SIMPLY THE BEAST
Southgate calls Trippier a ’defensive animal’ who will give the Three Lions some real bite
KIERAN TRIPPIER has become a “defensive animal” who is ready to roar for the Three Lions.
England boss Gareth Southgate says Trippier has been transformed during his two years at Atletico Madrid.
The 30-year-old left Spurs in 2019 as an attacking rightback with great set-piece delivery but he has grown during his time in Spain into an outstanding defender.
Indeed, Trippier has just won the Spanish title, beating Real Madrid and Barcelona, and been voted in the La Liga
Team of the Year. Trippier was the big surprise on the England teamsheet on Sunday because he was a right-back playing on the left and got the nod ahead of European Cup winner Ben Chilwell and Manchester United’s Luke Shaw.
But there was never any doubt in Southgate’s mind because Trippier typifies the flexibility he wants from his players.
And he says the Atletico star, who spent three years at Burnley before moving to Tottenham, has become a different beast under Diego Simeone.
Southgate said: “Kieran is hugely underestimated. I think people are still seeing the lad who was at Spurs a couple of years ago and not the defensive animal he has grown into at Atletico Madrid, trusted by one of the best coaches in the world.
“He gets his distances right on cover, he’s good in one-vone situations to stop crosses, and his talking is really good.
“Against Croatia there was always going to be changes in the back four and we felt that communication would be so important.
“I think we have to have flexibility. We’ve got players who came into the game and did a great job against Croatia and we’ve got other players in the squad who are going to have a really important part to play. That will work its way around. There are going to be opportunities for a lot more players in the next couple of weeks.”
Southgate is adamant that no player can play 90 minutes of all seven games, should
England go that far, and every player will need to be rested and rotated.
Chelsea star Chilwell was fully fit for the Croatia game, as was Shaw, yet Southgate opted for Trippier because of his defensive abilities.
The Three Lions boss, aware of the pre-match criticism of his decision to field Trippier out of position, said there are likely to be more occasions when his starting XI is a tale of the unexpected.
Croatia was about control, about patience, about getting the job done. But the game against Scotland on Friday is more likely to be a Premier League-type clash, a derby
‘There are going to be opportunities for a lot more players in the next couple of weeks’
where form and quality can go out of the window. So England will need a different mindset.
Southgate, whose players earned England a first-ever victory in a European Championship opening fixture, said: “The team has to have balance. We’ve got certain types of midfield players, centrebacks, then there are opportunities for the full-backs. Every team has to have balance.
“For the Croatia game the balance of the team was important. We could have gone down a different route and had a different performance and a better performance. But there’s no way of knowing that.
“We used the players we did and we’ve got some excellent full-backs in our group. We’re going to need all of those players.
“There are so many close calls in so many positions but what we felt for the Croatia game was that it was critical to have a back four getting tight to their midfield.
“And we wanted forwards who could cause their defenders the sorts of problems they don’t want to face.
“Whether that’s going to be the same for every game I can’t say. But I was most pleased with the way all of the team settled quickly, dealt with the occasion, and produced a high level of performance.”