{"id":94116,"date":"2023-10-03T20:24:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T20:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/?p=94116"},"modified":"2023-10-03T20:24:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T20:24:32","slug":"trippier-jokes-son-would-rather-walk-out-with-idol-mbappe-than-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stopsmokingway.com\/soccer\/trippier-jokes-son-would-rather-walk-out-with-idol-mbappe-than-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Trippier jokes son would rather walk out with idol Mbappe than him"},"content":{"rendered":"
Kieran Trippier was not particularly entertaining of the questions – and lots of them – about Kylian Mbappe, the player his Newcastle boss Eddie Howe had moments earlier labelled \u2018the best in the world\u2019.<\/p>\n
Trippier is a star in his own right and, with some justification, he was not about to succumb to the \u2018starstruck\u2019 narrative being spun. He dismissed one enquiry about swapping shirts as if booting his opponent into touch.<\/p>\n
But when Mail Sport turned the subject to his six-year-old son, Jacob, who will be one of the mascots back here at St James\u2019 Park this evening, he was prepared to lower his guard.<\/p>\n
\u2018I was having a bit of banter with him last night, and he said he wanted to walk out with Mbappe instead of me – I wasn\u2019t really happy with that!\u2019 revealed the England defender. \u2018He\u2019s obsessed with him, always watching his clips on YouTube. I said, \u201cIf you get to walk out with Mbappe, you don\u2019t look at me in the tunnel!\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Newcastle play PSG on Tuesday at 8pm in their second Champions League group game<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kieran Trippier will go head to head with French superstar Kylian Mbappe at St James’ Park<\/p>\n
If Trippier\u2019s boy does walk out with Mbappe, he will be holding a gloved hand. The France superstar was only a few minutes into training at St James\u2019 last night when he called for a staff member to bring some gloves. It was, for the record, 13C on Tyneside, the temperature at which most Geordies remove layers, not add them. When Mail Sport posted video of the moment he had asked for his mittens, one user replied: \u2018Trippier 1 Mbappe 0\u2019.<\/p>\n
Their duel is a fascinating sub-plot to the showpiece fixtures of this week\u2019s Champions League group matches. Right-back versus left-winger. Newcastle\u2019s best versus Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s best. It is where the game could be won and lost.<\/p>\n
During the earlier deluge of questions – watched in the media room by former Newcastle and PSG stars David Ginola and Laurent Robert, another pair of useful left-wingers – Trippier handled the interrogation as skilfully as he will hope to handle Mbappe.<\/p>\n
\u2018For me personally, it\u2019s a challenge that I\u2019m ready for,\u2019 declared the 33-year-old, nine years Mbappe\u2019s senior. \u2018I\u2019ve played against many good wingers in my career. This game is no different. The Champions League is where I want to play, and you play against the best wingers in the world.\u2019<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trippier’s son is an Mbappe superfan and is hoping to walk out with his idol tomorrow night<\/p>\n
What about him being the world\u2019s very best?<\/p>\n
\u2018Yeah, I think he is certainly one of the best players in the world,\u2019 replied Trippier, not wishing to grant his rival such an exulted status on his own.<\/p>\n
\u2018Over the past few years, he has been incredible. But as we do every game, if it is Burnley, Paris or West Ham on Sunday, we always prepare to win the game and how we can hurt the position. This is no different.\u2019<\/p>\n
There will not be a special plan reserved for Mbappe, either. At least that was the official line last night.<\/p>\n
\u2018I don\u2019t believe in playing man-to-man marking, that won\u2019t happen,\u2019 said Howe. \u2018It will be around our units nullifying space and trying to keep, probably, the best player in the world quiet.\u2019<\/p>\n
To win, though, Howe has warned his players of the level they must hit. \u2018We need to be perfect,\u2019 he announced.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trippier and Co. will be hoping to record their first win European win after drawing 0-0 with AC Milan last time out<\/p>\n
They were not perfect in Milan a fortnight ago and escaped with a point despite conceding 26 shots. But Newcastle have won three on the spin in the Premier League since and, with St James\u2019 sure to be bouncing for the first Champions League game here in 20 years, PSG boss Luis Enrique sounded a fearful note.<\/p>\n
\u2018They are the team from pot four that no one wanted,\u2019 said the Spaniard. \u2018We know they play at a very high level. They are good in possession, and then off the ball, they play with a very high press. They\u2019re almost a complete football team, really.\u2019<\/p>\n
Enrique played and scored for Barcelona in the first ever Champions League match at St James\u2019 in 1997, when Tino Asprilla scored a famous hat-trick in a 3-2 victory for the hosts.<\/p>\n
\u2018It wasn\u2019t easy back then \u2013 and I don\u2019t suppose it will be easy tomorrow,\u2019 said Enrique. \u2018It is a hostile atmosphere, but hostile from a sporting point of view.<\/p>\n
\u2018It is a spectacular place to play, and it is going to be interesting to see how my players cope with playing at St James\u2019 Park. I am envious of them, because they get to experience it first hand out on the pitch.\u2019<\/p>\n
There had been some doubt over Mbappe\u2019s fitness last week but Enrique, when asked if he was \u2018100 per cent\u2019, chose to render the UEFA translators redundant. \u2018Si. Oui. Yes,\u2019 he replied.<\/p>\n
Fit he may be, but ready for Trippier and a frosty Geordie welcome? He will need more than gloves for that.<\/p>\n