IAN LADYMAN: Kyle Walker admits ‘it’s not going to be an easy task’ to keep Kylian Mbappe quiet

World Cup media duties can be strange experiences for a footballer, particularly the further a team venture into the tournament.

On Wednesday at England’s training centre out by the sea, Kyle Walker was asked by a Swede about the chances of Raheem Sterling returning to the squad, by a Frenchman about Declan Rice‘s health and by two Englishmen whether he hoped it would rain on Saturday and if the hotel cat was in good order.

Among all this were some questions about the football and in particular France and their flying forward Kylian Mbappe.

Kyle Walker admits it won’t be easy to keep PSG and France star Kylian Mbappe quiet

On this, the Manchester City full back was on safer ground. Walker has played against Mbappe three times in the Champions League (one win, two defeats) and understands the unique problems he will present when England meet France in their World Cup quarter-final at Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday night.

‘He’s one of the best, if not the best, in the world at the minute,’ Walker said. ‘It’s not going to be an easy task.’

The right-back will bring more than a turn of pace to Saturday evening’s duel

Mbappe has run hot through this World Cup, scoring five goals for Didier Deschamps’ defending champions.

He will not only be Walker’s problem but he will be his direct opponent. Mbappe has hit speeds of almost 22mph in Qatar while Walker — the quickest player in the England team — has been growing into the World Cup after having groin surgery in October, which at one stage looked likely to rule him out of the tournament completely.

Inferiority complexes get you nowhere in sport, though, and Walker and his England team-mates have not been shy this week to reveal they will approach this match on the front foot.

‘The game is not England v Mbappe,’ said Walker. ‘The game is England v France. It’s not a solo sport. It’s not tennis.

‘We respect that he’s a good player and in good form but I’m not going to roll out the red carpet for him and tell him to score. I’m representing my country in a quarter-final of a World Cup. It’s do or die, really. If we lose we go home. He’s not going to stand in my way of hopefully winning a World Cup for my country.’

Walker, who has 72 England caps, has always been quick. It was one of the reasons City bought him from Tottenham in 2017.

Walker recovered from a groin injury in time to represent England at the Qatar World Cup

No full-back survives and thrives on speed alone, though, and the 32-year-old feels he has learned enough over the years to bring more than a turn of pace into battle on Saturday.

‘You have to use a little bit of nous,’ Walker said. ‘You can’t be a speedboat without a driver. You need to use your brain and I can’t get as tight to him as I would with other players. That’s just the nature of the game.

‘I remember playing against Theo Walcott once and I was getting so close to him and then all of a sudden he gets behind you and that’s your lesson taught.

‘You need to make sure the mistakes you make are not costly mistakes. Whoever plays at right back on Saturday, he’s going to get the better of you one, two, three occasions a game because he’s a great player. You just need to make sure those occasions are as few as possible and not costly.’

Kylian Mbappe has five goals so far in the World Cup as well as two assists from four games

At this tournament’s outset, with Walker still regaining match fitness and Kieran Trippier chosen at right back for the first two games against Iran and the United States, Walker’s best route into Gareth Southgate’s team appeared to be as a right-sided central defender of three.

But with Southgate presenting himself as a bolder coach at this World Cup, England have stayed true to a back four.

If that is the case in Al Khor on Saturday, we may well see a more entertaining game than we have previously when this England side have faced other teams of repute.

‘They are the world champions,’ said Walker. ‘They have the respect they deserve. But I can assure you that each and every one of us will not be thinking this is just a theatre for them to showcase their great talent.

The Manchester City defender admitted that France demanded respect as world champions

‘We have also got great talent that we need to be speaking about as well. The goals we have scored, the clean sheets we have kept. We just move forward with that. They have to worry about us. It’s not just us worrying about them.’

Walker’s Sheffield bluntness is easy to like. He talks like he plays. Directly.

He admitted on Wednesday he would need to take ‘extra care’ against Mbappe but also pointed out that France have other forward players of great standing, too.

Asked to name the toughest opponent he has faced, Walker nominated former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane.

Asked if he himself was quicker than Mbappe, he said we would find out soon.

As for the day’s other standout topics — Sterling, Rice and the weather — he was unsurprisingly less forthcoming. As for the welfare of the cat, nicknamed Dave by the England players, he assured us all was well.