Article by Chris MecoyHello again, Spurs fans.
Hopefully the ghosts of the West Ham match have been firmly laid to rest after we returned to winning ways with our annual 3 points at Villa Park, and, albeit a poor first half showing, a thoroughly deserved victory.
Soldado gets the goal from open play we've all been craving, Townsend's meteoric rise continued with his first league goal for us, Sandro back in Premier League action, Chiriches gets a league start under his belt and Lennon makes an always welcome return to the first team.
All in all, a perfect days work. Almost.
IS OUR NO. 2 A BIT NO.2?
This brings me to Kyle Walker. I'm one of his biggest fans, but whereas a couple of seasons ago, I used to get that familiar buzz whenever he got on the ball, I'm now feeling a degree of trepidation when he's in possession.
I don't think that he's lost his ability, it just seems that he's lost a little bit of concentration over the last 14 months. I'll reel off some examples and you let me know if these ring any bells.
1) If a left winger has got the beating of Kyle and then tries to cut back inside him, rather than a simple slide challenge or maybe even shepherding the player back towards his own half, Walker will instead put his foot through the ball (facing his own goal, remember), and predominantly give away a dangerous throw-in or corner at best.
2) His cross field passes have started to go a little bit wayward (same goes for Michael Dawson, as a matter of fact), whereas as little as a year and a half ago, they were finding our left back or winger consistently.
3) The silly free-kicks he gives away have got to stop. Sometimes even picking up a yellow for it. The unnecessary booking he got on international duty which ruled him out of the all important Poland game is a prime example.
Tell me you can't picture at least two of each of these examples in your head right now.
HE JUST NEEDS TO THINK
Am i saying that Kyle Walker should be dropped from the first team? No I'm not.
Am I suggesting putting Younes Kaboul in there to add more to the defence? No, I'm not.
Am I suggesting we give Kyle Naughton a chance in there to prove his worth? No, I'm not.
I firmly believe that Kyle Walker is our best right back by a country mile right now and definitely the man who can aid Townsend, Lennon or Lamela better with his darting runs beyond them, but I just wish he would focus a lot more than he is doing right now.
Simply put, he is without doubt not quite the player he was during the 2011-12 season and it is all down to what he does with his brain, rather than what he does with his feet.
In closing I'll say this. Kyle Walker has the abilities to be the best right back, both for club
and country for the next decade and beyond, but he has to CONCENTRATE.
AVB proved that nobody is guaranteed a place in the starting line-up, so, Kyle, if you're gonna do it, you better do it soon, because you might be next.
COME ON YOU SPURS!!
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kyle walkers the next dani alves.
ReplyDeleteWalker, my friend, is a disaster waiting to happen. I do believe he should be dropped. He's so unreliable. Like you say, he gives away unnecessary and dangerous free-kicks. And his shots at goal are pathetic. And even when he finds himself in a position to cross, he just throws the opportunity away.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a matter of concentration - he'll never be any good. I don't know who should replace him, but throw him out.