Kieran Trippier has revealed Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone banned all players from saying 'good morning' during their La Liga title charge.
Trippier spent two-and-a-half seasons in the Spanish capital before joining Newcastle United in the January transfer window.
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He was part of the Atletico team that won La Liga in 2021 and Simeone deployed some strange tactics to get his side over the line.
The defender told the True Geordie on his podcast: "After Christmas, we weren’t allowed to say ‘good morning’. That’s what the manager said. We had to say 'champions' from Christmas.
"He set the stall for the players at Christmas. We weren’t allowed to say good morning, he was like 'we’re going to be champions', the physios, everybody.
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"All the physios [were] coming in, every game from Christmas, all wearing Atletico Madrid shirts."
Atletico won the title on the final day of the season after coming from behind to beat Real Valladolid 2-1.
It was their first title in seven years and Trippier made 28 starts, registering six assists.
Trippier joined Atletico from Tottenham Hotspur in 2019 and it was a move that shocked everyone at the time.
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The England international is known for his attacking quality and Simeone is a more defensive manager.
Despite that, it was an experience Trippier enjoyed and he spoke fondly of his former coach.
He continued: "My experiences in Spain have changed me completely, and that’s from the manager. I can’t speak highly enough of him, he’s that good.
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"He’s just mental, he’s just different. When you see him on the touchline, that’s how he is in training."
Trippier returned to the Premier League as the first signing of Newcastle's new ownership.
He'd started to impress at St. James' Park before fracturing a metatarsal against Aston Villa last month, a game in which he scored the winner.
When asked about the injury he replied: "It was my fifth metatarsal, there was a fracture in there so I had to have surgery, I had to have a bolt [put] in it.
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"The surgeon is happy, my physios are happy which makes me a lot better.
"[The timescale] is different, some players have been six weeks, some players have been eight weeks, 10 weeks but it's about the individual. For me now it's about supporting the lads and getting points on the board."
Newcastle are 14th in the league and unbeaten in eight games after a 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
Topics: Kieran Trippier, Atletico Madrid, Diego Simeone, La Liga
Daniel Marland