Mauricio Pochettino praised coach Toni Jimenez after Tottenham Hotspur were hit by a goalkeeping crisis.
A goalkeeping crisis hit Tottenham Hotspur this week as Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm were both ruled out of Sunday’s London derby with Crystal Palace through injury.
Spurs captain Lloris picked up a groin strain in the Champions League victory over Real Madrid and his deputy Vorm damaged his knee in training prior to Palace’s visit to Wembley.
It was left to thirdchoice Paulo Gazzaniga to come to the rescue, and that he did by making several crucial saves to help Tottenham to a 1-0 win on his debut for the club.
After the depth of his goalkeeping department was highlighted, manager Mauricio Pochettino took the opportunity to praise goalkeeping coach Toni Jiminez for the work he does with the group.
Pochettino is quoted by Football London as saying: “I think Gazzaniga was fantastic. His debut at Wembley and I think he deserved a lot of praise. He was very calm. He made a few amazing saves. For me he was fantastic.
“But another person who deserves big praise is our goalkeeping coach Toni Jiminez. He does a fantastic job with all the keepers, including the younger ones, because today we had Alfie [Whiteman] on the bench and he works with Brandon [Austin] too.”
Ex-Spain international Jiminez has formed part of Pochettino’s backroom staff at Spurs, Espanyol and Southampton, which is where he first worked with summer signing Gazzaniga.
The 25-year-old Argentine joined Tottenham from Southampton in August, with his previous Premier League appearance coming in a 2-0 defeat to Spurs in December 2015.
As The Guardian reports, Lloris will sit out France’s international fixtures and is a doubt for the clash with Arsenal on November 18, meaning it could be Gazzaniga to the rescue again.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
