UK Edition
Kieran Trippier: I never doubted I could be a success at Tottenham
There was no red carpet on Kieran Trippier’s path to the Premier League, and the Tottenham Hotspur defender is ready for another battle amid the mooted arrival of Paris St-Germain right-back Serge Aurier.
At Wembley on Sunday, Trippier faces former club Burnley, who offered him a route back to the top flight after he was sold by Manchester City in 2012. Trippier will line up against former team-mate Ben Mee, both City youth products who were integral parts of their 2008 Youth Cup-winning team.
Vladimir Weiss and Daniel Sturridge are other notables, but much of the squad have drifted out of football. Trippier’s persistence, not to mention talent, ensured he avoided a similar fate.
Trippier said: “I always wanted to play for City because I was there from such a young age. I always knew it was going to be difficult with the money, [Pablo] Zabaleta, Micah Richards was there. So, I knew it was going to be difficult for myself to play.
“I had the taste the season before with Barnsley on loan in the Football League playing against men. I thought ‘OK, I need to get out on loan’. When I was playing week-in week-out I was playing 46 games a season and there’s nothing better than playing every week. I always thought I could get back to the Premier League and, thankfully, I did that with Burnley.”
Five years after leaving Eastlands, Trippier is Spurs’ first-choice right-back, in the England squad and has Champions League visits to the Santiago Bernabeu and Westfalenstadion on the horizon.
Trippier’s consistency with Burnley in 2014-15 earned him a move to White Hart Lane, but he waited almost two seasons for regular starts due to the excellence of Kyle Walker. Maurcio Pochettino’s man management came to the fore, constantly making the England international feel part of the team despite lengthy spells on the bench. Did he ever regret making the move?
Trippier said: “There’s some days when you think ‘when’s my chance going to come’. Obviously, as a professional, you always have that at the back of your mind. But I never doubted myself once because I knew it was going to be difficult in the first place to try to get ‘Walks’ out of the team but, you know, he did a fantastic job and everybody knows his qualities. But I always believed that I could play here and when I got given the opportunities I knew I had to take them.”
Spurs are looking to settle into their temporary Wembley home following a gut-wrenching 2-1 reverse against Chelsea. There are similarities between Burnley and Spurs, who pride themselves on organisation.
Trippier said: “The defensive side here, we work a lot on it but, when I was with Sean Dyche at Burnley, he was the exact same. He wants a nice, compact team and they’ll run for 90 minutes, that’s a given. So, you know it’s going to be a tough game when you play Burnley.”