AVB seems to be damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t here…
You probably wouldn’t need to tell Andre Villas-Boas this, but when it rains, it very often seems to pour. After shelling out £11.8million for a goalkeeper rated amongst one of the best in continental Europe, it seems unfathomable that the Portuguese could be facing a goalkeeping related headache after one league game in-between. The realities however, are rather different.
As the Premier League already takes a weekend to regain it’s breath with the imminent round of international fixtures, it’s not seemed to stop the almost continuous media speculation that’s surrounded Tottenham Hotspur. Hugo Lloris hasn’t even been a Spurs player for longer than a week, but an instant meet-up with the national side has already produced something of a minor flash point with his new employers.
Following the superb exploits of Spurs’ current number one this season, the evergreen Brad Friedel, Villas-Boas ommended the American and suggested that Lloris would have to work for his place.
He said:
“Brad is doing extremely well and deserves to be playing and he’ll continue to do so.
“There are players who need more time, players who need less time. But when you have a keeper who gives so much confidence to the team and is doing so well, he deserves to be in goal.
“We have to work with that and he will have to adapt to the Premier League.”
Villas-Boas’ public backing of Friedel appears to have caused far more of a moral panic than perhaps what one would have expected. After such a superb string of performances, most notably against Norwich on Saturday, why would Villas-Boas say anything else? For a man that has continuously been cited for his poor levels of man management and public relations, coming out and saying that Lloris is a banker to start their next game against Reading would have gone down like a lead balloon.
In effect, he would have been ending Friedel’s Spurs, perhaps his Premier League career, in the press, after one his best performances in years. He may have seemed forthcoming but Villas-Boas had seemingly played this one with a straight bat.
However, that’s not entirely how it’s been construed in the media and certainly not by France manager Didier Deschamps. Instead of keeping his feelings to himself, Deschamps has taken it upon himself to act as Lloris’ mouthpiece as the comments of Villas-Boas look to have gone down badly on the other side of the channel. Speaking ahead of his team’s World Cup qualifiers with Finland and Belarus, he said:
“I saw what Villas-Boas said. “These statements surprised me.
“If I comment, it will make an echo on the other side of the Channel. I’m not going to create a problem that I don’t have today. I have other problems to solve but, if it happens, it deserves consideration.
“I do not want Hugo put in this situation. He did not appreciate the statements.”
It would appear that Deschamps may not have entirely be aware of what he was saying when he claimed he didn’t want to put his number one in any position, but what he’s done is quite the opposite.
Besides dropping his goalkeeper in it before he’s even had a chance to train with his new manager, Deschamps has been completely irresponsible with the timing of his comments. Whether he not he gives an adequate monkeys about Villas-Boas is beside the point but he’s heaped an already under-pressure boss under unnecessary pressure. Of course he cares about his international goalkeeper but to make these sorts of comments before Lloris has even joined his new manager were out of line. If Lloris does feel like that, airing his grievances in the public domain before he’s had a chance to immerse himself at a new club isn’t helping any of the parties involved whatsoever.
But the underlying problem is that Villas-Boas is already facing a scenario in which it’s difficult to see how he can win. Brad Friedel has perhaps unarguably been Tottenham’s best player over their first three games. He is the veteran of not just Tottenham Hotspur, but the Barclays Premier League but despite his 41 years, he is still a superb goalkeeper. He may have only been around N17 for one season, but he’s brought stability back to the position between the sticks and he was an integral part of the Redknapp team that finished fourth.
Although the fact is, he is 41 and he won’t be around forever. His body and his reflexes defies age but as every season ticks but he simply is not a viable long term option. Tottenham fans know that and even the man himself knows that. Speaking earlier this season, the American said:
“When I first signed here, there was no secret Tottenham would one day need a new long-term goalkeeper.
“I will do whatever asked of me, whether that is number one, two or three and will do it to the best of my ability.
“When you get older, it is easier to realise this is a team sport and the egos have to take a back seat if you want to be successful.”
Despite demonstrating a remarkable sense of humility and professionalism, Friedel is completely correct in his statements of the long-term. Tottenham had to act and the fact is, there are few around better than Lloris. Why wait until next season, when a potential Friedel retirement would see clubs charged a premium, when Lloris was available now? The Frenchman is a truly outstanding goalkeeper and many in France were slightly shocked to him go to Spurs; the feeling there was that he was destined for one of Europe’s elite.
The sticking point is where Lloris makes his debut. If he comes in against Reading and has a howler, than Villas-Boas is likely to be slaughtered as a result. Yet if their new, highly rated and extremely talented goalkeeper becomes unsettled or Friedel goes on to make a mistake, then Villas-Boas will take pelters. He can’t win and there is no uneasy answer.
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A sensible option would be to wait till at least the next home fixture, as AVB did with Jan Vertonghen, to allow him to make his debut, but in truth, there is never an easy time to blood a goalkeeper. In many respects, Villas-Boas is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. Spurs need stability but when the time’s right, he can’t shy away from starting Hugo Lloris. Because as even Friedel himself has said, it’s no secret that Spurs need a long-term goalkeeper. They now have one of Europe’s best and it must be a matter of if -not when.
What would do in Villas-Boas position? Would you throw Lloris straight into action against Reading or are you happy to make him wait? Let me know what you think on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me your views.
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