What’s Happened With Tottenham’s Kyle Walker This Season?

“Form is temporary, class is permanent’, is an old saying, more than applicable to our very own talent, Kyle Walker. Whilst last year he won the PFA Young Player of the Year award, scored the winner in the north London derby and allegedly attracted interest from European giants Real Madrid, his performances this season have been somewhat sub-par in comparison.

Kyle Walker had been struggling this season [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Article written by Charlie Bee

Recent performances have been incredibly costly from the Sheffield born right back – his back pass against Liverpool leading directly to Stewart Downing’s goal, and even against Inter Milan  he conceded the free kick needlessly which lead to William Gallas scoring an own goal for the Italian outfit. Whilst these are just two mistakes in the previous two games, his season has been fraught with errors that must surely have Andre Villas-Boas questioning his position in the team.

The high line formation, suits a defender as energetic as Walker, able to bomb up and down the flanks supporting both defence and attack. His defensive positioning, however, has often allowed the ball to be played in behind him, which cost us early on in the season with Brad Friedel, more reluctant off his goal line than Hugo Lloris, as seen in the game against Chelsea back in October. The increasing tenacity of Aaron Lennon under AVB, willing to defend more, could also be argued to have covered a few defensive frailties of Walker, who has started to look a weak link in an otherwise solid back-line. Although the defensive errors will only be cut out through experience, his erratic nature in the tackle, often conceding free-kicks in dangerous areas are the biggest threat to our team and have proven costly throughout the season.

His main opponent for the right back position could come in the form of returning Frenchman, Younes Kaboul who has shown the versatility to play in that position in recent seasons, what with the defensive pairing of Michael Dawson and Jan Vertonghen proving usually solid and reliable throughout the campaign, any alterations would therefore be pointless. Whilst its more likely that Vertonghen would be pushed out to left back to accommodate the return of Kaboul, the more defenders in the side, the more competition that the youngster Walker has to face and hopefully he would up his game accordingly. Although Kyle Naughton has returned to the team after a loan spell at Norwich he doesn’t look capable of filling the berth in the same way that the on form Walker did last season.

Although Walker is usually sound aerially, his passing often leaves a lot to be desired, detrimental in a lineup as attacking as ours. When put up against his equivalent on the left, either Benoit Assou Ekotto or Jan Vertonghen, he is far behind in terms of his ability to carve open a defence in the same way that others could. Whilst Kaboul may not be his equal in this respect, it certainly puts more of a burden on Aaron Lennon to drop deep and make the chance with the respective midfielder before setting off down the right whereas Gareth Bale on the left is often freed by the left back which no doubt accounts for his rise to fame on that side of the pitch. His ability to either make something out of nothing or race past opponents to a through ball with devastating pace, is something perhaps lacking at times on the right side of midfield.

In a similar vein to how Adebayor has been received by the home fans this season, people have not been afraid to voice criticisms, and for a player who had been described by Stuart Pearce as being in the same mould as Roberto Carlos, Walker is failing to recreate the form that made him one of the most promising talents in English football. He has been one of the ever-presents in the Spurs side this season and mentally he must be exhausted, burdened with the hype of last season. A number of players have struggled to adapt to the new formation implemented by AVB, however, none have been as costly as the England international whose performances really do need to pick up at such a pivotal stage of the season.