Spainful start for kid Jack
LIONS REJECT KYLE’S CITY PLACE IS UNDER THREAT
(right) WILLY BOLY has been told to try to keep up his goal-den touch at Manchester City tomorrow.
The 6ft 4in defender popped up with a last-gasp strike to give Wolves a 1-0 Europa League win at Besiktas on Thursday.
Boly then walked into a barrage of backslaps and wisecracks from his delighted – but stunned – team-mates.
Skipper Conor Coady revealed that his goal came as a surprise because more often than not he struggles to hit a barn door in training.
Coady said: “He showed a lot of cool with that goal – we never see that in training. He usually thrashes
PEP GUARDIOLA has urged Kyle Walker to prove Gareth Southgate wrong for axing him from the England squad.
But the Manchester City boss has also warned Walker that his place at his club is under threat – let alone in the Three Lions set-up. Walker has been left out of Southgate’s last two squads and fears his international career is in tatters at the age of 29.
Guardiola wants the full-back to produce the form that proves he should not have been ignored, saying: “It is a big challenge for him to show the manager of England how good he is and how he comes back.
“Life is about challenges, targets, and he has one in front of him in every game to show how good he is.
“He came here as an incredible player – and he still is. He’s physical, strong and fast and we will try to help him to be even better. “We ask him many times to attack from wide, but as a player he can do everything.
“The opinion is that of Gareth, he made the selection, he decided the last two times and Kyle respects it. So do I.”
Southgate has overlooked at it. But to score – and with his left foot as well – tremendous.
“We know what Willy brings to this team. He’s so solid. He’s such a big unit and he helps this club no end. He’s a fantastic footballer.
“It’d be nice if Willy got another one on Sunday. He can cause a bit of hassle in the box. He might not be the best in training but he got one when it counts.”
Wolves look to be getting back on track after a slow start to the season.
While they’ve won six of their seven Europa League ties this the Manchester City right-back in favour of Trent AlexanderArnold and Kieran Trippier for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
Guardiola added: “Gareth does what he does in the best interests of the national team.
“It’s a big challenge to show how good he is, but my opinion won’t change just because he’s not in the national team. He remains an incredible player.”
Despite piling praise on Walker, Guardiola has told him his place in the City side might be at risk from summer signing Joao Cancelo.
Cancelo became the most expensive full-back in history when he joined City from Juventus in a £60m deal and is champing at the bit to be given the chance to prove himself.
Guardiola, whose side host Wolves tomorrow without the injured Kevin De Bruyne, added: “At Preston (in the Carabao Cup) he made a step forward and in the last game he was good too.
“He arrived late and wasn’t involved in preseason. He came after that, so it was different for him after what he did at his previous team.
“But he’s getting better, with the ball there is no doubt, without the ball, he is starting to understand what we want from him.” campaign, they had to wait until last Saturday to notch their first Premier League victory.
Coady added: “We thought Besiktas was hard – now we’re going into a game with City.
“That’s going to be even tougher but we’re looking forward to it. We’ve got a couple of wins now and that’s what was required.
“Start looking forward now. Sunday’s a huge game. These are the games we want to be involved in
– Europe in midweek then teams like City.” JACK O’CONNELL has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water because the Sheffield United defender was “thrown in at the deep end” at a young age.
His family moved to Malaga from Liverpool when he was eight and he learnt Spanish through playing football at school break time.
O’Connell, 25, said: “I was in Spain for four years or so.
“I was thrown in at the deep end but by playing football in the playground every day, I picked up the language quite easily.
“I had a season ticket at Malaga. It was great watching them against Real Madrid because all their top players were there like Michael Owen and David Beckham.”
O’Connell continued his travels when he returned to England, moving to Blackburn to sign his first professional contract at 17.
He lived in digs near their Academy and learnt the building’s security password so he could let himself in at night to practise on the 3G pitch.
He had spells at Rotherham, York, Rochdale and Brentford, playing for England Under-18s and Under-19s before Chris Wilder made him one of his first Blades signings in July 2016.
Wilder then introduced O’Connell and Chris Basham to the footballing world as overlapping centre-halves.
Three years and two promotions later, they are still raiding forward.
“The gaffer here is an unbelievable manager, probably the best I have worked with,” added O’Connell ahead of today’s trip to Watford.
“He got the best out of me when we changed to a back three in a game at Gillingham. It just clicked.
“The way me and Bash overlap, it’s just worked through the leagues.
“We kept working on it so now it’s become second nature.”