Tottenham defender Kyle Walker-Peters expressed his frustration
Kyle Walker-Peters spoke out this week about his frustration at a stop-start career.
The defender is on loan at Southampton, where he made one start, prior to the football break.
Walker-Peters referred back to his league debut for Spurs in 2017 in which he starred in a 2-0 away victory over Newcastle.
Days later Tottenham signed Serge Aurier, which along with Kieran Trippier returning from injury, saw Walker-Peters return to the sidelines.
Walker-Peters told Football London: “If you get man of the match [against Newcastle], you expect to start the next game, which was against Chelsea. I guess you can say that’s a lot to ask of a young player, but at the time I was really disappointed not to start.
“I never understood why I didn’t play much after I got man of the match, but the manager has to make decisions and what he thinks is best.”
There are two sides to this. What Walker-Peters has done since, or what he hasn’t done, has shown Spurs may have been right not to trust him.
He has not seized the opportunities he has been given since, certainly not in the past six months, and at Southampton he is yet to really get going.
But Walker-Peters would be forgiven for wondering whether his lackadaisical form in the past few months is an effect of a lack of chances between 2017 and 2019.
Serge Aurier was always a stop-gap signing, showing a lack of belief in Walker-Peters.
If Spurs had trusted him while he was young and fearless, he would likely be a better player now.
From a mental perspective, Walker-Peters needs to let go of this and believe in himself, rather than blame others. But his arguments about a lack of opportunities are fully justified.
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