Darren Bent has said that Kyle Walker is England’s most important player without a shadow of a doubt.
On talkSPORT (21/11/2023), the pundit made the case for why Walker is irreplaceable for the Three Lions.
The Manchester City defender, branded as “England’s best right-back ever” by Jason Cundy has been one of his nation’s most pivotal players in recent years.
Darren Bent says Kyle Walker is England’s most important player
Pep Guardiola would perhaps say the same about the £175,000-a-week (Sport Rac) man’s impact on his City side over his time at the club.
Even at the 2022 World Cup, the 33-year-old showed that he steps up to the plate against the very best, keeping Kylian Mbappe quiet in France’s 2-1 win against Gareth Southgate’s side in the quarter-final.
Darren Bent has said that Kyle Walker is far too decisive in one-on-one situations and versatile not to be considered England’s most key player.
“Think about the amount of times he’s had to bail out, not just in that right-back situation, I’m talking about the rest of the back four. And even when Gareth [Southgate] thinks, ‘you know what, let me change up the formation.’ Okay, right centre-back, Kyle Walker can play there, right-back, yeah, we need Kyle Walker”, he told talkSPORT.
“Where’s the pace if he gets injured?”
“That’s the thing. Trent [Alexander-Arnold] probably. It’d have to be Trent. Although, I don’t even think Gareth would do that, I think he’ll probably go [Kieran] Trippier at right-back, I would go Trent of course.”
“But you look at a lot of teams, [their] best players, it always seems to be that left-hand side and Kyle Walker’s got no fear about facing [Kylian] Mbappe or Vinicius Jr.”
Darren Bent also said that Kyle Walker should be a guaranteed starter for England, saying, “So, I just think he needs to be in the team, Kyle Walker, anywhere possible. And if that’s at centre-back or at right-back, he has to play. And I think he’s probably the only one in that team where you can say that about.”
No other English right-back is as defensively sound as Kyle Walker
Darren Bent makes a fair point as no other right-back at England’s disposal provides as much of a guarantee as Kyle Walker when it comes to shutting down an elite winger.
The likes of Reece James and Kieran Trippier are brilliant defensively but the treble-winner has a case for being the best one-on-one right-back of his generation.
As for Trent Alexander-Arnold, while he is an exceptional player overall and perhaps a much better creator than his adversaries, he has shown to be quite suspect at the back ever since his breakthrough.
The same cannot be said for Kyle Walker, who has shown no signs of decline in terms of his pace and defensive acumen.
In addition, Walker’s pedigree and experience at the international level also add to his importance to England.
