The goalkeeper is singular by definition. He is only man onthe team allowed to handle the ball, is the last defender and very often is thefirst to be blamed when his goal line is breached. Sometimes, the willingnessto take responsibility and the intense concentration required in the goalkeepermakes him a leader of men. That is the case with Iker Casillas, captain of RealMadrid and also of Spain, the world champion. But right now, the isolation ofHugo Lloris puts him in a peculiar situation even by goalkeeping standards.
Lloris is the automatic choice at keeper and the captainwhenever his country, France, has a game. As long as he is fit and in form,Lloris is France’s No 1 choice when the coach draws his lineup. The reassuranceof that is in total contrast to the situation confronting the goalkeeper atclub level. On the final day of the summer transfer period in Europe, Lloriswas sold by Olympique Lyonnais to the London club Tottenham Hotspur.
So far, there has been next to no progress. Lloris hastrained with Tottenham every day, but he has played only once, in a goallessEuropa League game against Lazio. He did not do anything wrong in that game,but he was out of the team for the next “ and more important “ match, in theEnglish Premier League against Queens Park Rangers three days later. Hisproblem? The immovable object that is Brad Friedel.
Friedel may be 41, but he is keeping goal with the agilityand the reflexes of a man half that age “ which Lloris, at 25, very nearly is.And when Friedel is on his game, he gives the defense and the coach suchreliability that both depend upon him. By all accounts, Lloris was told hewould be Tottenham’s main man for the coming season and for as far as the eyecould see.
But nobody told Brad Friedel it was time to go “ and nobodyhas dislodged Big Brad in more than a decade while he has been gatheringexperience and blocking shots and blocking out rivals for his starting jerseyin the Premier League. Friedel has racked up 309 consecutive Premier League games,not missing a single one in seven seasons.
After his one night playing in Spurs’ atmospheric White HartLane stadium, he was back on the bench Sunday for the game against Queens Park.“Things were very clear from the start on Sunday,” Lloris said. “The choicelies with the coach, but I’m here to shake things up a bit.”
The coach, Andre Villas-Boas, is just as new to Spurs asLloris is. During Villas-Boas’ first months in charge, Friedel has bailed outthe defense. “We don’t doubt Hugo’s dimension and talent,” the coach saidSunday. ``But we are paying respect to a player who is performing very well.Maybe, after all, the keepers are not the most isolated people at the club.Spurs have four of them, but only one head coach, who right now is sticking towhat has proven to be a tried and trusted custodian.
