Kyle Walker has warned his Manchester City team-mates not to get complacent against West Ham on Sunday, saying their near-collapse on the final day against Aston Villa two years ago shows the title race is not over.
After winning last night, City will pip Arsenal to the title if they beat West Ham at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola’s side are now odds-on favourites be crowned champions for the fourth straight year, but Walker insists the job is not done.
City went into the final day of the 2021-22 season needing a home win against Aston Villa to beat Liverpool to the title. But they went 2-0 down on a dramatic day final day, before scoring three times in six second-half minutes to win 3-2.
Walker said: “We’ve given ourselves the opportunity, come Sunday, to win in front of our home crowd. But that’s far from me saying it’s done. I was there on the bench when Aston Villa put two in against us, and you’re scrambling for moments of genius.
“We’re full of focus. We’ll do our recovery and we’ve got three days to prepare for another final to finish off another graft of 38 games of a season.”
Walker also aimed a cheeky dig at Arsenal after Gunners fans let off fireworks outside a hotel they thought the City squad was staying at on Monday night.
Arsenal fan group Ashburton Army let off fireworks outside the Marriott Hotel in Waltham Abbey at around 2am. But the City squad stayed in Manchester on Monday night before travelling down to London yesterday.
Walker said: “Last night, I couldn’t sleep… they tried to set fireworks off but we weren’t there, they missed us.”
Walker hailed City’s pedigree and mentality under Pep Guardiola.
“No one sees the hard graft that these lads dedicate themselves to”, he said. “I’m not saying Arsenal don’t do that. They do, because I know Mikel [Arteta] and I know the lads.
“Experience helps. We’ve been there with England, where you go through certain phases of the journey and come through it together. We [City] have been very fortunate to win a few times, but it’s not tennis, it’s not a solo sport. We’re in it together.”
City were not at their best against Spurs, but a double from the Premier League top scorer Erling Haaland edged them closer to the title.
Walker said of City’s performance: “Maybe sometimes people forget we’re humans. The emotions, the nerves, the adrenaline are running through your body. I couldn’t sleep last night, and then I’m scrambling to get off for an hour at the hotel today [before the game].
“We lost a lot of silly balls in the first half. I thought we came out [better] in the second half after a talking to from the manager. As long as we can look each other in the eyes and say we’ve done our best, that’s all he asks.
“If you don’t like playing in these games, you shouldn’t play football. These are the pressure games you want to play in. This is what separates really good players from average players: with the tense atmosphere and pressure of the club, you can [still] go and provide. They pay us well. We have to provide for this club.”
Walker added: “You don’t go a full campaign with everything going swimmingly well. Anyone can come and have a word with me if they don’t think I’m pulling my weight. All I want is the best for the club.”
