Kieran Trippier has hailed an inspirational pre-Euros address from England cricket captain Ben Stokes as perfect preparation for a summer when a Three Lions side infused with belief intend to “attack” Europe’s best.
Stokes, a 2019 world champion and pioneer of the aggressive, attacking style of cricket christened “Bazball” that has turned that sport upside down, was invited to speak to the England squad by Gareth Southgate on Saturday and addressed the players at length on leadership, handling pressure and risk-taking.
Given past criticism of Southgate and England for caution at previous tournaments, Stokes felt like an appropriate choice for a group that heads into the Euros as one of the favourites after a strong showing in 2021.
“We all took so much from it,” Trippier said.
“It was stuff about leadership, and the ups and downs and how you deal with them. I think it’s really important that we can look at his path and his journey, and all the ups and downs of the England cricket team, and relate that to ourselves.
“We’ve had difficult moments – we lost in the semi-final and final, and it’s about how we bounce back from that. He’s done that, so we learned a lot. We try to instill that into ourselves as a group.
“He had some good stories, and their approach is exactly the same as what we want to do. We want to attack every tournament and attack every single game, similar to the cricket.
“If you’re talking about attacking it, then that’s certainly something we want to do in this Euros coming up.”
The dilemma has always been how to harness what Trippier hailed as a “frightening” array of attacking talent without leaving the team exposed against the better international teams, who have tended to pick England off in the biggest games.
Piecing that puzzle together starts at St James’ Park on Tuesday, with Southgate signalling his intention to use the first warm-up friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina to try and work on combinations that could be used in Germany.
Although Southgate confirmed England will not start with any debutants – meaning Jarrad Branthwaite and Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah miss out on a chance to shine in the absence of Harry Maguire, who is unlikely to play in either friendly – there may be an experimental look about the team.
Cole Palmer is in line for a first start while Trippier, who will captain the side at his home ground of St James’ Park with son Jacob a mascot, will start at left-back – where he is likely to start the tournament.
Despite injury worries around key defensive players, Trippier believes England should not shy away from favouritism at the torunament.
“This will be the fourth tournament I’ve been involved in, and every single tournament, I’ve sensed more belief,” he said.
“There’s more belief in the team, and that’s certainly the case this tournament.
“To win something for my country would be an absolute dream. But first, we have to earn the right to do that.
“We won’t shy away from saying that we can win it, and we don’t mean that in an arrogant way.”
Victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina will end the defender’s St James’ Park campaign on a positive note after Newcastle missed out on Europe despite finishing seventh.
Ironically, the death knell for their Europa Conference League hopes was sounded as Manchester United won the FA Cup with the squad in transit on the way back from a post-season tour of Australia.
Trippier – who intends to return to Newcastle despite some speculation he could leave – believes the club must learn lessons from a bruising campaign.
“It’s definitely a blow, of course you wanted to finish in Europe. It’s one of those things,” he said.
“United won the FA Cup, and obviously that took us out of Europe. There’s no time to dwell on it though.
“We have to go again next season, and with one game a week, with the players we’ve got, that’s exciting.
“We can be on the grass more because with three games a week, you can’t really do that. It’s something the club can learn from.”
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/7WIYeda
Post a Comment