KYLE WALKER: WORLD CUP CAN'T BE ALL ABOUT KYLIAN MBAPPE

KYLE WALKER: WORLD CUP CAN'T BE ALL ABOUT KYLIAN MBAPPE

By Rashmi Goel

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Fullback Kyle Walker says England cannot afford to obsess over France's free-scoring Kylian Mbappe ahead of Saturday's quarter-final against the defending champions. With five goals so far in the tournament, Mbappe is the tournament's leading scorer at right-back. Walker will be facing him directly. On Wednesday, Manchester City defender David Silva said, "I know he is a top player, but we are not playing tennis. There is no solo sport here, it is a team game.". The player is clearly the focus of all questions, but let's not forget (Olivier) Giroud, who has scored countless goals, and (Ousmane) Dembele, for me just as good on the other side."

Mbappe has faced Walker in the Champions League for Manchester City, and the lesson is not to overfocus on him. The same is true when we play Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday. We were not just thinking of Mbappe during our Champions League match. Walker has become a crucial member of England's defense, playing as a right-back in a four-man back four in this tournament, and has also played in a three-man central defense during the tournament. He is a tool in their armory that is very good, but you cannot underestimate their other players. The pace he still has is impressive, but he seems less adventurous in terms of overlapping down the flanks.

"When I used to play for Tottenham as a wing-back, I used to bomb forward quite a bit." It's about learning the game, knowing the opponent, learning the formation the manager wants you to follow; not about England v Mbappe." Walker appeared slightly frustrated by frequent questions about Mbappe and the importance of his confrontation with him at Wednesday's press conference. There is no England-Mbappe match here, this is England-France." he said. "Respect will be shown, but I won't throw a red carpet for him. We must either win or die, otherwise we will go home." The 32-year-old continued. "I understand the importance of stopping him." While it will likely be more difficult than I anticipated, I do not underestimate my abilities. "I have played against great players before, so I will simply treat it like another game."

In the past few years, Gareth Southgate's team has gained valuable experience, reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the final of last year's Euro 2020. However, Walker noted that the quality of their opponents has increased in recent years. In his view, the team lacked experience during big-game matches. In spite of the fact that we knocked down some walls in Russia, won the penalty shootout (against Colombia), and other such initiatives, we were still inexperienced at the time. Despite the fact that I believe our team is better equipped, I believe that players from other teams have given you some surprises. Consider Morocco, for instance, how they performed against a very good Spain team and got the result they wanted. There has been a slight increase in the standard of play since Russia.