‘He was definitely touched’: Deschamps returns to English press criticism of Lloris

He silenced the most skeptical. At the same time, the British press praised him very little in the hours before this quarter-final, won by the Blues against the Three Lions. Hugo Lloris, although well known to watchers across the Channel (he has been playing for Tottenham since 2012), has been cited as a potential Blues Achilles heel, to use the Telegraph’s phrase. Having achieved a major performance against the British, the former Lyonnet recalled how decisive he could be in major meetings for the Blues. And according to his coach Didier Deschamps, the comments in the English press may have something to do with this XXL performance. “He was definitely touched,” the Blues boss admitted on Téléfoot’s TF1 program this Sunday.

It must be said that British skepticism towards Hugo Lloris has long been no secret. “I know he won the world championship, but he’s not good enough. He makes too many mistakes. Antonio Conte needs a new goalkeeper,” Rio Ferdinand said after the Arsenal-Tottenham match last October. A meeting won by the Gunners 3-1, during which Hugo Lloris was guilty of handballing Arsenal’s second goal.

“Hugo has maintained his level of performance for a decade now”

More recently, the Telegraph calculated that Jordan Pickford, the last mainstay of the Three Lions, was “in many ways a better goaltender than Lloris this season.” Yet it was Lloris who kept the Blues afloat on Saturday night with six saves during the game. This is enough to break his own record set in 2010. “Hugo has maintained his level of performance for over ten years,” Didier Deschamps rightly remarked, still standing at the Telefoot microphone.

And add: “I think he wanted to come back to London with a win.” A win for sure, but above all a game that will disgust the English strikers and, in particular, Harry Kane, his club partner for eight seasons. The answer to the criticism lies on the lawn of Al-Bayt Stadium, spoken by the highest scoring player in the history of the Blues.