Pep Guardiola says he has faith in Kyle Walker, despite leaving the right-back out of Manchester City’s past two Premier League matches. The England international had been a mainstay for several seasons but a change in formation and the form of others are keeping him on the bench.
City return on Saturday evening to Southampton, where they were dumped out of the Carabao Cup in January, with a chance to close the gap on Arsenal at the top to five points. Their cause will be helped by Erling Haaland’s return from injury.
Haaland missed last Saturday’s win over Liverpool and Norway’s games in the international break with a groin injury. The striker returned to full training in midweek and could do with some minutes before Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at home to Bayern Munich.
Walker looks unlikely to start at St Mary’s. The centre-back John Stones has moved into defensive midfield alongside Rodri, and Manuel Akanji is the preferred choice on the right of the back three, leaving Walker without an obvious role.
Guardiola, asked whether Walker could play in the same role Stones occupies, said: “No, he cannot do it. He will always have pace; Kyle at 60 years old will be the fastest player in this room. To play inside you have to have educated movements – he doesn’t have every one of the characteristics. He has played as a full-back coming inside in the past with four at the back. He has done really well but this shape of three at the back and two in the middle, he cannot do it.”
The manager was pressed on what Walker needed to do to get back into the team. “Be himself,” he said. “Train good … The reason why is tactical. It’s not because we lost faith in Kyle.”
Walker, who is 32 and has a year on his contract, will be keen to prove his worth as he tries to earn a fifth Premier League winner’s medal. “Nobody has a guarantee with me,” Guardiola said. “They have to earn it and sometimes we need a different shape for the way we build up or defend and some players adapt better than the other ones. It’s simple. They take it personally but we are not against them, we just need something and try to use it.”
