Kieran’s special delivery

HE may not quite bend it like Beckham but Kieran Trippier still takes a pretty mean free-kick.

And the Tottenham defender would love to emerge as England’s World Cup set-piece specialist.

Trippier has already earned praise from boss Gareth Southgate for his dead-ball prowess and crossing ability.

In the recent friendly win over Nigeria, the former Burnley man proved he could be one of England’s secret weapons with a free-kick which brought the best out of goalkeeper Francis Uzoho.

David Beckham used to be king of the deadball delivery.

And Trippier, 27, admits when it comes to role models, the former England captain is the one he’s studied more than anyone else.

He said: “That’s one person I looked up to. It’s all about trying to get the delivery right.

“At international level, a lot of goals come from set plays. It’s a crucial part so we try to get our percentages up on delivery and try to miss the first man. You see so many goals from set-plays.”

Wing-back Trippier stands a better chance of taking set-pieces for his country than he does at club level with Christian Eriksen among his Tottenham team-mates.

Fantastic

Trippier added: “Everybody knows how good he is. He has fantastic technique.

“Sometimes I take the corners, it depends on who we are playing, but Christian is Christian and we all know how good a delivery he has got. I would love to be on set-pieces, I love crossing the ball and try to create as much as I can.” England are not short of options themselves when it comes to free-kicks with Harry Kane and Ashley Young about.

According to Trippier, it comes down to who fancies their chances the most.

He said: “Harry can hit a ball and we have got Youngy as well. We practice them in the days leading up to the game.

“I was hitting some nice free-kicks before the Nigeria game and I fancied that one.

“But the keeper was massive and he read it early. It’s really about who is feeling it at the moment. I felt I could put it on target and I felt confident.

“If I do play in the next game and somebody else fancies it, then no problem.” Trippier hails