Kyle Walker on his trophy hungry at City ahead of RED Star UCL opener
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
00:18 Same again, please guys, show of hands.
00:19 We'll take questions in English first,
00:21 and then if there is anything in Serbian towards the end,
00:23 then we'll take that.
00:24 It's up to you.
00:26 So where to start, please?
00:27 We'll start with Jack at the bottom.
00:29 Hiya, Kyle.
00:30 Hi, mate.
00:31 Have you had the captain's vote yet?
00:35 Yeah, the captain's vote has come in,
00:36 and there's the five captains that have been chosen.
00:40 And we will lead the team for the fifth season,
00:45 and make sure that everyone's in check,
00:48 and fines are paid up.
00:50 You always tell us who the five is, and in what order.
00:54 I don't think the order really matters,
00:56 but it's down to myself, Kevin, Rodrey, Ruben, and Bernardo
01:01 Silva.
01:04 And will you-- obviously, you've got the armband for the season
01:07 so far.
01:08 Is that something you're continuing with?
01:11 Yeah, of course.
01:12 It's something that I've been very honored,
01:15 and it's been a privilege to lead this group,
01:18 this special group of players out,
01:20 and I will continue to do that.
01:22 And hopefully, lead by example on and off the field
01:26 to make sure that we're collecting the trophies
01:28 come the end of the season.
01:31 Hi, Kyle.
01:32 After winning everything last season,
01:35 the challenge, of course, is to go again.
01:37 Can you give us--
01:38 I mean, that's never been a problem here at City.
01:40 You're looking at your record over the past--
01:43 for a long time.
01:43 Yeah.
01:44 What is there within this group of players,
01:46 and maybe particularly within you,
01:48 your mentality to go and do it again?
01:51 It never seemed to be satisfied.
01:54 I think, first and foremost, it's our job.
01:56 It's our job, and we're a massive club for a reason,
01:59 because the manager believes in us, and we're all great players.
02:04 Now, it comes from within that you have to keep going.
02:07 And the hunger is still definitely in the changing room
02:10 from us lads, and I should hope him as a manager as well,
02:14 that he still wants to win more.
02:16 You can see what he's like on the field.
02:18 You can see what he's like on the training session,
02:20 and he doesn't settle for second.
02:22 And we need to follow in his footsteps,
02:23 because he's managed some great teams over the past number
02:27 of years, and they've gone on to win fantastic things.
02:30 So what we've done, it's in the past now.
02:34 It's a new season.
02:35 You draw a line, and like the manager did a diagram--
02:38 I think it was the first game of the season--
02:41 we start at the bottom of the mountain again now.
02:43 And we're climbing the mountain, and each time you
02:45 have to put your--
02:46 our stick or our flag will always
02:47 be at the top of the mountain.
02:49 It'll always be there, because we've won the Champions League now,
02:51 we've won the Premier League, but to go again and again,
02:53 that's what separates good teams from great teams.
02:57 Kyle, the boss has just been talking about yourself as well,
03:02 in the form that you've shown, praising you,
03:04 obviously with Pep you can always do better still,
03:07 but at the same time, what level do you feel you've reached so far this season?
03:11 Is it as good a period in your career as you've had?
03:15 It's difficult to say if it's the best period I'm in,
03:20 because I go out each and every game wanting to perform at the best of my ability.
03:26 I feel that the team's winning, which makes everything sound and seem great,
03:31 but I'm playing good football, obviously.
03:33 I've hit a few milestones that I really wanted to tick off,
03:37 especially the goal with England.
03:39 I didn't want to be a player that's played a number of games and not scored for England.
03:44 So to finally get my first goal was a big relief.
03:47 But, listen, it's about the team, obviously,
03:50 to take the plaudits from the manager is always nice to hear,
03:53 but it's a team game that we're in, and as long as we put the three points on the board
03:58 and keep putting in the performances that we have done,
04:01 that will be more than happy for me.
04:04 The boss also made the point that winning the Champions League last season
04:07 is just one Champions League, other clubs have won more than one Champions League,
04:11 so what's the pressure like to win multiple Champions League titles
04:14 compared to the pressure to deliver that first Champions League title?
