Kieran Trippier explains why his form at Spurs has been so poor this season

Kieran Trippier has hard a season to forget at Tottenham Hotspur which has seen him go from arguably England’s first choice right-back to a focus of frustration among the fanbase at his club.

Trippier’s misery was compounded yesterday with the news that he was one of four players to be cut from England’s squad for the upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures, along with team-mate Harry Winks.

The right-back has struggled with form this season which has seen him make some high profile mistakes in important fixtures.

He gave the ball away on the half-way line during the North London derby at Wembley which led to Arsenal’s goal and was also left red faced following a defensive mix-up with Hugo Lloris at Chelsea which saw the ball trickle into the net.

Many fans also pointed the finger at Trippier for both of Ajax’s goals during the first half of the Champions League semi final in Amsterdam.

Trippier has once again admitted that he is capable of playing at a much better standard and also highlighted his frustration of having to deal with a number of issues with his groin that he has had to try to manage throughout the campaign.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘I have had a lot of groin injuries, I have been struggling with my groins for a number of months now,’

‘It has been affecting me, annoying me, but there has been so many games – Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday – so it has been difficult to do my rehab and properly focus on it.

‘I have said it in many interviews that it has not helped, obviously with the World Cup in the summer and coming back and playing straight away…

‘The season has gone now, I have to accept the way I have played this season, I know I can play so much better.

‘But it’s about accepting it, looking back and reviewing it like I always do after every game. It has happened, the way I have played. There’s one big game left, if I play I can give everything to the team to help us win.

‘Watching it from such a young age, the Champions League is the biggest club final you can win, to win this for this club and everything that we have given this season, the circumstances we have had, Wembley, injuries, it will be a good way to finish the season.’

He added: ‘It has been a difficult season with injuries. I have had different types of injuries, it feels like these three weeks have enabled me to recover and manage it properly without so many games.

‘We’ve had like three games a week and it has been difficult to manage that.

‘But now I have had three weeks to properly settle down and do my rehab on it and I am feeling fit and ready and hopefully I will get the nod to play.

‘The last few weeks has been about training hard and giving everything in training and showing the manager that you deserve to play.’

Opinion

There is no doubt that Trippier’s performances have been below standard and he must be respected for admitting in a press interview that he has struggled this season. Whether his future remains in North London next season remains to be seen.