Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino has been lavishing praise on his goalkeepers and tipped the youngest – Paulo Gazzaniga – to become a “great, great goalkeeper”.
Hugo Lloris put on a match of the match display during Spurs’ 2-0 victory against Watford at Wembley on Monday night.
Doubts have been creeping in about Lloris’ recent performances with a couple of errors. He sat out last Saturday as Michel Vorm continued his FA Cup run, but the Frenchman returned on Monday night to somewhere near his best form.
He pulled off an excellent close range save from Andre Gray in the first half to spare Eric Dier’s blushes after a misplaced pass. The Tottenham captain then denied Richarlison and Abdoulaye Doucoure in quick succession before the break, the second a superbly timed sliding tackle outside his penalty area. To add to his tally, he saved late on from substitute Andre Carrillo as well.
football.london asked Pochettino after the match how important it is for Lloris to continue to be brave in rushing out – that inch-perfect tackle on Doucoure coming after he’d brought down Raheem Sterling in the defeat to Manchester City earlier in the month with a similar attempt.
The Spurs boss took the opportunity to praise his other goalkeepers as well as the captain, including 26-year-old Gazzaniga, who has played just the once for the club in the Premier League victory against Crystal Palace.
“First of all that Sterling tackle wasn’t a penalty. This was another great tackle. I talk very well of him a lot, with us the keeper’s job is to be focused for 90 minutes, but to also help the team because our defensive line is higher,” he said.
“We demand a lot from the keeper and we are so happy with all of them, I think we have great keepers. Hugo is one of the best, Michel can play in any team in the Premier League and Paulo is a potentially great, great keeper.”
On Lloris he added: “He showed he is brave, his performance and quality he showed he is one of the best in the world, no doubt.”
(football.london)
