Tottenham must stick with Lloris despite Champions League suspension

Football FanCast

By Kyle Archer

Published Oct 26, 2018

Tottenham Hotspur may be without this key player for the visit of PSV Eindhoven, but his suspension should not force him through the exit door.

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Tottenham Hotspur must stick by club captain Hugo Lloris, despite the Frenchman seeing red against PSV Eindhoven

What’s the word?

Tottenham have an uphill task on their hands to progress in the Champions Leauge after letting victory be snatched away by a late PSV equaliser.

Worse for the north Londoners is that all three points were lost after the club’s captain Hugo Lloris was sent off for a foul on Hirving Lozano despite the Frenchman not needing to rush out of goal.

It was just the latest in a long line of errors leading to the opposition scoring for the 31-year-old, but the mistake should not be the defining moment that ends his Spurs career.

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Against West Ham on Saturday, the best version of the World Cup winning goalkeeper was on display as he kept Spurs in a position to win the match with his vital saves.

Reaching out to the top left hand corner of his net to deny Marko Arnautovic from equalising was just the latest demonstration of why Mauricio Pochettino should once again stick by his man, having stuck by him once already this season when the club’s number one was charged with drink-driving at more than twice the UK legal limit.

Lloris also brings a wealth of experience to the Spurs side having made over 600-career appearances, 254 of which came Tottenham, and has captained the side since August 2015.

Paulo Gazzaniga in action for Tottenham Hotspur against Brighton & Hove Albion

Who could replace him?

For the next Champions League tie with PSV Eindhoven on November 6, Michel Vorm is the likely man to step in having come off the bench on Wednesday evening.

Paulo Gazzaniga, however, should be the one to get the Wembley start, having so far featured four times for Tottenham Hotspur this season.

The 22-year-old keeper is much more the future of the club than the 35-year-old Dutchman that started from the substitute bench in the Champions League, and any further minutes for the Argentinean will further show Pochettino what he has to offer the club long term.

Gazzinga’s outings for Spurs have so far shown he posses a solid awareness amongst an ability to play out from the back while under pressure, but still has a lot of work to do before the thought of being handed the number one spot comes into question.

Sticking by Hugo Lloris, therefore, is the logical answer, and should be backed at every opportunity and revered for his performances in order to avoid the goalkeeper suffering mentally which will cause his performances to worsen.