OPINION
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino claimed that defender Kieran Trippier was one of the best English players in the league following his side’s 2-0 victory over Watford.
The Spurs boss heaped praised on the 27-year-old right-back and attempted to back up his huge claim about Trippier’s place among English players in the league by highlighting the defender’s passing.
“For me, Kieran is one of the best English players in the Premier League and he deserves a lot of credit,” stated Pochettino, as quoted by Football.London.
“Assists, playing passes, crosses he is one of the best.”
While Trippier did put in a solid all-round display against the Hornets on Monday, that he deserves credit for, his latest display isn’t enough to see him rank as one of the best English players in the Premier League.
The 27-year-old has regularly put in decent performances during the 33 appearances he has made this season, but only on a handful occasions has he blown people away with his displays.
Pochettino is making a huge claim to state that Trippier is among the elite English players featuring in the Premier League.
Especially when you consider his usually uninspiring performances, along with the amount of players from England’s first-team that apply their trade in their nation’s top division.
The Spurs manager opted to praise Trippier’s passing and while it is impressive, that should be only one basic element of his game.
The 27-year-old has contributed nine assists in his outing this season, which is an adequate enough amount of assists for a defensive player, but he still doesn’t bring much else to the team.
The Spurs pass master has to improve other attributes in his game in order to be among England’s finest Premier League players.
Trippier still doesn’t come across as the most reliable defensive presence and considering he’s a right-back, it’s impossible to gush about him until he improves that area of his game.
If the 27-year-old wants to prove Pochettino’s claim about his ability, then the defender must prove he is much more than just a pass master sooner rather than later.