Mourinho backs ‘amazing’ Spurs goalkeeper Lloris despite errors
LONDON: Totenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho said goalkeeper Hugo Lloris still has “all my trust and confidence” despite a number of costly errors in recent matches.
The France captain enjoyed an impressive start to the campaign as Spurs rose to the top of the Premier League but has been at fault for a number of goals lately, including two in Saturday’s 3-0 defeat by Manchester City.
Mourinho said the 34-year-old remained one of the best goalkeepers in the world, comparing his errors with those of Liverpool’s Alisson Becker.
“For me Alisson is one of the top five best goalkeepers in the world and in the last couple of matches, not at Leipzig, but in the matches before he’s made big mistakes but he’s one of the top five goalkeepers in the world,” the Spurs boss said on Wednesday.
“And Hugo is the same. He’s an amazing, amazing goalkeeper that is performing super-consistently since he recovered from that fracture.”
Mourinho added: “He’s my number one choice and he has all my trust and my confidence.”
BALE ‘TOWARDS END OF CAREER’, ADMITS AGENT: Gareth Bale is not playing regularly at Totenham because he is coming towards the end of his medal-strewn career, his agent Jonathan Barnet said on Wednesday.
When the Wales international rejoined Spurs on loan from Real Madrid in September, the emotional homecoming was hailed as a perfect fit for the player and the club where he rose to global stardom.
Mourinho’s team have been involved in 22 Premier League matches following Bale’s return to the north London club but the 31-year-old has started just two of those.
Mourinho last week questioned Bale’s Instagram post which suggested he was in good health despite being unavailable to feature in his side’s FA Cup defeat at Everton.
Asked why Bale was not playing regularly in his second spell at Spurs, Barnet, speaking at the Financial Times’ Business of Football Summit, said: “He’s towards the end of his career. Really, you have to ask Mourinho that.”
Barnet defended Bale’s record in the game -the Welshman has won two La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues at Real Madrid.
“When they say, ‘What’s happened to him?’ -- he’s won more trophies abroad than any British player in history,” the agent said.
“He’s done very well financially, and he has enough money for the rest of his life. He has a very good lifestyle, so that is what has happened to him.”
Bale came through the ranks at Southampton and joined Spurs as a 17-year-old in 2007 before sealing a big-money move to the Bernabeu six years later.