The fall of Kyle Walker: How Man City's 'embarrassing' captain has become the face of Pep Guardiola's first-ever crisis Opinion

Kyle Walker

For so long the England full-back was a pillar of excellence for the champions, but he's become the weak link in a miserable 2024-25 campaign.

After nine years of unprecedented domination, Manchester City's empire is crumbling, and the once peerless Pep Guardiola has been proven to be a mere mortal like everyone else. Barring a miraculous recovery, the reigning Premier League champions will not be celebrating a record-extending fifth-successive title come May.

City were only beaten five times in the whole of last season, but have incredibly lost eight of their last 11 games across all competitions. It's the worst run of form Guardiola has ever endured as a manager, and the club's worst since 2003, five years before Sheikh Mansour's historic takeover at Etihad Stadium.

This is the first real crisis of Guardiola's career, and it remains to be seen if he can get City out of it. There is nothing to take from their recent performances to suggest anything will change soon. No one fears them anymore, and one of the main reasons for that is the continued presence of Kyle Walker at right-back.

City's 'Mr. Reliable' has become a complete liability, and while Walker still holds the captain's armband, he is no longer leading by example. The 34-year-old has allowed basic errors to creep into his game and he's costing City week after week, with opposing teams now clearly targeting him.

But since recovering from a knee problem that he picked up on international duty with England in October, Walker has started seven out of 10 games for City. The veteran full-back was an unused substitute during both the shocking 4-1 loss to Sporting CP and 3-3 draw against Feyenoord in the Champions League, while he came on at half-time in City's 3-0 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest - their only victory in the last two months - but has otherwise been ever-present, and arguably the worst player in the team.

Walker was ripped to shreds by Timo Werner in City's 4-0 home defeat to Tottenham, and he was at fault for both of Crystal Palace's goals as Guardiola's side were held to a 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park. In City's most recent Champions League outing at Juventus, his failure to track back left Weston McKennie in acres of space in the box to volley home and seal a 2-0 victory for the hosts.

It must be noted that Walker has been hampered by a series of niggling fitness issues. Rico Lewis played ahead of him in the early stages of the season, and for a while, it seemed like a permanent changing of the guard was afoot. But since recovering from a knee problem that he picked up on international duty with England in October, Walker has started seven out of 10 games for City.

The veteran full-back was an unused substitute during both the shocking 4-1 loss to Sporting CP and 3-3 draw against Feyenoord in the Champions League, while he came on at half-time in City's 3-0 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest - their only victory in the last two months - but has otherwise been ever-present, and arguably the worst player in the team.

And on Sunday, in the Manchester derby, Walker made headlines for his erratic defending, and behavior, once again. United ran out 2-1 winners at Etihad Stadium, but the final result could have been even worse for City had United taken full advantage of Walker's ineptitude - and if the referee had been strong enough to punish him for one shameless display of theatricality.

SofaScore gave Walker a 6.3 rating in the derby - the joint lowest across both teams, alongside United's Diogo Dalot - which wasn't harsh. The City skipper lost possession 20 times, with only two of his 11 long pass attempts finding their mark, and he lost half of his ground duels.

Walker was also lucky to stay on the pitch after sparking an altercation with Rasmus Hojlund in the first half. Hojlund ran to try and meet a searching kick upfield from United goalkeeper Andre Onana, only to be obstructed by Walker, who cynically barged the striker to the floor.

Understandably enraged, Hojlund then stormed over to Walker to make his feelings known, and they touched heads for a brief moment. The contact was minimal, and replays showed that Hojlund used zero force, but Walker decided to drop to the turf and roll around as if he'd been assaulted.

At half-time in the Sky Sports studio, United legend Roy Keane perfectly captured the public opinion on Walker's actions: "He should be embarrassed. I don’t know the guy and I’m embarrassed by that." Keane also suggested Walker deserved a red for the incident, instead of the yellow that was also shown to Hojlund as referee Anthony Taylor took the easy way out.

Walker went to extreme lengths to get Hojlund sent off, and Keane is right: shouldn't that same punishment fit the crime? Some would just call it a ploy to gain an advantage, but cheating is the real word, and Taylor missed a golden opportunity to make an example of Walker at a time when diving is "screwing up our game", as ex-Crystal Palace boss Frank de Boer put it while covering the derby on Dutch television.

Walker doesn't have a history of making a fool himself in the manner he did at the weekend. He's been a model of consistency for club and country down the years, and is widely regarded as one of the best full-backs of his generation. But something is different this season. Walker hasn't really lost any of his speed and physicality, but his concentration levels have dwindled, and he doesn't read the game as well as he used to.

This version of Walker doesn't track his marker or make crucial interceptions when City are under the cosh. The champions have only won two of the games Walker has started this season, which is no coincidence.

He's not doing his job as a right-back, and according to the Daily Mail, he's also falling short as a captain. Walker is now said to be "quiet and reserved" figure in training instead of the loud, influential one City need him to be.

That same report also claims that Walker has been carrying an injury and playing through pain for the last month, but that doesn't explain his body language or general attitude. Walker is coming across like a man distracted, and that is mostly likely due to issues away from the pitch.

Source from

Goal.com