Playing for Atletico Madrid and their fans is a privilege, admits Kieran Trippier
Kieran Trippier has expressed his happiness at lifting the coveted La Liga trophy and highlighted the importance of this trophy especially for the fans of Atletico. The Englishman also spoke about Diego Simeone's managerial style and compared him to former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Atletico Madrid has yet again emerged victorious after a gruelling 2020/21 season with them led by the ever reliant Diego Simeone. It saw the Los Rojiblancos clinch the coveted La Liga trophy establishing themselves as a dominant force in the Spanish top tier again once more. Not only that, they put an end to the two-horse race between Barcelona and Real Madrid that had defined La Liga in recent seasons.
It also saw Kieran Trippier win his first major title with the former Burnley and Tottenham full-back a key part of El Cholo's side during their title charge. The Englishman went onto praise the fans and highlighted the passion that Atletico Madrid supporters have showcased despite being stuck at home owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Yet despite that, Trippier went onto reveal that he felt the positive energy surround the Spanish capital as the title race intensified up to the last day.Â
"You can just feel the passion. Even when I'm taking my son to school, there are other parents walking past me and just shouting stuff like 'Vamos!' The fans are unbelievable. The most important thing was that everyone had to be safe, of course, because of what's going on. Against Real Sociedad, there were thousands outside the stadium and you could hear them chanting from start to finish. When we won the game, there were fireworks going off. So, you can still feel their support even when they're not in the stadium," Trippier told Goal.
The move to Spain is not one that too many English players have made over the years and it shocked many that Atletico Madrid even wanted Kieran Trippier especially after his struggles with Tottenham in his final season in North London. But under Simeone, the Englishman has transformed himself into a more defensively solid right-back which has added another dimension to his game and Trippier put that down to Simeone. He also went onto compare El Cholo to Mauricio Pochettino and believes the two are similar managers.
"You can never rest and it's a privilege to play for him. He's one of the best managers in the world and before I came out here I thought I wanted to learn off him and I feel like I have done for the past two seasons. Yes, he's very intense on the training field, he never rests. He demands a lot. But under Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, we worked extremely hard and it's similar here. They're similar types of managers," he added.