Garth Crooks praised both Jan Vertonghen and Hugo Lloris following Tottenham Hotspur’s draw, but was also critical of the latter.
Garth Crooks has told BBC Sport that Jan Vertonghen’s subsequent challenge was better than Hugo Lloris’s penalty save during Tottenham’s North London derby draw, while he insisted that the Spurs goalkeeper is no longer a world class stopper.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men bagged a point from the clash against Arsenal at Wembley. But at one stage, it appeared that Spurs were going to suffer another league defeat against their bitter rivals having lost the reverse fixture earlier in the season.
Davinson Sanchez gave away a – very soft – penalty in the final moments. But Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s spot-kick was saved by Lloris, and the subsequent passage of play led to Vertonghen producing an incredible clearance over his own crossbar to prevent the visitors from tapping home what would have been the winner.
Despite naming the Frenchman in his team of the week, Crooks suggested that he does not believe that Lloris is not good enough for a top four side in the Premier League. But in contrast, he could not praise the defender high enough following the late challenge.
“There is no doubt in my mind he can keep goal but not well enough for a top four club,” he told BBC Sport about Lloris. “That might sound a little incongruous for a France World Cup winner but standards are not what they used to be. His performance against Chelsea yet again emphasised my point that you can be a very good shot-stopper and not a world-class goalkeeper.
“This became abundantly clear against Arsenal. Lloris’s ability to stop shots was evident again when he saved Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s penalty and Tottenham’s blushes.”
He went on to say regarding Vertonghen: “Against Arsenal he was ruthless, impolite and mean-spirited. Just the sort of attitude you want from your centre-back in the middle of a north London derby.
“The tackle on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang immediately after Hugo Lloris’s penalty save was magnificent. In fact it was better than the penalty save itself.”
While Lloris has had his faults this term, it would arguably be a ruthless decision for Pochettino to look to replace the club captain at the end of the campaign. He has been an outstanding servant for Tottenham and will be closing in on making 300 appearances in all competitions for Spurs if he continues to play until the end of the season.
But some may point to the mix up at Chelsea as one incident which highlights that Spurs need to seriously think about upgrading their goalkeeper options during the next window if they want to make that next step.
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