KYLE WALKER may have had a shocker against Senegal – but he is now just four caps away from completing England’s perfect centurion XI.
The Manchester City veteran struggled badly on his 96th cap in Tuesday’s 3-1 friendly defeat at the City Ground, which was our first-ever loss to an African nation.
It left many fans wondering if he will even make it to a 97th cap, let alone 100, although Thomas Tuchel’s comments afterwards will have reassured the 35-year-old.
And should he manage to dust himself down and convince the German of giving him the quartet needed to reach a century, he will be the eleventh player in Three Lions history to make it to triple figures.
And in a coincidental twist of fate, if Walker does hit 100 then he would be the final piece in the jigsaw to complete a tonne-up team.
In goal is our nation’s record appearance-maker Peter Shilton on 125 games.
Walker would take the right-back slot, with former Arsenal and Chelsea star Ashley Cole at left-back on 107.
In central defence, World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore (108) lines up alongside Billy Wright.
The latter was a one-club man for Wolves just after the war and became the first player in world football to reach 100 caps for his country, ending on 105 in 1959.
Playing out wide left in a 4-4-2 formation is the late Sir Bobby Charlton, who netted a stunning 49 goals in 106 caps, winning our only World Cup in 1966.
On the right wing is ex-captain David Beckham, who The Sun exclusively revealed will be knighted in the King’s upcoming Birthday Honours List, on 115.
In the middle is Steven Gerrard (114) and Frank Lampard (106), trying to ignore the old debate of whether they could actually play together as a midfield pairing.
Up top are our two greatest goalscorers – and arguably two best strikers, though Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker and Jimmy Greaves may have something to say about that.
Harry Kane leads the line, having blasted an astonishing 73 goals in 107 caps, with his latest of each coming against the Senegalese.
Wayne Rooney, whose goals record Kane surpassed two years ago, completes the awesome line-up thanks to 53 goals in 120 caps.
Only three England bosses made it to 100 games in charge, including the first two, Walter Winterbottom (139), Sir Alf Ramsey (113) and, years later, Sir Gareth Southgate (102).
Walker, 35, is desperate to make it to 100 caps.
After winning his 80th in a 2-0 win over Malta in November 2023, he said: “That’s one of my big objectives.
“There are very few players that are in that bracket and have made it to the 100 club.
“If I can do that I’ll be over the moon and delighted from when I first started in 2011 when I got my first call-up under (Fabio) Capello.”
Walker could complete his century before the year is out, with England having six World Cup qualifiers between September and October.
But given the level of competition at full-back, including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James and Tino Livramento, and Walker seemingly having no future at City, it is by no means a given he will do it.
Walker also seems in limbo club-wise, with City not taking him to the Club World Cup and a return to AC Milan, where he spent the second half of the season on loan, looking off the cards.
Tuchel feels the treble-winner’s lack of recent action contributed to his dire display against the Senegalese where his touch was rusty and he looked uncharacteristically slow.
But the former Chelsea boss remains a huge fan of Walker, which will give the full-back confidence his century dream can be realised.
Asked why Walker deserved to play against Senegal in his post-match press conference, Tuchel said: “Because it counts also what he did in the first camp.
“His first two matches were good. He was a regular player at Milan and then broke his elbow.
“Once we saw him in camp, he trained at the highest level, I felt him very composed, very proud to be in the camp.
“He took responsibility, he helped everyone out and pushed the standards and levels. I think he deserved to play.
“I see the lack of rhythm, clearly, the lack of rhythm in misjudgements and duels and anticipation, of course.
“That is also maybe the nature of a June camp and a player who does not have every minute in his legs lately and has struggled to come back because of injury and the contract situation when he was just on loan.”
Read the full article here