Kyle Walker: Criticism hurts my mum and dad but it gives me motivation

Kyle Walker launched an extensive defence of himself and the criticism he has faced as he prepares to lift a second trophy in the space of five months as Manchester City’s stand-in captain.

Walker, who almost left City for Bayern Munich in the summer, promised they could live with the “heat” of expectation and that the pressure and scrutiny on him had always been intense – and never more so given City’s recent run of results.

“I’m always going to get heat,” the 33-year-old said. “If I’m not doing something right, I’m always going to get scrutinised. That’s been my whole career but it gives me the fire to keep going. I’ve had a lot of criticism from the fans about me being captain and that it’s all my fault. We’re a team. We’re in a team game. I’ve said it constantly throughout my career that if I wanted to play a solo sport I’d go and play tennis or golf.”

Since Kevin De Bruyne’s injury in August, Walker has taken over the captaincy from the Belgian – himself newly installed after Ilkay Gundogan’s departure – and delivered a rousing pre-match speech on the pitch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.

That was in the huddle before City’s Club World Cup semi-final win over Urawa Red Diamonds, from Japan, that propels Walker and his team-mates into Friday’s final against Fluminense of Brazil. Walker was captain for the European champions’ win in the Uefa Super Cup final in August and although De Bruyne is back training with the first team, Pep Guardiola said he will not feature this week.

Walker, in his seventh season at the club, remains the best right back in the Premier League and has also captained England, as an 81-cap international. He was clear that the relentless nature of maintaining City’s dominance takes a toll.

“I feel being one of the most experienced players and the captain, I’m going to have to take that burden. It’s something I’m going to have to carry on my shoulders. I said to the lads in the huddle that we’re here because of what we’ve achieved. Nobody is going to roll the red carpet out for us. We have to go and earn the right. Other teams are thinking that they can come and play against us and… you know what? Full credit to them.

“The Liverpool, Tottenham and [Crystal] Palace games – we are always defending. That’s not me sticking up for the defence but we’re not killing games off like we used to. We’re always defending on a knife-edge. But listen, us defenders need to deal with that pressure. Sometimes we have to hang in games and save the day.”

How did that criticism reach him? Primarily radio phone-ins that he listens to in his car, he said, and a few selected highlights sent to him by his parents. Walker’s rise as one of Europe’s best players has also been accompanied by what has looked like a fairly chaotic private life, and he has often said that the fallout has been difficult to cope with.

“I am getting sent it [criticism]. It’s natural. I have got a mum and dad that care about me and when their son is getting hammered … I just feel in football it’s fickle. [Fans have] short memories. I remember going home in the car. Jeremy [Doku] has come in, been on fire, and all of a sudden it’s ‘Jack Grealish should be out.’ Now Jack scores and it’s ‘Keep him in the club’. It is what he is. That gives me motivation. Keep hammering me and I will just keep coming back.”

In a discussion of City’s current situation – they have taken seven points from the last six Premier League games and dropped to fourth – Walker said that it was harder to win the Premier League than the Champions League. He also said that to stand comparison with the great Manchester United teams of the 1990s and 2000s and the Liverpool dynasty that preceded that in the 1970s and 1980s, this City generation had to win more for longer.

With the possibility of five trophies in a single year, had City not already earned a place among the great sides in English football’s recent history? “It makes it sound easy if you say it like that but to go and do it like Manchester United and Ryan Giggs who has won 13 titles … it’s a flip of a coin,” Walker said. “I’ve been involved in the Premier League since I was 19. I’m 33 now. I can assure you it’s a lot harder to win a Premier League than the Champions League.”

“In the Champions League you need a bit of luck to swing your way, like it did in the final for us. We played an okay game but if [Romelu] Lukaku puts that in the net, are we here now or not? In the Premier League it’s a 38-game slog. And I can tell you it’s a slog. To do what we’ve done we take great pride but for me, and we’ve won five in six years, to be recognised as one of the top clubs in the world we have to do it for a little bit more [longer].”

Another Premier League title this season would be a record breaking fourth in a row for English football. It has never been done in this era or the Football League. The epic legal battle with the Premier League rages in the background, and casts a shadow.

“I don’t think we’ll be looked at differently for a good couple of years,” Walker said. “To go and achieve what the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United did … they did it year in, year out for a number of years. So to be considered the best club in the world is obviously a great achievement but the lads know that we’re just starting the building blocks for this club. The club has won Premier Leagues in the past but to do it in the dominant way we have hasn’t been done here before.”

‘Maybe this is what we need - a snap back down to reality, and we go again’

Walker said that the departures of Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez had taken its effect – “good experienced Premier League players that know the game inside and out, know how the manager wants to work”. The absence of De Bruyne had also played a part. “Who doesn’t want Kevin De Bruyne on the pitch? Everyone does,” Walker said. “Because he brings goals, brings the assists.”

As for the second half of the Premier League season, he said the City players felt confident.

“We are right there. I feel confident. The lads feel confident. Maybe this is what we need from such a high - a snap right back down to reality, and we go again. Hopefully that’s a starting block where we go on a good run, which we seem to do along the Christmas period, and pick up the points.”

As for the prospect of being ten points behind Arsenal when they return, Walker said that did not worry him. “No. We have been in that position where we have been ten points clear – [ahead of] Liverpool - and then suddenly they are snapping at your heels. What will be will be. We can’t do anything about the Premier League while we are here [in Saudi] … now we are in the final, let’s go and win that. And then think about the Premier League when we return.”