Tottenham Defender Kyle Walker Must Make Most of Pre-Euro 2016 England Chances
Tottenham Hotspur's Andros Townsend and Kyle Walker were the ones to benefit from the inevitable withdrawals and injury doubts suffered by England's latest squad.
The concerns over Danny Ings and Wayne Rooney that prompted Townsend being drafted in to strengthen the attack have proved founded. Walker was a direct, known replacement for the injured John Stones.
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Walker might have felt some annoyance at not being in the squad in the first place. Nathaniel Clyne is the only regular right-back in there with Stones among the versatile centre-backs manager Roy Hodgson has not been shy using on the flank. Yet given Walker's history with the national team, he will take any chance to get back involved and earn a place in the Euro 2016 squad.
Making his debut in the 1-0 friendly win over Spain in November 2011, Walker's first seven appearances all resulted in England wins (he started six of them).
Prior to England's penultimate UEFA European Championships qualifier versus Estonia, though, he has only represented his country a further four times. The opportunity to enjoy the more substantial international-career boost of playing in a major tournament has twice been robbed by injury.
Walker's current fight to regain his squad status stems from the latter of those disappointments—the pelvic injury that denied him a spot in the 2014 World Cup. Subsequent problems stopped him from playing at all until that November, although he then quickly re-established himself in the Tottenham team under his newest boss Mauricio Pochettino.
The long layoff left Walker clearly requiring time to feel his way back into things. Yet, he was playing well enough in Hodgson's eyes to be called up for March's friendly draw with Italy.
His second-half introduction produced a mixed showing as he sought to stifle the determined Italians pouring forward in search of a late winner. Naturally, though, he was pleased to be back involved.
"It’s been a difficult road, taken a few games to get back into the swing of things and I know I’m a little way off at the moment, but I feel I’m getting back to where I want to be," he told Spurs' official website.
It was a cruel twist that his season was ended prematurely again in his next Premier League appearance. No major tournament missed this time, but the chance to finish the campaign as strongly as possible would have been beneficial.
Whether because of doubts over Walker's durability, suitability to his side, a preference for others or all three, Hodgson's latest initial omission of him suggests he needs some convincing now.
The 25-year-old's previous status as a player of considerable potential is now afforded to Stones. Others like Clyne and Phil Jones have moved ahead of him in the ranks of the more experienced.
The full-back's absence from the squad for September's qualifiers was understandable.
Walker had started the season encouragingly but not so superbly he deserved to automatically displace any of the more recently selected defenders. Also on Hodgon's mind will have been developing the kind of consistency that would create the positional cohesiveness so lacking in England's previous game, a defensively sloppy 3-2 win over Slovenia.
Pushed on by the increased competition from summer signing Kieran Trippier, Walker's October form being initially overlooked will have felt more disappointing.
The considerable wide threats of Crystal Palace and Manchester City were well dealt with in the Spurs defence's best two displays so far in 2015-16. After a tough start last week against Swansea City winger Jefferson Montero—increasingly becoming one of the more feared opponents for Premier League full-backs—Walker gradually slowed him down, too.
Again, it may just be a case of Hodgson not wanting to remove one of the players he has worked with recently. Walker being called up when Stones withdrew shows he is on the boss' mind (though some will argue it is partly a reflection of the paucity of international-class Englishmen).
However he has ended up back in the squad, Walker will want to make the most of his chance to impress.
It may not come with playing time against Estonia or Lithuania. For this international break, he will probably have to settle with showing the right attitude on the training pitch. If he carries on as he has been playing for Spurs, though, Hodgson will surely have to look at him in an England shirt again.
Clyne has earned his recognition. Stones is talented enough you can understand why even playing him out of his regular position holds some appeal (Hodgson will probably argue the same for Jones and Chris Smalling, too).
On his day, though, Walker is more than a match for them at right-back. When focused, his quickness and timing in the tackle make him hard to beat. His final-third production could stand to improve, but his athleticism ensures he is always willing and able to provide a passing option.
The next playing opportunities for England will be a test of his ability to show this without the benefit of familiar defenders alongside him (something that influenced his unsteady showing against Italy and arguably in his previous appearances, too).
The steady back-four at Spurs has undoubtedly helped so far this season, but it is not a luxury available at international level—not until you can prove you can work without it.
With Trippier breathing down his neck in north London he cannot afford to stand still. But fitness permitting, it is in Walker's hands to make sure he does not miss another summer of tournament football.
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