Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Lloris reportedly ‘fears’ an extended spell on the sidelines following an injury which saw him subbed at half-time during Sunday’s humiliating Premier League defeat at Newcastle United.
As Fraser Forster trotted out onto the St James’ Park pitch at the start of the second half, it was tempting to wonder if Cristian Stellini had enforced something of a ‘mercy rule’; Lloris removed from the firing line after conceding five goals in 20 traumatic minutes on Tyneside.
The footballing equivalent of that Simpsons meme. ‘Stop, stop, here’s already dead’.
And when it emerged that an injury was the reason for Lloris’ early departure, the more cynical members of the Spurs support could have been forgiven for reacting with some suspicion.
According to The Telegraph, however, reports of Lloris’ injury are, in fact, ‘legitimate’. There are even concerns – from the Frenchman’s camp – that ‘he could be out for some time’.
“It doesn’t sound good,” Lloris admitted during his post-match interview on Sky Sports.
“I think it’s a muscle injury, around the hip. I felt something on a long kick and it doesn’t sound good. But we will see tomorrow and in a few days after a scan.”
Hugo Lloris injured during Tottenham’s 6-1 Newcastle United hammering
The extent of Lloris’ problem has not yet been disclosed. With only six Premier League fixtures remaining for Cristian Stellini’s much-maligned side, it remains to be seen if Lloris will take to the field again in 2022/23.
The good news is that Forster, even in his advancing years, has proven to be a more-than able deputy in recent months.
There are perhaps some at Spurs support who would have been happy to see Forster keep his place between the sticks, even after Lloris recovered from a knee issue which kept him out for around two months between February and late-March.
‘We couldn’t fight’
Lloris has now conceded eight times in his last two appearances. What’s more, only five teams have let in more across the whole of the Premier League. And those aforementioned quintet are all located in the division’s bottom six.
“It’s very embarrassing,” Lloris sighs following that St James’ shellacking. “The first thing is that we should apologise to the fans who travelled. We were late in all the aspects of the game and we completely missed the first part of the game. Obviously the second half is another story, but it’s really painful today.
“It’s not even about talking of tactics, it’s just we couldn’t fight. We were late in all the aspects of the game. I think Newcastle had a great performance. They were very aggressive, they were very offensive every time they got the ball, they were looking forward. It’s difficult right now to assess and analyse the performance. But the first thing is that there was probably a lack of pride.
“To concede five goals in 20 minutes. You can get punched once, twice, you can concede, but on the pitch it was something strange. It was like we could not even react, we could not even bounce back into the game, into the performance.”
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