Dual in the crown
Becoming the first team to land a ‘double Double’ is all the motivation Kyle needs
Kyle WALKER claims Manchester City want to create further history today by becoming the first side to do the ‘double Double’.
No side in English football has ever won the League and FA Cup Double two seasons running but, after becoming the first side to win four titles in a row, City are eyeing another record.
City captain Walker knows local rivals Manchester United would love nothing more than to spoil their party at Wembley today and said that will fire up Pep Guardiola’s side even more.
“The motivation speaks for itself,” said Walker (right).
“To be the first team to do the double Double, the first team to win four in a row, the first team since Manchester United to do the Treble – we keep knocking down these hurdles and this is another we need to knock down.
“But it’s against our rivals, who live in the same city and who are going to want to rain on our parade. We need to make sure that we play the game we have been playing, particularly over the back end of this season.
“To go on the run we went on when Arsenal were as they were is a great credit to us and shows the enthusiasm and the work ethic is still there. We’re still coming into training now and wanting to graft and work hard to put the icing on the cake for the season.
“Last season they could have rained on our parade before we went to the Champions
League final. If we’d lost out, the mood and morale to pick ourselves up again and go to the Champions League final would have been completely different.
“At the weekend we can win a trophy against our arch rivals, it’s a derby, and it’s going to be big because it’s Manchester United, and we could be the first team in history to do the double Double.”
Under Guardiola, City have won 15 trophies in an era of unprecedented success for the blue half of Manchester. And Walker says City’s players are determined to maintain their era of dominance for as long as they possibly can.
“I don’t think any of us will understand what we are achieving until we’ve finished football or it goes back to the norm, which I hope isn’t very soon,” said Walker.
“We have to appreciate times like this, individually and collectively. We’re part of history and we want this to continue.
“Pep is now the manager who has won the most, except for Sir Alex Ferguson, so we’re building this dynasty and this legacy that people will look back on for generations to come.
“When I first came here (to Manchester), you saw a lot of United shirts and now you see a lot of kids wearing City shirts. We’re swinging the pendulum but we need to keep going because the
United and Liverpool teams did it for years and years.
“We’re doing that now and long may it continue.”
It says everything about the relentless winning mentality at City that, after winning four titles in a row, Walker is already eyeing a fifth next term. “We’ll go away after the FA Cup,” added Walker. “A lot of us are going to represent our countries at the Euros or the Copa America, and we’ll do that with pride.
“But I can assure you that, when we come back here for pre-season it might take us a few days to get the cobwebs off, but as soon as that first Premier League game comes around we’re straight back into motion, trying to defend our Premier League crown.
“And why can’t we do five in a row?”
Walker celebrates last season’s final glory (right) and with team-mates (top)