English media give double verdict on Man City duo Rico Lewis and Kyle Walker following win over Greece

Manchester City are familiar with seeing their players feature on the international stage.

During the September and October international breaks earlier this season, City saw multiple names from their squad represent their countries.

In this latest break, two of City’s key figures were in action for England in Thursday night’s 3-0 win over Greece for their latest Nations League match.

With John Stones and Jack Grealish injured and Phil Foden dropping out of the squad, this left Kyle Walker and Rico Lewis to fly the Manchester club’s flag in their latest appearance for England.

Having both completed 90 minutes in the match, the media quickly shared their verdicts on how the City duo performed.

Kyle Walker and Rico Lewis player ratings from England vs Greece

Following this latest win for the Three Lions, The Independent gave these verdicts about City’s two England representatives for their efforts against Greece.

Kyle Walker – 6/10

“Captain for the night with Harry Kane benched, Greece’s best chance of the first half came down his side when [Kostas] Tsimikas waltzed into the box and his shot required a good [Jordan] Pickford save, although Noni Madueke was probably more at fault.

“Seemed slightly in two minds over how to deal with Christos Tzolis drifting infield and there’s a nagging feeling he may not be England’s go-to right-back for very much longer.

“Forced to switch to centre-back when Lewis Hall came on for Ezri Konsa at half-time and battled gamely, although was outmuscled by Ioannidis for his glorious opportunity saved by Pickford.”

Rico Lewis – 8/10

“The lack of consistent Greek threat allowed the left-back to drift into a central midfield role at points and he would often pop up in the final third, showing flashes of good link-up play with the attackers, most notably when he slid a superb ball through for [Ollie] Watkins on the stroke of half-time.

“Sent to right-back in England’s half-time reshuffle, where he marauded forward even more and promptly forced a good save from Odysseas Vlachodimos after linking well with Madueke. Lively.”

Lewis outshone Walker in England vs Greece

As mentioned in the player ratings article, both players ended up playing in more than one position in the match.

Specifically, Lewis started at left-back but then went over to the right as Walker moved to centre-back after initially starting in his usual right-back position.

With Lewis outshining his City captain on the night in terms of how efficient he was on the ball and how effective he was in terms of his defensive work, this shows how capable the 19-year-old is of playing for England and being one of their standout performers.

Last month saw Lewis admit how Guardiola has made him confident in regards to being a regular figure in the City team this season.

Having now shown his talent for England, this could have shown to incoming Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel that he should be a regular for his country as well as his club.

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