Jermaine Jenas suggests that Kyle Walker is England’s standout player at Euro 2016.
England’s Kyle Walker in action
Former Tottenham and England midfielder Jermaine Jenas has told Yahoo! Sport that he thinks Kyle Walker has been ‘phenomenal’ at Euro 2016.
England picked up their first win of the European Championships with a 2-1 victory over Wales on Thursday afternoon, as Daniel Sturridge’s last-gasp winner gave the Three Lions the bragging rights in the battle of Britain.
Goalscorers Sturridge and Jamie Vardy naturally stole the headlines, but it was full back Kyle Walker who was arguably England’s man of the match in Lens.
Walker, 26, enjoyed his best Premier League season for Tottenham, and appears to have improved considerably under the tutelage of manager Mauricio Pochettino – but he still wasn’t guaranteed a place in the England side.
With competition from Liverpool’s Nathaniel Clyne, Walker eventually won the battle to start, and he’s justified Roy Hodgson’s decision with impressive displays.
Walker was one of England’s better players against Russia, and then starred against Wales with marauding runs up the right flank, proving to be one of England’s most dangerous attacking outlets.
Now, former Spurs and England midfielder Jermaine Jenas has told Yahoo! Sport that he thinks Walker has been ‘phenomenal’, and is emerging as England’s standout player in France.
Jenas added that Tottenham and England team-mate Danny Rose has also impressed, and whilst both need to improve their deliveries into the box, he thinks both can become as good as Barcelona and Brazil star Dani Alves.
“Kyle Walker is emerging as England’s standout player in France,” said Jenas. “He’s been phenomenal, and I think he’s the best right-back at the tournament. I believe Walker, and his fellow full-back Danny Rose, are the key for England at Euro 2016. People have questioned our defence, but in wide areas we have the ability to destroy teams.”
“The Tottenham man has pace and power in abundance, and defenders can’t live with that combination. He caused Wales constant problems down the right-hand side. The only criticism I can make is that their quality in the final third could be better, because they get into amazing positions but that’s not always matched by the cross. And that’s the main thing that is stopping them moving up from being a very good pair of full-backs to a world class pair.”
“That’s what they are on the cusp of. I know both these guys personally and, talking to them, I don’t think they even know it. But if you look around the continent at the full-back positions, Walker and Rose are two of the best. If they can work on that final delivery, that’s when they’ll take that next step, into the realm of players like Dani Alves,” he added.
What have you thought of Walker’s performances at Euro 2016?
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