Tottenham’s narrow 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday may well have been totally different had it not been for the imperious form of their French stopper. Lloris has been a rock since his move from Lyon last summer; a deal which in hindsight looks to have been a massive coup for the North Londoners.

Following an excellent first term in England, and an apparent continuation of his form into the new season, do Spurs now have the best keeper in the Premier League?

The acquisition of keepers always seems to be greeted with a feeling of ambivalence from most quarters, there is never the same buzz that is created with say the capture of frontman like Roberto Soldado. This is totally natural and understandable, but the signing of Lloris for a fee of around £8-12m back in 2012 is something that should never be understated. My belief is that the Frenchman’s signature represents the single most important transfer by the club in the Villas-Boas era.

Down the years Spurs have had a history of excellent shot stopping keepers whose instinctive reactions have been undeniable. Even in the current squad Gomes and Friedel represent excellent blockers, whose all round game is now totally inadequate for the way Spurs are looking to play under Villas-Boas. The pace of the timeless Friedel is no longer sufficient for a role as a sweeper keeper and similarly the kamikaze tendencies of Gomes were unlikely to fit any clubs system.

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The improvement Spurs have in Lloris is that they now have someone with the all round game to suit the dynamic style that Villas-Boas wants to play. Much has been made of the high tempo pressing game that features a much higher defensive line to squeeze the opposition. Central to this system is the need for a highly mobile and intelligent keeper to read the game and instinctively react when the time comes to sweep up play. This was time and time again exemplified during the Palace game when balls in behind were comfortably mopped up before chance could really ever materialise.

Spurs in my mind have always been distributionally quite weak from the back, all too content to hit a long ball up towards the diminutive Defoe rather than get the ball down early. There has been a definite shift towards building from the back, and utilising the pace of Walker and now Rose to their advantage. Lloris on average had the second lowest distance from goal kicks last year that illustrates this point perfectly, number one was Szczesny whose Arsenal side engender the sort of passing game that Spurs want to imitate and possibly now improve on.

My main fear with Lloris was that he would struggle to adapt to the physicality of the English league. Even at 6ft 2in the Frenchman never appears the most imposing because of his slight frame. The concern was that he would come largely unstuck at the set piece, much like De Gea did during his first season in England. Thankfully for Spurs Lloris has coped admirably in this respect and continued to improve and adapt to the specifics of Premier League football.

He relies heavily on his punch, which unlike predecessor Gomes, has turned into something of a weapon when alleviating pressure from the box. Gomes was all too keen to rush out and flap at the ball, or punch someone in his own backline. Instead Lloris appears calm and collected under the high ball and chooses intelligently when to come and when not to. Whilst he is becoming more and more comfortable in this regard, I fully expect him to continue improving well into this season.

So is the 26-year-old the best? In my opinion he is certainly the best sweeper-keeper in the league and therefore the ideal man for Spurs. Lloris definitely occupies a place in the top bracket of Premier League stoppers alongside the likes of Cech and De Gea. An inconsistent season for Joe Hart in my view sees him slide from the upper echelons of the leagues stoppers. The world’s best keepers are those that go very quietly about their business, doing the basics right and occasionally pulling off the more spectacular. Cech during his brightest spell at Chelsea captured this sentiment exactly, taking a great deal of pressure off the defensive line in the process. When comparing De Gea and Lloris I see two exceptionally gifted keepers who will both no doubt be at the very top of the world game. As it stands Lloris appears ahead in his development, unsurprising given their ages, and has seemed less susceptible to the occasional mistake that De Gea makes. Who knows the Spaniard may at some point eclipse the Frenchman but only time will tell in that respect.

Spurs were incredibly shrewd in their capture of the Frenchman, a small price to pay  really for a central figure to Villas-Boas’ Spurs strategy. There is little to choose between Cech and Lloris in my book, but from a Spurs perspective I cannot see a better or more suitable option for them as a club specifically.

Do Spurs now have the best stopper in the Premier League?

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