This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Alan Hutton has praised Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga after his display against Liverpool, per Football Insider.
What’s he said?
The former Southampton stopper turned in an excellent performance at Anfield, making a total of 12 saves in the 2-1 defeat, as he continues to deputise for the injured Hugo Lloris.
Spurs had taken the lead in the game through Harry Kane’s first-minute header but goals from Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah, the second of which came from the penalty spot, ultimately broke the resistance of Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Nevertheless, Hutton, who played for Spurs between 2008 and 2011, believes that Gazzaniga has proved he has what it takes to be the club’s first-choice stopper.
He said: “He was brilliant, arguably give him man of the match – definitely on the Tottenham side. He’s come in a little bit out of the cold with Lloris’ injury and he’s really grabbed it.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, Lloris was having a bit of a tough spell himself. For him (Gazzaniga) to come in and put in the displays that he has, he’s really claiming for the number one spot.
“For Gazzaniga to come in and play so well, so quickly, I think he’s only going to grow in confidence. Hopefully he can keep his form up, obviously, I want them to see them doing well so I want him to play well. If he keeps his form up I can’t see how he can be dropped at the turn of the year.”
A long time coming
Lloris should have been dropped long ago.
Of course, he injured his elbow during the club’s 3-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion but even that came from a mistake, as he flapped under a cross and ended up falling awkwardly as the Seagulls opened the scoring.
According to the Premier League website, this season the Frenchman made two errors leading to goals prior to his injury – only Southampton defender Jan Bednarek has more to his name – while he also made one error last season.
This is not to mention the fact that Lloris was caught up in a drink-driving scandal last year, too, which could well have seen him axed from the starting XI.
He obviously retained his place, but one feels that Gazzaniga’s chance has been a long time coming.
With Lloris out, all the 27-year-old needs to keep doing is avoiding mistakes and making saves.
If he can do the former, he will already have one over on France’s World Cup winning-captain.
