World Cup 2018: Top 10 Right-Backs in the Tournament

#2 Kyle Walker

Kyle Walker

Walker is perhaps Pep Guardiola’s most important transfer signing during the manager’s tenure at Manchester City. Having excelled for Tottenham Hotspur for a half-decade, Walker was even better under Guardiola’s tutelage as he excelled at right wing-back. The Englishman provided six assists during the Premier League season and was excellent going forward.

The 28-year-old averaged 0.9 key passes and 0.8 dribbles per game. Perhaps the most improved aspect of his play was his passing (unsurprising for a Guardiola player) where he had an 87.7% passing success percentage. His defensive play was equally impressive, averaging 1.5 tackles and 0.9 interceptions per game- both sterling numbers while playing for a Manchester City team that was so dominant that it barely played without the ball. In fact, the right-back averaged 2.6 tackles, 2.8 interceptions and 3.2 clearances for Tottenham in 2015-16.

Those are the numbers that England will be expecting in the World Cup. What separates Walker from Carvajal (and others below him) is his adaptability to different positions and more pertinently, different styles of play. The 28-year-old has managed to succeed in both Mauricio Pochettino’s direct system and Pep Guardiola’s tiki-taka.

He also has the potential to play in different positions, including left-back, centre-midfield and centre-back. The latter ability was why he almost left off this ranking, as it is expected that England manager Southgate will use him as a centre-back. Nonetheless, Walker’s natural position in on the right and thus he is ranked as such here.