Kyle Walker says the toughest opponent of his career so far has been Sadio Mane, as he prepares to try and deal with Kylian Mbappe for England against France on Saturday.
Much has been made of the upcoming Walker vs Mbappe battle in the World Cup quarter-finals this weekend, with the Manchester City full-back likely to be England’s key player in handling the rapid forward.
The pair have played against each other before, but Walker says he wasn’t actually tasked with marking Mbappe when City took on Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Therefore, when asked who his toughest opponent has been, he didn’t consider the Frenchman, and perhaps even if he did the answer would still have been Mane as it is down to the intense pressing that the Senegal superstar applies.
‘For me…technically I didn’t play against Mbappe. One versus one it was more Neymar,’ Walker told a press conference when asked for his toughest opponent. ‘I think Neymar is a fantastic player. I would probably say Sadio Mane. Just because he never gives you a moment’s rest on the ball.
‘I’m not saying that the other guys that I mentioned don’t but you know, they probably don’t defend as much as Mane does and they save their energy when they’re attacking. So for me it’d probably be Mane.’
Walker will likely be one versus one with Mbappe on Saturday as Gareth Southgate will want to use his speed to try to match the Frenchman’s immense pace.
The 32-year-old has faced sprinters before and it will not just be his own great pace that will help him deal with Mbappe, but his experience in those situations.
‘You have to use a little bit of nous,’ he said. ‘You can’t be a speed boat with no driver. You need to obviously use your brain when needed. And I can’t get as tight to him as I probably would do on some other players.
‘That’s just the nature of the game. I remember playing against Theo Walcott once and I’ve tried to get so close to him and all of a sudden he just spins in behind you and you think well that’s you lesson taught.’
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