Walker: England need a “miracle” to win World Cup

There’s nothing quite like positive thinking…

Then again, this is the English national team we are talking about.

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With Gareth Southgate‘s side once again waltzing through qualification to a major tournament, it appears the Three Lions squad are keeping their feet firmly on the ground despite a growing sense that they could be a darkhorse at the 2018 World Cup this summer.

Manchester City and England right back Kyle Walker is having none of that.

Walker spoke to TalkSport on Wednesday and had this to say when asked about England’s chances at the World Cup in Russia.

“I hope we can go as far as we can go, but we need to be realistic. To win the World Cup is going to be a miracle, but we have got the players to do it,” Walker said. “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. We need to be realistic. There are a lot of good teams out there and our record in tournaments has not been fantastic.

“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.”

Tell it how it is, Kyle…

Seriously, where are we with this England team? It feels like in the past few tournaments they’ve gone from potential semifinalists (EURO 2012), to shambles (2014 World Cup) to darkhorses (pre-EURO 2016) and then back to shambles (post-EURO 2016).

And so the cycle continues.

England has a squad of hugely talented players and it does appear that Southgate is picking horses for courses in a fluid 3-4-3 formation, rather than simply selecting the biggest names and upsetting the balance of the team. That was the problem with several England managers in the past but now they have a balance and they are tough to break down with Walker converted to a right-sided center back and a squad of players who are dynamic in attack and comfortable on the ball, even if their goalkeeping issue is yet to be resolved.

Walker has this spot on. England need to first get out of their group which includes Belgium, Tunisia and Panama and that should be doable with the Three Lions facing Belgium in their final Group G game. Then it’s all about the knockout rounds and, like France in the 2014 World Cup, reaching the quarterfinals with a young, hungry side would be seen as success and a significant step in the right direction.

Walker and his teammates will have to deal with growing expectation, and pressure, if England get out of their group and win their Round of 16 game, but it seems like they’re comfortable with flying under the radar which is in stark contrast to the levels of expectation at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

You can’t class England as an underdog due to the talent at Southgate’s disposal

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