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‘Kyle Walker is the fastest player I’ve ever seen!’: England’s Kalvin Phillips backs his team-mate in stopping Kylian Mbappe in the quarter-final clash against France… before claiming Harry’s criticism Maguire are ‘undeserved’
England’s Kalvin Phillips welcomed a battle between Kyle Walker and Kylian Mbappe in their World Cup quarter-final clash.
The Three Lions will face defending champions France in the next round of the competition after a dominant 3-0 win over Senegal in the round of 16.
Before the game, Phillips spoke to the media and insisted that his Man City teammate could put an end to France’s talisman in Qatar.
Kalvin Phillips spoke to the media ahead of England’s quarter-final clash with France
Phillips tipped Man City teammate Kyle Walker (L) to quash the threat of Kylian Mbappe (R)
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Phillips said: ‘Kyle Walker is the fastest player I’ve ever seen play football. A lot of people ask how fast he is, but you really can’t put it into words.
“You just have to see him in training camp or 1v1 with a really fast player and we’ll see him in a few days.”
Phillips heaped further praise on his City teammate later in the press conference, as he stated that there is no one better suited to defend Mbappe than Walker.
“If there is someone I would like to face Mbappé to stop him, it is Kyle Walker. He’s an amazing defender and probably the only one who’s faster than him.”
Pundits had urged Gareth Southgate to rest Walker for the match against Senegal so that he would be fully fit for France. A testament to the quality the full-back offers.
Walker will be central to England’s tactics for their big clash on Saturday afternoon.
Kylian Mbappé is the competition’s top scorer with five goals so far in Qatar
The former Leeds midfielder continued to express his support for his national teammate Harry Maguire after a reporter suggested the defender has come under attack in the media in recent weeks.
“We are 100% behind him. I know he hasn’t played as much football as he would have liked this season and he gets a lot of attention, which I think he is very undeserved,” Phillips said.
“He is a great professional and a great footballer. All you have to do is watch him in a major tournament for England and see that he is one of the best defenders. He has been in England for a long, long time.
‘When we need to block or someone needs to make a challenge, he is always the first to do it.
He has also scored some very important goals. He’s been made fun of a lot, so he’s the first person to turn to if something bad happens on this team.”
Phillips suggests that Harry Maguire has been made the scapegoat despite being a consistent player
Phillips also gave the English fans a big boost after confirming that midfielder Declan Rice had returned to full training.
Rice, who missed training on Wednesday due to illness having played every game in the World Cup so far, is now back in contention to start against France in England’s crucial quarter-final on Saturday.
Phillips said during his press conference on Thursday: “I think Dec is fit, he’s back in training and he’s doing well.”
Declan Rice returned to training Thursday after recovering from his illness earlier this week.