Micah Richards has revealed which right-back he thinks is better: Kyle Walker or Gary Neville.
In May, Neville admitted that he would be unable to contain the elite left-wingers that Walker has over the years.
The Manchester United legend also admitted during his praise of the former Tottenham Hotspur right-back that he would have likely struggled playing against Kylian Mbappe.
Many have chimed in over where they stand when it comes to the constant Walker-Neville debate, as the pair have raised the bar when it comes to right-backs in English history.
Micah Richards shares who he thinks is better: Kyle Walker or Gary Neville
Gary Lineker believes that the Manchester City colossus has surpassed the popular pundit, as he believes he has more to his game than the latter did.
Glenn Murray also feels the five-time Premier League winner is a “superior” player to the United academy product.
Micah Richards highlighted the areas in which Kyle Walker and Gary Neville are better than each other as right-backs.
“It’s hard because Gary Nevile is so self-deprecating now, the way he talks about himself that he wasn’t a great, he was a great player! Yes, he was in a great team but he still had to go up and down and he was consistent, played a lot of games for England”, he said initially on The Rest Is Football podcast.
Richards continued, “In terms of one-on-one defending, I think Kyle Walker’s better. In terms of positional sense, I would say Gary Neville was better. In terms of delivery in the final third, I’d probably say Gary Neville. In terms of stopping a counter-attack and being able to adapt to a new system, I would say Kyle Walker.”
“They’ve both got strengths and weaknesses, it’s too hard.”
“I think Gary Neville in Man United’s system, Kyle Walker in Man City’s system.”
Eventually, Micah Richards chose Gary Neville over Kyle Walker as the superior right-back, simply saying, “Alright, Gary Neville.”
Kyle Walker could settle the debate if he keeps Vinicius Jr. quiet again
Some might side with Gary Neville like Micah Richards while others will back Kyle Walker, as in all fairness, it is quite a close debate.
However, in the masses’ eyes, the debate could be settled if the 33-year-old manages to tame Vinicius Jr. once again over the course of Manchester City’s two-legged Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.
To have managed to keep arguably the best wide dribbler quiet once again in Europe’s elite competition would justifiably enhance Kyle Walker’s reputation.
As it seemingly did last season, it would be miraculous to see Walker go toe-to-toe with wingers almost a decade younger than him and still keep them at bay and to do that once again when facing Vinicius Jr. may cement his status as a better right-back than Neville ever was.
