KYLE WALKER has opened up about how his dad’s tough love shaped him into the player he is today.
Walker, 34, revealed that his father Michael would reduce him to tears after every game with his brutal criticism.
Walker has won six Premier League titles, four League Cups, two FA Cups and the Champions League during his enviable career.
And the veteran right-back reckons that his dad’s damning reviews of his performances are the reason that he has become one of the best players in the world.
Speaking on the You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker podcast, he said his dad “made me the person and the player that I am”.
Adding: “I used to hate going to football with him. No matter if I played good or I played bad, I’d get in the car and I’d be reduced to tears.
READ MORE ON KYLE WALKER
“He’d say I wouldn’t have done this right, I wouldn’t have done that right.
“He didn’t do it because he wanted to hurt me. He did it because he cared.”
Walker explained that those early parts of his career were all about “proving my dad wrong”, as he broke onto the scene at Sheffield United before earning a move to Tottenham.
Now Walker is widely considered to be one of the best right-backs to have ever played in the Premier League.
Most read in Football
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
While he has also amassed 90 caps for England, playing in two World Cups and three European Champioships.
Walker went on to explain that his mum would even have to step in sometimes, but that once he had reached the top his dad began to offer him more praise.
Kyle Walker’s sit-down interview with The Sun
By Paul Sims
ENGLAND ace Kyle Walker admitted in January he made “idiot choices and idiot decisions” over his secret child and bitterly regrets betraying soulmate wife Annie.
In a sit-down interview with The Sun, this is what he said.
“What I’ve done is horrible and I take full responsibility.
“I made idiot choices and idiot decisions. I can’t begin to think or imagine what Annie is going through. I’ve tried to ask her but there’s pain and hurt.
“The man that’s meant to love, care and be there for her, did this.
“There have been days in this ordeal where I’ve just wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep.
“The only person to blame is me. I have roles and responsibilities that I’m aware of and I’ve made stupid choices. But I need to own up to my mistakes — I owe it to everyone.
“My actions have caused a lot of pain to a lot of people. I’m sorry because, as a family, this isn’t meant to happen.
“I am a private man but I accept that I am a public figure and I need to address what I’ve done.
“It hasn’t helped that it has been played out in the media. But I’ve chosen to speak now in the hope that I can at least explain myself and enable my wife and children to have the privacy they so desperately need and deserve.
“When I met Annie at 17, I never envisaged my private life being like this. I never thought I would be a father of six.
“In football I’ve achieved more than what I ever thought I would achieve. But to personally hurt what I truly believe is my best friend, that’s what hurts a lot.
“How could I hurt someone I love so much? That’s something I need to find in myself.
“I need to find out why I have done this and why situations have occurred. I am human and I’ve made mistakes on and off the field.
“The ones off the field are definitely more damaging and have been more hurtful to me.
“Football has been my life since I was six but my family comes before anything on this planet. At the moment, they’re hurting enormously.
“My little boy goes to sleep with me every night and to not have him . . . I’m used to being away for long periods of time with England.
“We say goodnight on FaceTime. But to know that I’m not with him because of my mistake — mistake is probably the wrong word, my choices — that’s what pains me.”
Adding: “Sometimes it was very, very tough to get in that car, my mum would be going ‘Michael, leave him alone he’s done well’
“I could have scored three goals. But he would have said, ‘no, you should have scored six’.
Only when I’ve got older in my career, he actually says ‘all right, well played son’.
“After a couple of years at City. I think he was then like ‘you know, he actually can play football’.”
Walker has now been with Man City for seven years, making over 300 appearances for England’s dominant team.
Although rumours have begun to swirl about a potential exit from the four-in-a-row champions with Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal reportedly keen on the star.
Walker came close to making a switch to German giants Bayern Munich last summer.
Kyle Walker’s career
A brief overview of Kyle Walker’s career…
Club Career
- 1997 – 2008: Sheffield United Youth
- 2008 – 2009: Sheffield United
- 2008: Northampton (loan)
- 2009 – 2017: Tottenham Hotspur
- 2009 – 2010: Sheffield United (loan)
- 2010: Queens Park Rangers (loan)
- 2011: Aston Villa (loan)
- 2017 – present: Manchester City
International Career
- Caps: 90
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 10
Honours
- Premier League winner x6
- FA Cup winner x2
- League Cup winner x4
- Community Shield winner x2
- Champions League winner x1
- Fifa Club World Cup winner x1
- Uefa Super Cup winner x1
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