04:17 The pressure to win multiple Champions League titles,
04:21 speaking to my own personal stuff, I've only won one.
04:23 Obviously, we've been very fortunate to cover in that one four,
04:29 so hopefully he's experiencing going again and going again,
04:34 he can bring that to the table, definitely this season with this Manchester City team.
04:39 But it's exciting, it's something that we've done in the Premier League
04:44 and retained the Premier League on numerous times,
04:47 and we have to go and do that, but like I just said in the interview downstairs,
04:50 you need a little bit of luck, you need to ride your luck,
04:53 it's a competition of 13 games that things have to swing in your way,
04:57 even in the final, Eddie doesn't pull that save off at the very end,
05:01 we could be going to penalties or extra time and it could be a different outcome,
05:05 so you need your luck in things and hopefully we've got that this season again.
05:09 Hi, Kyle. Congratulations on the new contract, by the way.
05:14 We've obviously seen other players leave,
05:17 Gundun out of Barcelona, Riyad went to Saudi, so why did you want to stay?
05:22 Why should I want to leave this great team?
05:26 For me, it was just about the years, I'm 33 now,
05:31 and I'm not 33 years old, I'm 33 years young, because I still feel great!
05:35 But it was just me settling in, and I didn't really want to sign another year
05:40 to then have this conversation again next year, I wanted to be settled,
05:45 not just for me but for my family as well, and I feel now I am settled,
05:49 you're seeing the performances that I don't have it on the back of my mind,
05:52 because it does play on your mind where you've got a little bit of uncertainty,
05:56 I wanted to stay for this club as long as possible,
05:59 because why do I leave a team that's gone and won three Premier Leagues in a row,
06:04 a Treble and a Champions League?
06:06 If I leave, or if I left in the summer, I don't go and score the winning penalty
06:10 at the Super Cup and lift that, so it's working out so far,
06:14 but it's still early days, nothing's decided at this moment in time
06:18 in the Premier League or in any other competition,
06:20 and we need to make sure that, as we are, nine times out of ten,
06:24 they're in the latest stages.
06:26 And there are some that will look at 33 years young,
06:29 and say a three-year deal takes you to 36, and age and etc,
06:33 how are you feeling, better than you've ever felt?
06:35 No, I feel great, I feel great.
06:38 Obviously the recovery does take a little bit longer now
06:41 and I'm spending more time in the ice bath,
06:44 but it's down to what you have to do personally to look after yourself
06:47 to make sure that you're fit and ready and willing to bang out the performances
06:51 that touch what I have been doing, to make sure that you continue to be in the team
06:56 and the manager puts the faith in you.
07:00 Pep said on Saturday that you must have good genes
07:03 because you seem to be getting faster, were your mum or dad athletes at all?
07:08 My dad seems to think he was quick, he always used to race me until I was about 13 or 14
07:15 and then I beat him once and he stopped racing me since then.
07:19 So, listen, I've been very blessed with the genetics that I've been given
07:26 from my mum and dad, so thank you to them.
07:29 But it's down to hard work as well, it's not just down to them,
07:32 I do spend a lot of time in the gym and doing things where people don't see,
07:37 putting in the hard graft and making sure that I'm able to bang out the performances
07:42 that I've been doing.
07:44 Just one more, a lot of people liked your Wolf of Wall Street video,
07:48 even the manager said he liked it, was that your idea?
07:51 No, I'm not taking compliments for that,
07:53 it was the media team at Man City and obviously the social media people
07:58 that look after mine that came up with the idea and it seems to have gone down a treat,
08:02 so I'm happy I entertained you.
08:05 Kyle, have you reminisced about that night in Istanbul much
08:07 when you went off on your holidays and stuff, were you thinking about it a lot?
08:10 I don't think I actually thought about it until I probably arrived back into Manchester.
08:16 I actually played golf the other day after the England-Scotland
08:21 and I went for a round at Loch Lomond and a Manchester City fan came up to me
08:26 and said, "I'm here with a lot of Londoners and they support Tottenham
08:31 or Arsenal or Chelsea," and he said, "I just want to say thank you."
08:35 And until probably then it didn't really set in just what we actually achieved.
