Lloris and the end of the world

Behold. Another transfer window, another persistent rumour surrounding Hugo Lloris.

We’ve been here before it seems. The last couple of seasons have regularly seen transfer gossip surface of imminent bids for our Gallic goalie.

Up until now, both the Club and Lloris himself have dismissed these out of hand. However this time the interest from Manchester United seems real, and the silence from Lloris is perhaps speaking volumes.

Undoubtedly a worrying scenario, bearing in mind his importance to our squad and the amount of points he seems to save us every season.

We all know his strengths – a shot-stopper bar none, and with the agility to match. The way he reaches shots that are practically in another postcode, to turn them over the bar is nothing short of breath-taking.

In addition his quickness off the line has saved his defenders many an embarrassing moment over the years.

[linequote]The way he reaches shots that are practically in another postcode, to turn them over the bar is nothing short of breath-taking.[/linequote]

However he is by no means perfect.

At 6’2″, he may tower over most of us but he’s one of the shorter goalkeepers in the Premier League. It’s fair to say his slightly smaller stature probably works against him in one-on-one situations where he’d be expected to “make himself big” and “close the angles”.

He punches a little too much for my taste, and his kicking leaves something to be desired.

Finally, as our captain, I do think his on-field communication could be better, both in terms of organising his defence, as well as just keeping his team-mates on their toes.

So this got me thinking – considering all that is expected of a top goalkeeper these days, is Lloris as good as we think he is?

The answer, and a big cop out, is ‘probably’.

I say probably as he is undoubtedly a quality player. To deny that would be folly. However he is a specific type of goalkeeper, with specific attributes. And I can’t help but wonder how we would get on with bit more of an all-rounder.

For example, Joe Hart of Man City comes to mind. Obviously he’s not a realistic transfer option, but he is representative of a different type of keeper and one that I think that we could probably be better off with. Bigger in stature and more imposing. A better communicator. Holds on to the ball more. Superior kicking. He obviously isn’t quite as good a shot-stopper but that’s just one part of a modern goalkeeper’s job role. All in all, a more well-balanced player, in my opinion.

[linequote]He punches a little too much for my taste, and his kicking leaves something to be desired.[/linequote]

A more achievable target would be Stoke’s Asmir Begovic, who is a similar style to Hart, and is a full 4 inches taller than Lloris. He has all the attributes listed above while being no slouch when it comes to making an acrobatic save. The talk at the moment is that Chelsea may snap him up to warm their bench, which will be unfortunate should Lloris decide to move on in the near future.

If (or when) Lloris decides to move, it will certainly be a blow, but it won’t be the end of the world. Players come and go. It’s all about how you replace them.

Back when we sold Gareth Bale, everyone agreed we’d be mental to turn down all that cash, but it was re-invested poorly. Very poorly. With our current transfer set-up, I have more confidence this won’t happen again.

Should it happen we must look on it as an opportunity to bring in a more well-rounded goalkeeper – someone who is more that just an acrobatic shot-stopper – while hopefully pocketing a shed-load of cash to spend on a much-needed central midfielder.