Kyle Walker and Man City captains show why this crisis breaks the mould

Kyle Walker deserves plenty of criticism for his form this season but some of it has been over the top.

The racism he got in the wake of the Juventus defeat was obviously abhorrent and unacceptable but even fans slagging him off for not speaking are wide of the mark. When it comes to media interviews that the players do not contractually have to do, you can count on one hand the number of City stars who have fronted up after a draw or defeat this season...with three fingers to spare.

Ilkay Gundogan spoke after the Feyenoord collapse and Walker spoke after Bournemouth. Ruben Dias, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva have all stepped up for TV media duties before and after games in this dreadful run, yet Walker is one of just two players to go out of their way to talk.

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He has also sent messages directly to the fanbase on social media, and on there if he is seeing racist abuse he is probably also seeing people sending him general abuse not only for his form but also for whatever he says. The captain is an unpopular figure with many supporters to the point where he can do no right whether he opens his mouth or not - but it should at least be acknowledged that he is one of the few that has.

One of the strange things about this crisis is that it has been such a united front from the players. They have all said the right things, it is just none of them have been able to back it up on the pitch.

That has its own issues, but such public harmony is not what is expected from such a run. The two clubs who sacked their managers this weekend gone, Southampton