Kyle Walker-Peters recalls a night in the Nou Camp as the “best and worst experience” of his career.
Walker-Peters, 24, has come a long way since his mistake back in December 2018 gifted Barcelona a goal and a dream start in a Champions League clash with Tottenham. Southampton full back Walker-Peters believes it was all part of a valuable learning process which saw him have to leave Tottenham but has paid off in the long run with his first senior England call-up.
Walker-Peters said: “Whenever people ask me about that I talk about it as the best and worst experience I had. It was an opportunity for me to realise you’re going to make mistakes in games but how well can you continue to play? I remember Harry Kane and Danny Rose coming over to me after the mistake and saying ‘you’re playing well, just keep going and don’t worry.’
“That gave me so much confidence and I ended up playing a really good game despite the mistake and luckily we qualified. Everyone at the club was super about it and didn’t make me feel bad in any way. It was just a learning curve and one I’ve taken into present times.”
Walker-Peters has played for England under-21s, has flourished at Southampton and now showed his versatility by also playing left back which helped push him into Gareth Southgate’s plans. He was happy to cancel a mini break to Milan to answer the call but is relishing the opportunity just as he has done at St Mary’s.
Walker-Peters added: “I’m really enjoying my football at Southampton and that’s shown in the last two seasons. Now I have done well enough to earn a call up to the senior England team so again I think I made the right decision. You see Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James and their outputs are incredible, their assists, their goals. You can argue that shows how versatile they are because a lot of the time they’re quite high up the pitch.
“They’re not just focussing on defending, they’re focussing on creating and scoring goals as well. I’ve seen both of them play in midfield so I def think that being versatile is important for a full-back. I’ve shown that season by being able to play on the left and giving a different dynamic to my team.”
