Alan Shearer slammed Hugo Lloris for his error-prone performance during Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United on Sunday, as he told Match of the Day.
The former striker shared that Newcastle knew that Lloris ‘isn’t the best’ with the ball at his feet, with Miguel Almiron’s goal stemming from the Spurs goalkeeper trying to play out from the back.
That wasn’t the worst of it because, moments before, he had rushed off his line, only to collide with Callum Wilson on the edge of the box, who kept his composure and put the ball into an empty net to open the scoring.
As Eddie Howe’s side started taking control of the game and started forcing the home team into mistakes, you could hear the groans and moans from the home crowd.
That didn’t help Lloris’s cause, who was constantly forced into traps by the away side, and with those three points yesterday, they moved into the Champions League places.
Nonetheless, Shearer praised Newcastle’s set-up without the ball to force Lloris into mistakes and how he was seemingly ‘stupid enough’ to fall into it.
“That set-up, the pressing, they are inviting Lloris to do that, they know he’s not the best with his feet,” said Shearer. “They are saying, if you are stupid enough to pass that ball, then we are going to cut it out. When it’s not a good ball, like it’s not, then we are going to close them down.
“Say what you want about Spurs and how bad it is defensively. But, from Newcastle’s point of view, from Almiron’s point of view, it’s magnificent. Pace and power – Lloris again had a poor game and they put him under pressure.”
GLOOM OVER HOTSPUR WAY
That was Tottenham’s first home defeat of the season, but judging by the reaction of the team at half-time and after the whistle, it didn’t seem that way.
It seems as though Antonio Conte’s style of play doesn’t help matters, but at the end of the day, this is a winning system and one that has won titles.
It’s pretty clear that the personnel out on the pitch aren’t being able to master what their highly-demanding coach is asking of them.
And it doesn’t help when Lloris is shooting himself in the foot time and time again, including putting pressure on himself and his teammates with the £12 million man’s (BBC Sport) inability to start attacks from the back.
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