As we approach the end of another long and frankly glorious season there are a lot of players due a bit of respect and even adulation. Alexander Isaak has continued to be magnificent, scoring goals for fun. Bruno, Joelinton and Sandro have been amazing and Jacob Murphy has surely been this year’s success story with a real feelgood factor.
One man though, has had his ups and downs over the last year with personal problems and then a bit of a nosedive in form featuring strongly at the back end of last season and the early part of this. And in both of the last two transfer windows it’s looked likely that he would leave. However, since early February he’s had a bit of a renaissance and is back performing at the top of his game. I’m talking of course about Kieran Trippier.
Trippier will forever hold a place in fans’ hearts just for joining the club in the first place! We were 19th in the league when he arrived and it felt like a statement of intent. After all, he was still very much wanted by Atletico Madrid at the time and you’d have thought that he could almost have had his pick of clubs. But Tripps took a leap of faith and joined a clearly ailing Toon, captained us to safety and then went on to help us qualify for the Champions League the season after.
Cracks began to appear last year though and there were high profile mistakes away at Everton and in the Carabao Cup defeat to Chelsea. It looked like time might be catching up with our skipper. A closer look at the stats though reveals that Tripps made 39 appearances for the club last year, as well as a further 10 for England. Maybe the start of this season was always going to be a tough one for a player who turned 34 last September.
Trippier is no longer curling them over the wall and nor is he marauding down the line making overlapping runs. His game has clearly been adapted. But he’s still performed brilliantly in these last couple of months. His defending in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi final was superb and then he trumped that with a cracking performance in the final, picking up the assist for Dan Burn’s opening goal. He was immense that day and it looked like nothing was going to be allowed to get in the way of him picking up that medal. I dare say there were thousands of sharp intakes of breath when he went down holding his hamstring and yet, he just gritted his teeth and played on. And the emotion at the final whistle showed you exactly what it meant to Trippier.
It’s been fantastic to watch Tripps in this latter stage of the season. You can see that he’s using every ounce of experience gained over the years. He’s looked intensely focused and although he’s no longer the captain, his influence is there for all to see. Whatever problems he’s facing, nothing has been allowed to get in the way of his performances.
One thing I like about Trippier is the way he talks others through games. It’s been brilliant to see how well Jacob Murphy has been doing this season, but I have no doubt that we can put a chunk of what’s been making Murph feel ‘juicy’ down to the encouragement of Trippier. Even when a pass is misplaced Tripps is quick to praise the idea or effort. There’s a little clap or a shout of approval. Furthermore, he’s never slow to pull a team mate over and just have a quick word in their ear when the ball’s not in play, like a coach on the field. Some players seem to be shouting and bawling their way through games almost for effect, but Trippier seems more understated by comparison, which to me seems a lot more positive and effective in bringing out the best in those around him.
For me, it’s that element of wise professionalism that might just help with Trippier’s legacy at the Toon. In Livramento and Hall we have two very young and quite inexperienced full backs who will learn a lot from playing and training day in, day out with Trippier. But then looking further ahead into our future and there’s our impressive young defender Leo Shahar. Shahar has been training with the first team on a regular basis this year and I have no doubt that the likes of Tripps have taken him under their wing, which can only be a good thing.
So all in all, it’s been excellent to see Kieran Trippier back to something approaching his best. Yes, it’s taken injury to get him back in the team, but he’s been fantastic for the majority of that time and his performance in the Carabao Cup final especially will live long in the memory.
Having been linked with high profile moves away in the last year, it remains to be seen if Tripps stays next year, but I personally hope so if only so that those younger players can continue to learn from him, but hopefully because he’s still playing his part in the squad.
The reborn Kieran Tripper; definitely worth a moment of anyone’s appreciation.
Middle Age Fanclub 