Poland defender Matty Cash has cautioned England star Kyle Walker that stopping France’s Kylian Mbappe will be difficult in the quarterfinal matchup.
On Sunday afternoon, the Aston Villa defender faced the French sensation as Poland lost 3-1 to France thanks to two goals from Mbappe. The two goals scored by the Frenchman were absolute works of art that left Wojciech Szczesny helpless.
Consequently, many people have been thinking about what England can do to limit Mbappe’s influence in the upcoming game. The consensus is that City’s Walker should start at right back against PSG’s superstar because of his lightning-fast recovery speed, which will be crucial to containing him.
Cash has revealed some details about his strategy for taking on what is widely considered to be the best player in the world at the present time, though he ultimately came up short in this endeavor.
“I spent the afternoon watching his clips and I knew it was going to be a tough test, but when he gets the ball, stops, and moves, he’s the quickest thing I’ve ever seen,” the Aston Villa fanatic said.
The 25-year-old couldn’t hide his elation at the fact that he had managed to take home a memento from the day: “I said to him at the end: ‘Can I have your shirt?’ and he gave me his match-worn shirt so I’m delighted with that.”
Walker, who is currently focused on silencing the man who has scored the most goals in this tournament, is not likely to be interested in a shirt-swap at this time.
Mbappé has scored five goals so far, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that he possesses many other talents that would make even a seasoned player like Walker tremble. Cash continued his analysis of the Frenchman by making some points that the English right back should consider.
“He has a very impressive standing and moving routine. He shrugs off his defender and goes short before extending. I challenged him to a few races, and I held my own. When you turn around, you see him standing behind you.”
Because of this, Cash has been kind enough to address Walker’s upcoming challenge, saying, “Kyle Walker’s got way more experience than me, so I don’t need to tell him anything.”
“Even though he knows how great Mbappe is, he still agrees with me that Kyle Walker is England’s best right back. In other words, I believe he is the best hope we have of stopping Mbappe.”
Even if England were to win their match against France, they still might have to face tough opponents like Spain or Brazil.