Yeah hopefully! Bafetimbi Gomis impressed me a lot over the two legs. We were linked with him and his strike partner Lopez in Jan but he looked the better of the two in my opinion. Decent technique and a good target man.
The commentators seemed to think that Gomis is out of contract in the summer, though I've seen conflicting reports suggesting that he has another year left. Levy might well go back in during the next window.
Can't say I know much about his contract situation, would be handy if he was a freebie in the summer, perfect Levy signing!
I'm not sure Cech is as good to be top 5 any more. He's not been quite the same since he started thinking he was playing rugby. So, i'd replace him with Ian Walker. Otherwise spot on!
Was very impressed with Lloris' catching during the Wham game. Took 4-5 corners I think with no fuss. This relieves so much pressure. I was gobsmacked when we signed him (much like Van der vaart), and still cannot believe we have him tbh.
I don't recall any other keeper who has regularly sprinted off his line and beat the oncoming attacker to the ball. I can only praise his judgment over when to do so too, because I don't think he's misjudged one yet. It's also very entertaining to see something like that.
Gary Neville touched on that the other night, he remembers Schmeical doing similar but had a big frame to thwart one on ones, but Lloris gets the same result using pure speed to get in the face of the attacker to cut the angles.
No comment, Lads. If I say anything, Spurf will go nuts! - and probably ban me if a certain someone starts that well known, exhausted discussion for the 53rd time!
I think he's misjudged just 1 (out of what, 25-ish?) - when we played Liverpool, think it was Henderson, and Lloris came out but the combination of him and Walker done enough to put Henderson off and miss the target. Bar that, he's saved our bacon - and more importantly the defence's blushes on many occasions. A truly fantastic keeper.
Think he's been one of our best players over the last few months. And isn't it nice to be praising a goalkeeper for coming off their line well and coming out for crosses? After Gomes', er, fondness for rushing out and making a balls-up of it Friedel's safer policy was so refreshing and reassuring. And now with Lloris we have gone up a gear again since he IS able to come out and use good judgement in a way that Gomes was keen on doing badly and Friedel was never that keen on. Think the comment above about the defence having confidence in him raises a good point too and I wonder how much Friedel had to do with that? Imagine the defenders going straight from Gomes to Lloris. Think they might have been a bit worried. But a season and a bit of Friedel's solid presence back there may have helped reinforce and build up confidence and calm among the back five both with themselves and with each other.
Good post, i agree Lloris integration was handled spot on. Its one thing to introduce a new keeper to a 'regular' back4, but we've had to chop and change CB's, so it was important Lloris got to know his defenders on the training pitches first. The way things have gone you cannot disagree it was the right approach. Assuming he would have slotted in anyway just by chucking him in is just that, an assumption.
Watching the game on Monday I noticed that Lloris, before the match and after went up to as many teamates as possible and gave the hand punch and hugs. That was a show of the closeness of the squad and the esteem the keeper is held in by his collegues.
I honestly can't see how anyone can criticise AVB's initial handling of Lloris and Friedel, like Deschamps did. Whilst not spectacular, Friedel did do a very good job for Spurs and looked solid and reliable. It would have been incredibly unfair on Friedel for AVB just to say "Oh, thank you Brad, you have been a great goalkeeper and I highly rate you, but we now have a new keeper who is a France International and Captain, so we are going to put him straight into the squad". Even though he is arguably one of the best keepers in the world, Lloris needed time to gel into a new country, a new style of football and a new backline and AVB ensured that he did. As well, the delay in introduction meant that when Lloris did start a PL game, it was no where near as high profile as, say, De Gea's first game, where he was incredibly scrutinised. Now Lloris is established as our first choice, with Brad being given Cup duty. He has integrated better than we could have hoped for and is looking solid in goal. Well done to AVB and well done to Lloris for accepting his initial role and not kicking up a fuss (although the papers would say otherwise). Lets hope we can keep him happy at the club until he is 40!
Hugo was a great buy and we will reep the rewards in the long term too. We just need to solid up that defence, get rid of the dead Gallas wood and we will have a great little team.
Unfair on Gallas, Bando. He has stayed out of the spotlight this season, not rocked the boat about lack of game time but has come in and done a job every time he has been asked. A lot of people wouldn't have thought that Willy G would be a good squad player, but I reckon he has proved them all wrong. In fact I would not be unhappy if he was playing on Sunday: he has done well and played with great spirit every time he has faced the Goons.
