{"id":289940,"date":"2023-09-15T22:34:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T22:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/?p=289940"},"modified":"2023-09-15T22:34:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T22:34:06","slug":"pep-guardiola-admits-kyle-walker-exit-would-have-given-him-a-big-big-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/soccer\/pep-guardiola-admits-kyle-walker-exit-would-have-given-him-a-big-big-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Pep Guardiola admits Kyle Walker exit would have given him a \u2018big, big problem\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletter\/football\/football-thumb\/football-thumb.png\" width=\"134\" height=\"134\" layout=\"responsive\"><\/p>\n<h3>Sign up to Miguel Delaney\u2019s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free<\/h3>\n<h3>Sign up to Miguel\u2019s Delaney\u2019s free weekly newsletter <\/h3>\n<h2>Thanks for signing up to the<br \/> Football email<\/h2>\n<p>Pep Guardiola admits he would have had a \u201cbig, big problem\u201d if Kyle Walker had left Manchester City in the summer.<\/p>\n<p>The England right-back came close to leaving the treble winners for Bayern Munich but ultimately opted to stay and this week extended his contract at the Etihad Stadium until 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The 33-year-old had a spell out of favour last season but has started the new campaign strongly and Guardiola is pleased to have retained his services after losing experienced pair Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez.<\/p>\n<p>The City manager said: \u201cAfter Gundo and Riyad, losing Bernardo (Silva) and Kyle would have have been a big, big problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not about the quality \u2013 the skills you can find quite similar, or different players can help you \u2013 but there are some things in the locker room that are so difficult to replace.<\/p>\n<h3>Recommended<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2022\/11\/30\/15\/GettyImages-1388382959%20copy.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2022\/12\/01\/03\/GettyImages-1245251240.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese guys have a lot of experience in the important moments of important games. You know exactly how he\u2019s going to respond in the bad moments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would have been a big loss. That\u2019s why as a club of course we fought for him to stay with us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Walker joined City from Tottenham in 2017 and has since won 15 trophies, including the Champions League and five Premier League titles.<\/p>\n<p>Guardiola believes he has matured into a far better player than when he arrived and recently underlined his qualities with his response to a calamitous error last month.<\/p>\n<p>Walker was at fault as Sheffield United claimed a late equaliser against City in their Premier League clash at Bramall Lane but then recovered to tee up Rodri\u2019s dramatic winner.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/mobile-stores\/Amazon_Prime.svg\" width=\"129\" height=\"56\"><\/p>\n<p>Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n<p>Sign up now for a 30-day free trial<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/mobile-stores\/Amazon_Prime.svg\" width=\"129\" height=\"56\"><\/p>\n<p>Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n<p>Sign up now for a 30-day free trial<\/p>\n<p>Guardiola said: \u201cHe made a wrong decision when they equalised but, right after the equaliser, the next two actions came from Kyle in the byline. It was a goal. What a top, top player.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe forgets what happened, says, \u2018OK I\u2019m going to win the game\u2019. That defines the big, big players.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo doubt he\u2019s a much, much better player than seven years ago when he arrived. That is clear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone makes mistakes but he has an incredible heart. And he\u2019s a really nice guy, really nice, always tries to help.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen a player is injured, he always calls him. I was at home (after back surgery) and he called me twice. \u2018How you feel, Pep?\u2019 This counts a lot in the group of people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reason why we have a lot of success? The quality of human beings that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Walker has captained City so far this season and, with Kevin De Bruyne currently sidelined, could be the favoured choice to succeed Gundogan in the role full-time.<\/p>\n<h3>Recommended<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/09\/15\/22\/309d004b30150090b8d80f153819f5f3Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0ODg0ODI5-2.73323049.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/09\/15\/22\/15173026-25a76c40-ca8d-4684-9bc6-45df0b681125.png?quality=75&amp;width=230&amp;auto=webp\" class=\"sc-1g4ankk-0 cUqDiq i-amphtml-layout-fixed i-amphtml-layout-size-defined\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/09\/15\/22\/d00baf02dd6d4c16571e55f5f83c6a52Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0ODc3MDMw-2.73563287.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>A vote among the squad and backroom staff \u2013 in which Guardiola will not participate \u2013 is due to be held in the coming days.<\/p>\n<p>Guardiola said: \u201cThe vote will be taken the next days and the players will decide. It belongs to the players, not to me. What they decide, I\u2019m fine (with).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/football\/kyle-walker-pep-guardiola-manchester-city-ilkay-gundogan-bayern-munich-b2412596.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sign up to Miguel Delaney\u2019s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free Sign up to Miguel\u2019s Delaney\u2019s free weekly newsletter Thanks for signing up to the Football email Pep Guardiola admits he would have had a \u201cbig, big problem\u201d if Kyle Walker had left Manchester City in the summer. The England [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pep Guardiola admits Kyle Walker exit would have given him a \u2018big, big problem\u2019 - Sports Life Tale<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportslifetale.com\/soccer\/pep-guardiola-admits-kyle-walker-exit-would-have-given-him-a-big-big-problem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pep Guardiola admits Kyle Walker exit would have given him a \u2018big, big problem\u2019 - Sports Life Tale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sign up to Miguel Delaney\u2019s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free Sign up to Miguel\u2019s Delaney\u2019s free weekly newsletter Thanks for signing up to the Football email Pep Guardiola admits he would have had a \u201cbig, big problem\u201d if Kyle Walker had left Manchester City in the summer. 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