When Kyle Walker-Peters is not playing football, you will find him at home in Winchester. More specifically, his games room, with a clunky headset on and sat in a high-backed gaming chair, playing with Che Adams and Dominic Solanke.
He is not one to catch the glare of the cameras or the ink of the pen. He is softly spoken, mild-mannered and encapsulated through his riposte to being dropped at the start of the 2021-22 season for Tino Livramento, displaying a quiet authority that has made him crucial to Southampton.
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He has been capped by England twice and, at 26, is entering his peak years, both from a performance and financial standpoint. His contract at Southampton runs until 2025, with his next deal expected to be the most lucrative in his career. Several suitors have continued to monitor the defender after talks regarding a new contract at St Mary’s stalled last summer. Walker-Peters is one of Southampton’s most valuable assets and there is an expectation he will be sold this summer.
GO DEEPERSouthampton squad audit: Who goes? Who stays?The emergence of Livramento meant Walker-Peters had to adapt to play. He was shunted to left-back following the emergence of the former Chelsea right-back, modifying his game and positioning to compensate for playing on his perceived weaker side.
Overall, 62.5 per cent of his Premier League appearances in 2021-22 came at left-back, leading to his first international call-up. Indeed, that figure would have been higher had Livramento not suffered an ACL injury that April, which meant Walker-Peters switched over to his natural position once more.
Walker-Peters became a less crossing-centric version of his left-back predecessor and mainstay Ryan Bertrand, compensating for deliveries out wide with better ball-carrying qualities. This rewired Southampton’s passing networks, with Ralph Hasenhuttl having the width and power of Livramento finely balanced by the guile and inverted positioning of Walker-Peters, who was more akin to Joao Cancelo than Andy Robertson. He often found half pockets of space between the lines and away from the wing — creating the desired central overloads Hasenhuttl perpetually craved.
As a consequence, Walker-Peters’ emerging attacking thrust meant Southampton’s in-possession work became better balanced and increased productivity. Walker-Peters was receiving the ball more and in higher areas than any other full-back at the club in the previous four campaigns, with passing networks being established at left and right back. Livramento’s impact also showed a notable increase in pass value down the right side.
Using Smarterscout, which gives players a series of ratings from zero to 99 relative to either how often they perform a given stylistic action or how effective they are at it compared with others playing in their position, we see an acute upturn in Walker-Peters’ attacking output moving to left-back.
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Those who have worked with Walker-Peters say that playing on his unfavoured side enables his greater strengths, such as his dribbling dexterity. At left-back, the former Tottenham Hotspur graduate is more incisive in his decision-making, carrying the ball into more threatening areas of the pitch. This was evidenced in his extremely impressive ball progression in 2021-22 (94 out of 99).
Moreover, not having to hold width compensated for a perceived blindspot in his stylistic profile, which was the quality of his delivery into the box.
As his 2021-22 pizza chart illustrates, Walker-Peters was as good as it got in carry and dribble volume (99 out of 99) when deployed at left back.
Walker-Peters’ positional awareness and calmness under pressure factored into Hasenhuttl’s thinking when trialling him in central midfield during games. There were indications, as illustrated in the example below, of Ruben Selles also wanting to lean on his ability to drift inside the pitch.
Here, playing at left-back in the win against Leicester City, Southampton have a free-kick and the 26-year-old moves into space akin to a central midfielder.
Left-winger Kamaldeen Sulemana provides width as Walker-Peters decides to run in behind…
Manipulating the ball in tight areas has long been a standout trait, discernibly influenced by his schooling at Tottenham Hotspur. His composure was crucial to Selles, who wanted players to break lines with passes and play out under pressure. But, as Selles would admit in his final press conference, the squad are not inclined to do as such. Walker-Peters’ “pausa” —a trait Southampton generally lack —can act as a pressure valve, winning free-kicks and playing out of tight areas.
One of his key ways of doing so is through a trademark left shimmy. This is when he steps to his left but takes the ball on his right foot, as shown below.
The shimmy is a common tool within Walker-Peters’ ability to carry the ball long distances, slinking and sliding out of pressure. This was illustrated in the final minutes against Newcastle United when Walker-Peters swerved past former Spurs team-mate Kieran Trippier and created one of the few dangerous second-half openings.
Note how he, again, dips his left shoulder slightly to take the ball inside.
Walker-Peters drives through Newcastle’s midfield and creates a two-against-one situation with Mohamed Elyounoussi.
“I think Kyle is an extraordinary player,” said Selles. “His ability in positions, but also to understand the system we are playing has big value for us. Kyle has been really good in the Premier League for the last four to five years. He came from Tottenham in the final of the Champions League that season and played games in it. He’s a player that is very important for us.”
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In his 31 Premier League appearances in 2022-23, Walker-Peters recorded 53 shot-creating actions, the third-highest in the team and 18 more than any other Saints defender. Curiously, though, he failed to register an assist to go with his solitary goal.
It is somewhat of a quirk given Walker-Peters is a highly proficient dribbler and, as evidenced, Southampton’s chief vehicle for ball progression. Remarkably, he made 102 progressive carries (when a player moves the ball forward at least 10 yards) which was 41 more than Stuart Armstrong, Southampton’s next-best dribbler.
More broadly, Walker-Peters ranks in the top 10 per cent for progressive carries (3.46 per 90 minutes) of full-backs across Europe’s top five leagues and in the top eight per cent for successful take-ons (3.39 per 90).
Walker-Peters’ trademark shimmy combined with his slight, supple frame makes it difficult to knock him off the ball, regardless if he is playing at left or right back. Note how he does not use his left foot at any point in the example below:
Like Livramento, Southampton have missed Walker-Peters when he has been injured, shaking the equilibrium down both flanks. Walker-Peters’ campaign stuttered, with niggling hamstring injuries hindering his influence on the side.
Livramento’s toils in his recovery from an ACL injury meant Walker-Peters regularly swapped positions, with all three managers last season unconvinced of the alternative options in Ainsley Maitland-Niles and James Bree.
When at right-back, Walker-Peters was deployed as the chief out-ball within the narrow 4-2-2-2 structure, due to his inclination in maintaining high and wide positions.
A case in point came at the City Ground in May, when Selles was at his most tactically expansive. Southampton’s 4-3-3 shape attempted to break down Nottingham Forest’s low block, with Selles deciding to switch Walker-Peters and Maitland-Niles’ positions. As Selles explained after, Walker-Peters’ dribbling aptitude meant he essentially played as a quasi-right winger.
As is the case with several other senior players at Southampton, key decisions on futures lay ahead. Even though there are misgivings over Walker-Peters’ acumen in defending the back post — sometimes getting caught underneath crosses — his positional intelligence and versatility make him an attractive option for England’s big clubs.
(Photo: Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
Jacob is a football reporter covering Aston Villa for The Athletic. Previously, he followed Southampton FC for The Athletic after spending three years writing about south coast football, working as a sports journalist for Reach PLC. In 2021, he was awarded the Football Writers' Association Student Football Writer of the Year. Follow Jacob on Twitter @J_Tanswell
