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Kyle Walker Gives Brutally Honest Assessment On England's World Cup Chances

Kyle Walker Gives Brutally Honest Assessment On England's World Cup Chances

He hasn't held back on his thoughts.

Jacque Talbot

Jacque Talbot

With just a couple of months to go until the World Cup in Russia, it's time once again to get ahead of ourselves. Imagine seeing your country's captain raise the trophy above his head in glory, as you get drowned in beer from the fervent celebrating supporters dancing on the bar stool next to you.

However, some are remaining more level-headed on the situation.

Manchester City full-back Kyle Walker isn't getting carried away with the pre-competition hype, even with the likes of goal-getter Harry Kane leading the line for his side.

"I hope we can go as far as we can go, but we need to be realistic," he told TalkSport. "To win the World Cup is going to be a miracle, but we have got the players to do it. A lot of us play in probably the best league in the world."

"We've got the players to do it, but have we got the experience going further along in competitions? No, we haven't. Not in recent years."

Walker lines up for England. Image: PA
Walker lines up for England. Image: PA

England have been going through a transitional period under manager Gareth Southgate.

The former England Under-21s boss has impressed pundits and fans alike with his concise and clear tactical blueprint, but his side embodies a safe hand rather than anything spectacular that could undo the fiddly locks of the elite countries.

"We need to be realistic. There are a lot of good teams out there and our record in tournaments has not been fantastic," Walker said.

England's last match in a major tournament was the disastrous 2-1 loss to Iceland in Euro 16, but Walker has stressed that the England camp is aware that the side has been poor in the knockout stages of the competition, so the onus will be on those games.



Walker added: "We've had a lot of conversations inside the camp - England haven't won a knockout game for God knows how many years, so for us to go there and win a knockout game, that would be a step in the right direction."

What Walker said may seem defeatist or it may seem rational, but given that years have taken its toll on England fans, they'll just be happy to see the side progress through the group stages.

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Topics: Football News, Football, England

Jacque Talbot is a journalist and sports writer at SPORTbible. He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan with a BA in English and Film. He is a football, snooker, and basketball enthusiast and has been published in the Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Set Pieces, Planet Football and the Morning Star. He’s the greatest thing to come out of Essex since Nick Frost.

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