Hugo Lloris is no longer a ‘world-class’ goalkeeper and Jose Mourinho should consider dropping the Tottenham Hotspur veteran for Joe Hart, former England international Trevor Sinclair told talkSPORT (19 February, 9:00am).
It was a story of two shot-stoppers at the Etihad Stadium last Saturday.
After Ederson ripped a hole through the Spurs defence with the sort of inch-perfect pass Kevin de Bruyne would have been proud to call his own, Lloris was beaten at his near post by a rather tame Ilkay Gundogan effort at the other end.
The France captain has endured a difficult season in North London, conceding five times at Everton before Tottenham were put to the sword by Pep Guardiola’s rampant City side.
According to Sinclair, Spurs now have a difficult decision to make about the future of a man who will turn 35 before the end of the year, especially with the experienced Hart waiting in the wings.
“Not for me,” ex-West Ham and City star Sinclair said when asked if Lloris is still a ‘world-class’ goalkeeper.
“I’ve been to a couple of games where I’ve seen him flap at balls. His wrists and his ankles are too weak. He’s got the wrong angles on goals as well, you look at the ones he conceded against Manchester City last week.
“I think he’s been poor. Put him next to Ederson and it’s like there were too different athletes out there. He didn’t look tall, he didn’t have any physical presence, every cross Man City put into the box, I didn’t see him dominating his six-yard box at all.
“I think he’s waning. Whether it’s a bit of form and it will come back I don’t know.
“If Joe Hart is training well, I wouldn’t hesitate putting him in. From what I’ve seen, (Mourinho) couldn’t do any worse. Lloris is throwing them in left, right and centre.”
Lloris did offer a timely reminder of his abilities as Tottenham beat Wolfsberger 4-1 in Austria during Thursday’s Europa League last-32 clash.
Not many goalkeepers would be able to replicate the stunning reflex save he made late in the first half. The problem is, moments of brilliance like this are starting to become the exception, rather than the norm.
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