] his pace against Mudryk, who’s absolutely rapid, and games against Mbappé, his defensive stuff as well.
“He’s got that experienced head and he’s been at City winning titles and [with] everything he’s done his career, he helps us as players.” Pickford added that Walker is the quickest player he’s seen: “He’s got to be.”
England were indebted to Walker’s speed, timing, determination and confident touch for the equaliser that gained a point. Running on to Harry Kane’s magnificent pass over the head of Vitalii Mykolenko, Walker controlled the ball with his right foot, adjusted his body, then feinted to shoot across Georgiy Bushchan. Walker stayed calm as the ball rose up before beating the ’keeper at his near post.
Concerns about Southgate’s tactical acumen and game-management resurfaced in the Ukraine match
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And so back to Southgate. The tactical concerns, and failure to respond quickly to changes in a game, were highlighted during the Euro 2020 final when Southgate was outthought by the more decisive Roberto Mancini.
Those concerns remain, including the loyalty to two veteran campaigners at risk of looking rusty. Harry Maguire is a good defender, and a threat at attacking set pieces, but he needs to be playing regularly and he’s not at Manchester United. Against Ukraine, the more mobile Marc Guéhi enhanced his credentials to partner John Stones at centre back when the City man is fit.
Jordan Henderson, already an emblem of Southgate’s caution, is not playing in an elite league any more, may lose sharpness further and failed to track Oleksandr Zinchenko’s run for Ukraine’s goal.
The mess on the left against Ukraine, where James Maddison, Jude Bellingham and Ben Chilwell were made to form a triangle of Bermuda facets where all their strengths disappeared, was exploited by Ukraine for Zinchenko’s goal and needed sorting out earlier. With Maddison caught between two roles, left-sided and drifting in, Chilwell was isolated and exposed one-v-two against Viktor Tsygankov and Yukhym Konoplya.
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“This week James Maddison in training was absolutely outstanding, so we were looking at him off the wide role,” Southgate explained of his decision to use Tottenham Hotspur’s in-form No 10 in a hybrid role. Southgate also managed to do what nobody else in La Liga has achieved and that was subdue Bellingham. Southgate acknowledged that “it was very congested in there, very difficult for all of them to find space”.
It’s no time to panic, or to call for regime change, and a point against a fired-up Ukraine, playing before their impassioned fans, is no disaster. But this talent pool must not be squandered. The likes of France, particularly, and Portugal look a cut above but a team of Pickford — Walker, Stones, Guéhi, Luke Shaw — Alexander-Arnold (or Phil Foden), Declan Rice, Bellingham — Bukayo Saka, Kane and Marcus Rashford would surely have the balance, work-rate, creativity and cutting edge to progress far across Germany next summer.
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