SERVES US RIGHT

Guardiola claims Walker is the best No.2 in the world.. and there is more to come

PEP GUARDIOLA has hailed Kyle Walker as the best right-back in the world ahead of the defender’s first meeting with former club Tottenham. Manchester City boss Guardiola believes there is currently no one better in his position than England star Walker, who joined the Blues from Spurs for £52million in the summer. Guardiola has worked with some of the finest rightbacks in the modern game, including Dani Alves and Philipp Lahm, but believes Walker is the top one. “Right now I’d rate him as one of the best, definitely,” said Guardiola. “He has so much energy and is so strong defensively. I’d like to help him to solve, not just the problems through his physicality, but also through his thinking.

“When you’re so strong physically, you solve all of the problems that way. When you get to a certain age, 28, 29 or 30, you need to think more about what is going to happen.

“But when a guy is strong like him, sometimes you have to be calm, have moments to run, other moments to be quiet. You have to use many different ways during a game.

“So I’m always encouraging him to think and then, after, do it. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, they are so fast and he was able to control them.

“Few players in the world can control them like he did. That’s why he’s so, so important for us. “I would like him to feel with the ball – how to run, how to pass. “When a guy is strong like him you want to take a decision through the physicality and sometimes you have to be calm. “There are moments to run, there are moments to play, there are moments to be quiet, there are moments to think, to see. “During the game you have to use many different ways.” Guardiola also hit back at Jose Mourinho for saying City adopt a cynical strategy of “tactical fouling” against opponents. Mourinho’s claim that City commit deliberate fouls to allow Guardiola’s side to regroup after