Walker: 'I won't roll out the red carpet for Mbappe to score'
"I think the next game is not England against Mbappe, but England against France," Walker said at a press conference on December 7. "We respect and know Mbappe is in high form, but I will not roll out the red carpet to welcome Mbappe and let him score. This is a vital game, because if we lose, we will go home. Mbappe won't stand in my way to help England win the 2022 World Cup."
Walker has faced Mbappe four times in his career, when he and Man City met PSG in the Champions League. Man City won three matches, and Mbappe only scored one goal - a close-range finish to equalize the score in the match PSG lost 1-2 at Etihad in the group stage last year.
The 32-year-old defender is confident that he can deal with Mbappe, with the experience of dealing with many other top stars. "I understand what needs to be done, and that is to stop Mbappe. It's always easier said than done, but I don't underestimate myself," Walker emphasized.
According to Walker, besides Mbappe, France still has many other dangerous attacking players such as Olivier Giroud, Ousmane Dembele or Antoine Griezmann. Therefore, Walker wants England to stay focused and defend collectively, instead of just focusing on Mbappe. He said: "We take our hats off to Mbappe, a great player. But all questions should not be about Mbappe. He is a weapon of France, but they have many other good players and we cannot. underestimate them".
British media said that the confrontation between Walker and Mbappe is the key to solving the quarter-finals on December 10. "With Walker's pace, England are the team best equipped to neutralize Mbappe," commented Sportmail.
Commenting on Sky Sports, two former defenders Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand said that Walker is the "only defender" who can stop Mbappe in sprints. Another former England defender, Martin Keown believes Walker will lock down France's most dangerous detonator. Walker's teammates, James Maddison, and Poland defender Matty Cash - who currently plays for Aston Villa and has faced Man City many times, also commented similarly.
Walker understands the expectations of him against Mbappe, but insists the collective performance is still the most important. "I will give Mbappe enough respect, because a player does not make a team. This is not tennis, or any other individual sport," added the Man City defender.
Through 31 confrontations, England beat France to 17, drew 5 and lost only 9 matches. In the last clash, when France beat England 3-2 in a friendly match at the Stade de France on June 13, 2017, Mbappe kicked the full 90 minutes but did not score. In this match, Walker was a substitute for Kieran Trippier when England played with a three-back formation.
