Hugo Lloris took his place between the posts for his first Premier League start and it seemed as if the long term plan to replace Brad Friedel had finally taken effect. After the Villa game however, head coach Andre Villas-Boas denied that Hugo was now regarded as the number one at White Hart Lane.
“We decided it would be logical to play Hugo to get him acquainted with the Premier League,” Andre said.
“The change was not based on performance.”
AVB was then asked if the Frenchman was first choice at the club.
“No. Towards the future we will have to decide,” he answered.
“Nothing tipped the balance. We are fortunate that we can do this rotation. Brad was disappointed but accepted it as a good professional. We respect his performances. He will be back as soon as possible.”
Hugo had a quiet game although one error will be highlighted by his detractors – the moment when a poor throw lead to Villa’s best chance of the game and a header which was missed by Benteke when it might well have been put away by Bent.
The goalie choice for the Chelsea game will therefore be interesting and it could lead to a Manchester United style rotation where De Gea and Lindegaard are often switched for no apparent reason. Is this the best way forward?
AVB was then asked if the Frenchman was first choice at the club. — “No. Towards the future we will have to decide,” he answered.
Why the fuck should the media interrogate AVB about Lloris, the Chelsea game or anything else. The need to show the guy some respect and accept that he knows what he’s doing and doesn’t need this grilling from a bunch of unmannerly idiots who wrote him off, before a ball was kicked. AVB will soon stop doing interviews as SAF did until ‘the media’ learn how to conduct themselves.
While I think that lloris should be our number 1, I thought that AVB’s decision to start the Frenchman yesterday was a master-stroke.
You see, instead of sending (a potentially disgruntled) Lloris back to France, with the French media and manager ready to stir things up about Lloris current position as Spurs no2, AVB has changed the dynamic somewhat by starting Lloris in the last two games.
This move from our manager will allow Hugo to go back to his native country with his head held high and also with the belief that he ,maybe just, might be making a breakthrough regarding his attempts to usurp the ever reliable Freidel.
It will also, I presume, plant the same idea in the minds of Deschamps and the French Media, meaning that Lloris and Spurs aren’t making the (‘wrong’ type) headlines across the channel for the next couple of weeks.
If this was part of AVB’s thinking when he named the team to play Villa, then this was a very, very astute piece of management.