WALKER’S GOT FIGHT ON NOW
KYLE WALKER has been warned he is locked in a battle to win back his England place.
Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate also hinted that he might revert to a back four in the future – after telling Walker that he now faces a treble threat from Joe Gomez, Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Walker did not want to play in a back three at the World Cup but has now also lost his place at right-back and will get a run-out in England’s ’shadow’ team at Leicester this evening.
Southgate said: “We felt it was really good to see Joe against a top-level opponent like Spain.
“And I know that Kyle, in his ideal world, has a preference to play as a wing-back.
“It’s important that we develop the other players as centre-backs, so we have those options. Then if we want to play Kyle as a wing-back, we can.
“I still think Kyle has done a fantastic job for us and can do FROM BACK PAGE Swiss, who were 6-0 winners over Iceland at the weekend, inspired by Liverpool forward Xherdan Shaqiri (below).
England – who have now lost three in a row for the first time in 30 years – have never lost four games in succession. But Southgate insists he will not be cowed. He added: “I’ve got to make decisions that I think are the right ones and not manage in fear and not make decisions that are short term.
“The fans will understandably react to whatever results and that. His role is not dissimilar in any way to the one he plays at Manchester City.
“He can fulfil both and I think over the next 18 months, who’s to say we won’t go to a back four as well? So we’ve got to be open to those things.
“Kyle’s a very versatile defender, with great physical attributes of course, which helps in defending those wide areas, one against one.
“You are not going to get beaten in a counter-attack with him in that position.”
Southgate believes that the back three solved problems in his line-up, but can now think about a traditional back four.
He added: “You’ve always got to review the team and where the best positions for those players might be.
“One of the initial reasons was defensively – were our guys able to cope in a four and move the ball in a four? But if they can start to do that it becomes a more viable option for us.” performances we have and I’m aware of that. But I’ve also got to be strong enough to stick to the way we want to play. To give the team that belief. “The Swiss are a very good team and they were a very good team at the World Cup. I was surprised Sweden beat them. “They were very good on Saturday, although I didn’t think Iceland were very good. They’ve got some very good players in a very structured system. “Their academy teams and clubs all play the same style and are coached the same way.”