Trippier breaks silence on personal slump and Newcastle's dip in form
After taking a few days to digest Tuesday's defeat, it's been interesting to see Kieran Trippier's comments on his dip in form and Newcastle United's struggles over December.
We've lost six of our last seven and have seen our vice captain suffer a sudden dip in form, with the 33-year-old admitting that his "standards have dropped" after being "nowhere near" his best over the past month or so.
He admits to having "a lot of setbacks" in his career and is refusing to "shy away", taking full responsibility for recent errors and another poor display on in our 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
On the teams dip, he accepts that we've fallen well short of the standards set over the past 18 months, believing our lack of Champions League experience and struggles to cope with the intense schedule during a period of injuries and fatigue have created a huge challenge.
However, Trippier insists we are giving our all to bounce back, reminding fans that football can change quickly ahead of trips to Liverpool and Sunderland over the first week of January. Here's what he's had to say:
“We know we can do better. The standards we set throughout the last 18 months, we have come away from them a little bit in the last few games. My standards have dropped and my own performances have been nowhere near recently. I won’t shy away from it."I have had a lot of setbacks in my career and this is just another one where I need to keep going and keep believing. I have always got that belief to bounce back.
“It is a lot of games and being in Europe has been a challenge for the club. The majority of the players are not used to playing in the Champions League and it’s been a challenge for the team.
"We’ve had a lot of injuries, the lads have given everything and worked hard for each other, but we have to start the second half of the season strong.
"Teams always go through moments and we are going through one now, but football changes quickly and for sure this team will bounce back.”
