Kieran Trippier has hit back at Jurgen Klopp’s criticism of Atletico Madrid’s style, claiming winning is what matters most.
Klopp claimed Atletico could play “proper football” with the talented players they have instead of sitting back so much after their Champions League win over Liverpool at Anfield last week.
Diego Simeone’s side won 3-2 on the night (and 4-2 on aggregate) with just 29 per cent possession but Trippier defended their tactics, claiming they were effective.
“People have this perception that we’re a defensive side, but I think they’re getting too carried away with the way we played against Liverpool,” said the Atletico and England defender.
“If you go there and go toe-to-toe with Liverpool, you’re going to get beat 6-0. I don’t know what people expect.
“You see pundits complaining because we did defend, but did they expect us to go there and play attacking football, especially with Liverpool playing the way that they’re playing at the moment?
“You need to go there with a plan and we did that.
“We did have to defend, but the most important thing is that we got the win.”
Trippier claims not every side can play flowing, possession football and says Atletico’s approach was to soak up Liverpool’s pressure because they knew they would tire.
“We knew they would blow up because of the amount of pressure they’d applied and the amount of energy they’d put into the game,” said the right-back.
“We knew they’d slow down. It took us over 100 minutes, but we won 3-2.
“People can complain as much as they want, but we thought it was necessary for that type of game.
“As I’ve got older it has stopped bothering me.
“Liverpool didn’t put their chances away and we beat them in both legs. It worked.”
Atletico have been dubbed the ‘Spanish Burnley ’ because of the way they beat Liverpool but Trippier couldn’t be happier to be compared to his old club.
“Even when I was there, people complained about the way they played, but they get results and that’s what football is about,” said Trippier
“When you’re in the Premier League, you can’t expect Burnley to match Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea.
“Burnley have a specific way of playing and it works because they get results and it keeps them in the Premier League.”
