KYLE WALKER-PETERS may not be playing for Jose Mourinho — but he still plans on being the kind of b*****d the Special One loves.
Clips from Amazon’s Spurs documentary of Mourinho telling his players they were too nice and needed to be “b*****ds” on the pitch have gone viral.
Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho with Kyle Walker-Peters
Walker-Peters, 23, has since left to join Southampton where boss Ralph Hasenhuttl also appreciates his squad showing a nasty streak.
He told SunSport: “Sometimes you need to be a bit of a b*****d and you need to upset the person who is trying to dominate you.
“It’s something I’ve really developed in my game. In the last seven games of last season I was thinking of ways to be nastier on the pitch.
“Not nasty in terms of going into stupid tackles, but putting my opponent off, or irritating him.
“The way I like to irritate them is I know they don’t like to chase me.
“So in possession, I’m always running, moving.
“If I’m on the ball, I’m dribbling.
“I know wingers hate tracking the full-back. I’m very fit and I can run.
“It doesn’t have to be with a tackle, it can be a b*****d in terms of, ‘I’m going to make you run and have a horrible game’.”
Defender Walker-Peters left Spurs to join Southampton
Chess-loving Walker-Peters hopes to manoeuvre his way into the England fold.
The full-back knows the odds of Gareth Southgate checking him out are slim right now given the amazing competition he faces.
But KWP, who at Spurs used to play Dele Alli at the world’s oldest game, is thinking several moves ahead and is confident his Saints switch will eventually tip the odds in his favour.
The £12million summer signing told us: “The only way of getting into the England team is by playing regularly and performing.
“I felt I did that towards the end of last season and now I need to continue that and show consistency and then there’s no reason why I won’t get selected for England.
“There’s a lot of competition.
Sometimes you need to be a bit of a b*****d and you need to upset the person who is trying to dominate you.
Kyle Walker-Peters
“There’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Reece James, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker . . . these are the guys I’m competing with.
“But my main focus is staying in the Southampton team and achieving the goals we want to achieve.”
Walker-Peters regularly used to play chess after training sessions at Spurs, the club he was at since the age of ten until his move to St Mary’s.
Fulham’s Josh Onomah was a regular opponent when he was at the club, as was Three Lions star Dele.
Walker-Peters added: “Josh is very good. I’ve played Dele a few times and absolutely battered him!
“I like the tactics. I like the fact that I have to plan four or five moves ahead.
Walker-Peters hopes to manoeuvre his way into the England fold
“You have to really think into the future and predict what your opponent is going to do, which is a bit similar to football.”
KWP spends a lot of his spare time with good mate Dele, who is a year older, whether it be in person or virtually on the PlayStation competing in NBA games.
Though Walker-Peters is still waiting for the former MK Dons wonderkid to pay up for crashing into his stationary car on the way to a European game last season.
The damage required a new front bumper and a repaint.
Dele’s amusing confession to his blunder was captured in Amazon’s documentary of Tottenham’s 2019-2020 campaign.
Walker-Peters said: “No, he didn’t pay! I paid and got it sorted. But he was very apologetic.
Delli Alli was a close friend of Walker-Peters at Spurs
“I got to the airport before him and he came in laughing and said, ‘Kyle, promise you won’t be angry. I’ve just crashed into your car’.
“He said he was trying to park next to me and somehow didn’t see my car.
“He blamed it on Harry Winks’ fog lights!”
Walker-Peters could face his big pal next week when Saints host Spurs.
But first up is today’s opener at Crystal Palace, who tried to loan the right-back in January but lost out to Southampton.
And after having the second half of last season to get to grips with Hasenhuttl’s tactics, which included an unbeaten final seven games, the now permanent Saints star is ready to shine.
The Saints splashed £12million on summer signing KWP
KWP, whose uncle is former Charlton midfielder Phil Walker, added: “It took me a bit of time to adapt to what the manager wanted but now I’m comfortable with it.
“Something we’re big on at Southampton is doubling up. No one is ever left one v one.
“That’s what we do, we swarm players and win the ball back quickly.
“That took me a while to really get because, as a defender, I’m always trying to protect my goal.
“But the performances towards the end of last season speak for themselves.
“I think teams will be going into games against us analysing how to stop us. I think we’ve earned that right.”
Strategy, it seems, is going to be crucial to beating Hasenhuttl’s ultra-drilled Southampton — just like when facing Walker-Peters on the chessboard.
Jose Mourinho tells Dele Alli he is ‘f***ing lazy’ in All or Nothing Tottenham doc
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
