{"id":292083,"date":"2023-09-10T22:22:21","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T22:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=292083"},"modified":"2023-09-10T22:22:21","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T22:22:21","slug":"southgate-reveals-he-has-twice-talked-kyle-walker-out-of-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/southgate-reveals-he-has-twice-talked-kyle-walker-out-of-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Southgate reveals he has TWICE talked Kyle Walker out of retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Gareth Southgate reveals he has TWICE talked Kyle Walker out of retirement as England boss says Man City defender is &#8216;critical&#8217; to the team<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Kyle Walker has established himself as a key player for England<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Man City star has picked up 77 caps since making his debut in 2011<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Gareth Southgate says he has twice considered international retirement<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Gareth Southgate has revealed he twice had to convince Kyle Walker not to retire from international football.<\/p>\n<p>Walker, who scored his first goal for the national team in Saturday\u2019s 1-1 draw against Ukraine, has established himself as a key player for England during Southgate\u2019s seven-year reign.<\/p>\n<p>He played an integral role, alongside Harry Maguire and John Stones, as one of England\u2019s three starting centre backs at the World Cup in 2018 before largely reverting back to his favoured right-back position for Euro 2020 and last year\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>The Manchester City star, who has picked up 77 caps since making his debut in 2011, is widely recognised as one of the best players in his position in world football.<\/p>\n<p>However, Southgate has disclosed that England came close to losing Walker\u2019s services on more than one occasion.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/10\/22\/75273955-12502469-Gareth_Southgate_R_has_revealed_he_twice_had_to_convince_Kyle_Wa-m-18_1694382608090.jpg\" height=\"523\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Gareth Southgate (R) has revealed he twice had to convince Kyle Walker (L) not to retire<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve talked him out of retirement from international football twice,\u2019 said the England manager. \u2018After the Euros (in 2020) and after the World Cup (last year). I think he loves being here and he\u2019s wanted to keep going and now he\u2019s thinking about how many caps can he get.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He\u2019s critical to us. If we\u2019re talking about world class players in their position in our team then he\u2019s probably one of them.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He didn\u2019t realise how much value we have for him and how important he is for us.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Following the 2018 World Cup there were significant doubts over Walker\u2019s international future and he was dropped from the England squad in August 2019. The emergence of Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool and Chelsea\u2019s Reece James, as well as the consistent performances of Kieran Trippier, placed further uncertainty over Walker\u2019s England prospects.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Obviously, at the time that me and Gareth spoke, the likes of Trent, Tripps, Reece James were coming through \u2014 you do think your days are numbered,\u2019 Walker admitted. \u2018And to sacrifice how many holidays and summers that I\u2019ve sacrificed\u2026 I\u2019ve been doing this since I was 19 when I joined the senior team. I\u2019m 33 now.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/10\/22\/75273967-0-image-a-2_1694380897719.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Manchester City star has picked up 77 caps since making his debut back in 2011<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Me and Gareth have a good relationship off the field. We do speak and I feel that I can still bring something to the team. So why stop?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Southgate certainly sees it that way, too. The England boss added: \u2018He has (got better with age). It doesn\u2019t always happen. It\u2019s not only playing but also around training, the way I hear him speak when he\u2019s interviewed, his influence on the group, he\u2019s become a really mature leader for us.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018His all-round game \u2014 he has great composure in a position where you don\u2019t always find it. Our senior players were important and he was the pick against Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He\u2019s got huge experience of winning big matches. I pulled him aside two or three days into the training this week because his focus was really clear, the way he was organising on the pitch. He\u2019s enjoying the extra responsibility he\u2019s had at his club and I know he\u2019s ready to embrace that with us as well.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Walker\u2019s international team-mate Jordan Pickford believes the right back is the best player in his position. Asked whether Walker is underappreciated, the Everton goalkeeper\u2019s response was emphatic, saying: \u2018They should (appreciate him). He is the best right back in the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018His pace against Mykhailo Mudryk (versus Ukraine), who is absolutely rapid; games against Kylian Mbappe \u2014 his defensive play as well. He\u2019s experienced now and he\u2019s been at City winning the titles he\u2019s won and everything he\u2019s done in his career. He helps us as players.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12502469\/Gareth-Southgate-reveals-TWICE-talked-Kyle-Walker-retirement-England-boss-says-Man-City-defender-critical-team.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gareth Southgate reveals he has TWICE talked Kyle Walker out of retirement as England boss says Man City defender is <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Southgate reveals he has TWICE talked Kyle Walker out of retirement - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/southgate-reveals-he-has-twice-talked-kyle-walker-out-of-retirement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Southgate reveals he has TWICE talked Kyle Walker out of retirement - 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