Kieran Trippier still regards Antoine Griezmann as part of the “family.”
They were teammates, neighbours and great friends during their time together at Atletico Madrid. France star Griezmann has won 72 caps, not missed an international in five-and-a-half years and is now one of the biggest threats facing England in Saturday’s World Cup quarter final.
England defender Trippier, 32, who spent three years at Atletico, saw at close hand how good Griezmann is - and not just when it comes to playing football.
Trippier said: “It was like a big family. He helped me with the language and was really important to me. As well as being a great teammate on the pitch.
“In Madrid, we all lived in an area called La Finka. It’s like St George’s Park but bigger. It was brilliant to be fair as we would finish training at 11.30am, the sun is shining and you are having bbqs. What more can you ask for? Know what I mean.
“The good thing is that every player would host and that closeness came from the manager. We would go round each other’s houses as it was literally ten seconds away. It was brilliant.
“He is one of those when even in training he is clever where he picks up space. He just drifts and is certainly a player to keep an eye on. He has the individual quality to find a pass, score a goal and arrive in the box. Griezy is a fantastic player, you know, and one we have to be aware of.
“You see his talent throughout his career and when you play with him you see his individual talent. He picks up spaces. He scores goals as well and I was lucky enough to play with him.”
Trippier made his England debut against France in June 2017 which was the last game Griezmann missed. Even though Griezmann has had mixed fortunes at club level - a move to Barcelona did not work - he has been remarkably consistent for France.
There has been so much focus on Kylian Mbappe in the build-up to England’s meeting with France that it would be dangerous to forget about Griezmann.
Griezmann has played just behind France’s attack, Mbappe coming in from the left, Ousmane Dembélé on the right and Olivier Giroud through the attack. It is a frightening four-man front line but Trippier says England will be well prepared, well drilled and they have also got quality and experience of their own.
They reached the semi final in Russia four years ago, the Euros final last year and that should be seen as an upward trajectory. Trippier said: “You look all over the France team and they have quality everywhere. We just need to focus on them as a team. They have individuals.
"But it’s a one off game and we are ready and fully focussed and have worked hard on the training field. We will give everything as always.
"But if you go back to Russia, it was my first tournament and a lot of the players' first tournaments as well. Four years later, you can see the experienced individuals we have got. They've played in big finals or they've played abroad.
“You can see in the young players there's been a big shift. We got to a semi-final, the Nations League [semi-final] and then the Final of the Euros.
“Of course we shouldn't be ashamed to say we want to win the World Cup. But we need to take it one game at a time, respect our opposition - that's a given - and we know we've got a tough task ahead of us. But we'll be ready.
“I love every moment and everyone else does, I think I can speak on behalf of all my teammates. We’re all relaxed, we’re all ready, hopefully we can make everyone proud.”