08:40 For someone who doesn't obviously know me but just a supporter of the city
08:44 to then come up to me and say thank you, it kind of set in that we're not doing it
08:49 just for us but we're doing it for thousands and millions of people
08:53 that support this team and England as well to represent this country.
08:59 We're doing it proud.
09:01 You've obviously signed a new contract, is there a chance this could be your last club?
09:04 You could see the rest of your career out at Man City.
09:07 I mean, I hope so. I hope so. I'm here until I'm 36, as you've just said.
09:13 If they want to give me another one then no problem, I'll quite happily sign.
09:18 They'll have to wheel me out of here, as they say, but I'm happy here.
09:22 Why should I move, why should I want to leave, or why should I be thinking about the future?
09:26 I've got to think about this season now and make sure that this is a positive season
09:30 for me personally and also collectively because we're in a team sport,
09:34 and then when that time comes, hopefully cheeky listening, you can give me another contract.
09:39 Hi, Kyle, just back to the captaincy.
09:43 You said collect the fines, is there any one of the five of you
09:46 that's in charge of collecting all the fines, and what's the one that people have to pay up most for?
09:52 Listen, we don't do fines. Actually, if I'm being honest with you,
09:55 if it's something stupid like you arriving ten minutes late to a team meeting on game day
10:01 or something like that, you're not really prepared or thinking about it or got your mind on the game,
10:05 so that'll probably just be a meal or something that'll have to pay for either the staff or the players
10:10 if we have the time to do that.
10:12 If there was anyone to collect the fines, I'd probably send Ruben.
10:15 Ruben and Roger can go and I'll just hang in the background.
10:18 And Bernardo joining the five-man group, he's the one that's been at the club a while now.
10:25 Does it feel like he's more senior this season?
10:28 Yes, I think Bernardo showed on the pitch just how important he is to this team,
10:33 but also out of the pitch that you probably don't see as much.
10:37 He has a really good relationship with the manager,
10:40 so if we're wanting days off or anything like that, I'll be sending Bernardo in to ask for that.
10:46 Hi, Kyle. How did you come to terms with not being selected for the Champions League final?
10:51 And is that feeling maybe another layer of fuel or motivation for what's ahead of you?
10:57 No, not being selected, I think I read a few things after that that people were saying I was so disappointed.
11:04 It's not my decision. It's down to the manager
11:08 and how we were playing at that precise moment in that season.
11:13 I feel that he could have picked a number of 16 of us to go and play,
11:16 and we're still putting in a good performance that would have made him happy and also the club happy.
11:21 He has to pick 11 players, and 11 players can only play on the pitch.
11:25 I was unfortunate not to make that, but I'm not in a solo sport, and I've said this before.
11:30 If I play tennis or golf and it's just me, myself and I, then I think about me.
11:36 I think about the team, and he asked me to speak before the game, which I gave my speech.
11:42 We'll say fingers crossed that that did work.
11:46 We got the job done that we needed to get done,
11:50 which was to make sure that we got our hands on that famous trophy.
11:54 Just on the back of that, Kyle, did Pep explain to you the reason why,
12:04 or is that not his style? He just posed to the team and...
12:07 No, he pulled me the night before, and I think that's the relationship that me and him have.
12:13 A lot of managers wouldn't give you the explanation, but he did.
12:18 I have to say a massive thank you to him, because to probably find out when he normally names a team in the morning,
12:25 if the game would have been a tough one, but I had time to sleep on it.
12:28 Obviously when you sleep your emotions are different then.
12:31 I could obviously give the speech if he would have done that on the day and then asked me to speak.
12:36 I don't know if I'd have been too happy with that just because I would have been disappointed,
12:41 but you have to take yourself out of the equation and think of the team.
12:44 What was the reason?
12:45 The reason was for him to put the XI on the field that he thought was best suited to win the game.
12:51 That's it. I won't go too much into what he said, because we have the competition to compete again,
12:57 but he felt that was the team he wanted to go and win, and I have to respect that.
13:02 All good? Thank you, guys.
13:05 Cheers, thank you, guys. Safe travels home.
13:07 [BLANK_AUDIO]