Pep Guardiola singled out Kyle Walker as he praised the recent shift in behaviour that has seen improved training sessions at Manchester City.
Walker has been one of the many experienced professionals that has seen less game time since the World Cup, with youngster Rico Lewis trusted in the right-back spot on many occasions instead. The England international has had to be patient but while fellow full-back Joao Cancelo found an opportunity to leave for Bayern Munich instead, Walker is back in the City team.
Walker started against Aston Villa alongside Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias in defence, two other figures that have struggled for minutes lately, and a 3-1 win was enough to move the Blues to within three points of leaders Arsenal. Victory at the Emirates on Wednesday night will ignite City's title challenge as they look to defend their title and win three in a row.
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As much as Guardiola was pleased by the performance and result against Aston Villa, he has also been happier to see what his squad have been producing in training. As far as the manager is concerned, there has been a significant improvement from Walker and others.
"The way we’ve behaving in the training sessions over the last week or 10 days - we’ve improved a lot,’ Guardiola said. ‘Everyone is so focused. Kyle [Walker] is back with the way he’s behaving. The same with many players.’
He added: "[Behaving well] is the only chance to be competitive. That doesn’t make it easier for you to win but without that it’s impossible."
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