‘Is he wearing pure steel?’ – Kyle Walker forced into major change after nasty incident in England vs Denmark clash
KYLE WALKER gave England fans a scare as he was sat on the turf early on against Denmark.
The Manchester City defender started the Three Lions second group game of Euro 2024.
However, the 34-year-old went down and was seen clutching his ankles after slipping on a piece of turf.
This gave England fans a scare as they pondered who might have to replace the reliable defender.
Fortunately, it turned out only his boots needed replacing, with his studs of choice not matching well with the pitch in Frankfurt.
Reacting to the incident, fans said: “Walker is the only one cutting up the pitch, is he wearing pure steel?”
A second said: “Has walker got the wrong studs on or is this pitch an absolute mess?”
A third said: “There’ll be no turf left by the time Walker has finished on the pitch.”
A fourth added: “Walker getting his feet stuck into the turf twice in the opening couple of minutes…patches on the ground being ripped up, something to be wary of.”
Walker was seen lacing up a fresh pair of fluorescent orange boots before returning to the pitch.
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It is not the first time the bad pitch at Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park has been highlighted after it was branded “dangerous” and “a disgrace”.
It came following a game between Germany and the Netherlands in March which saw Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz among those who slipped several times.
German star Musiala said: “I felt like I was slipping with every move. I do a lot of turns, so it has to be a bit stable. It can be a bit slippery, but it’s dangerous as it is.”
Boss Julian Nagelsmann went a step further and called it “a catastrophe”.
Bromances in England squad
CLIQUES that were commonplace in the England camp in tournaments gone by have been well and truly consigned to history.
Declan Rice and Ivan Toney? They have never played together at club level and only a handful of times for England, but are thick as thieves.
Lewis Dunk and Dean Henderson? They play for arch-rivals Brighton and Crystal Palace, but that has not stopped an unlikely alliance from forming.
Phil Foden and Cole Palmer have relished spending time together again, having done so for years for Manchester City before Palmer was sold to Chelsea for £45million last summer.
NFL nuts Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon were chucking an American football to each other ahead of a light training session on Monday.
John Stones and Kieran Trippier gatecrashed Jordan Pickford’s presser to see how their good mate fared, finding it hilarious as he slumped to defeat against talkSPORT.
Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi also have a long-standing friendship and have been besties since they were little playing in the Chelsea academy.
Jude Bellingham and Liverpool man Trent Alexander-Arnold have also become close – evident in the Werewolf celebration they performed against Serbia.
However, Walker’s change of boots proved to be inspired as he got in behind the Danish defence and whipped a cross into the area.
After a deflection on the low cross, captain Harry Kane was on hand to tap home to give England the lead against the run of play.
But England were soon pegged back to 1-1 with Morten Hjulmand, netting his first international goal with a fine strike from distance.