Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has faced Kylian Mbappé during his career. The Englishman recently confided on the “Vibe with Five” podcast about the speed element a player needs to worry about when defending the 25-year-old.
Walker discussed Mbappé’s speed in detail and noted what the Paris Saint-Germain star intends to do to reel in a defender and then use his speed.
“Mbappé is the one that, you know, he would like, obviously, he uses pace a lot,” Walker said. “His pace is a big factor in his game and it’s a good asset that he’s got.
“But he wants to slow you down before he knocks it where other players don’t really do that and they want the momentum to then obviously try and get past you, but he wants to slow you down so much. So then, when he stops and goes again, acceleration is incredible. So it’s about not slowing down.”
The Manchester City star recalled the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal encounter and revealed when he knew Mbappé burned him.
“It’s one in the World Cup and I’ve gone over to him, but I’ve slowed down too much,” Walker added. “And I knew as soon as I slowed down, I knew I’m dead. Was it just outside the box? It was like halfway.
“There’s like me and Hendo go over to him and Hendo says, you’re the line. And then as soon as the line, I slow down. It’s like a millisecond, but because of he’s so quick. And then I’m scrambling to get my arm back across him, but when they’re moving as well, it’s too hard.”
Kyle Walker talks about how Mbappe uses his speed pic.twitter.com/SIdVej0auo
— sallomenn (@Sallomenn) March 10, 2024
