ANIMAL CRACKER
Southgate: Trippier’s a bite of all right after his Spain switch
KIERAN TRIPPIER has the “animal” instinct England require to give their Euro hopes some bite.
And if the full-back does go on to help the Three Lions win the tournament, then Gareth Southgate will owe a special debt of thanks to someone he once used to hate.
Southgate and Diego Simeone were the worst of enemies in the wake of the latter’s role in helping Argentina dump England out of the World Cup in France in 1998.
Simeone’s theatrics saw David Beckham see red – and the rest is history. Southgate’s dream of glory was over.
But fast forward 23 years and the England boss is now benefitting from Simeone’s influence in the shape of Trippier, who has taken his defensive capabilities to another level since joining Atletico Madrid in a shock move from Tottenham in 2019.
Trippier has been having personal training sessions with Simeone in the Spanish capital in a bid to expand his defensive repertoire.
And the results have been startling, with Trippier helping Atletico win the Spanish title in just his second season, as well as being named in the La Liga team of the year.
Trippier is loving the warm weather and change of lifestyle in Madrid after turning his back on Spurs and has embraced the culture.
His progress might have gone under the radar back in England, but nothing escapes Southgate’s attention when it comes to plotting international success.
Which explains why the England boss had no hesitation in asking Trippier to play left-back against
Croatia in the opening game of Group D at Wembley on Sunday.
It was just the sixth time Trippier had performed the role in his entire career, which might appear even more damning of the likes of Ben Chilwell and Luke Shaw, the specialist left-backs Southgate chose to ignore for the 1-0 triumph over Croatia.
Southgate reckons Trippier has turned into a beast of a defender under the expert guidance of Simeone and he said: “What Kieran has, firstly, is hugely underestimated.
“People are still seeing the lad that was at Tottenham a couple of years ago and not the defensive animal that has grown at Atletico Madrid. He’s someone trusted by one of the best coaches and most successful coaches in the world.
“He gets his distances right on cover, he’s good in one-verses-one situations to stop crosses and his talking is really good.
“We had a back four that was always going to have changes in it and we felt that communication, that organisation was an important part. We’ll look at every opponent, we’ll look at our team for every game, I think we have to have flexibility.”
Southgate was also vindicated in his decisions to pick Kalvin Phillips, Tyrone Mings and Raheem Sterling, who scored the winning goal in the second half.
All three were outstanding and the Three Lions chief knows he will have to continue making some big selection choices moving forward, starting with Friday night’s crunch showdown with Scotland at Wembley.
He said: “There are so many close calls in so many positions. What we felt here was a back four really getting tight to their midfield was critical and with forwards that 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, we have to review it.
“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.”