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28 March 2024

Ultimate Liverpool drama: Spurs' Lloris for Reina

HUGO LLORIS (AP)

Published
By Staff

Let’s not be dramatic, let’s be realistic.

That is a line one would expect from Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, who after seven trophy-less season might have lost the flair for the dramatic.

However, it is the dramatic that is needed at two of Arsenal’s biggest rivals – Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

Dramatic action to stop both the clubs from the freefall they currently are in.

Both managers, Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool and Andre Villas-Boas at Spurs have provided the dramatic – but only drama that has cost both teams dearly.

Rodgers’ Andy Carroll drama has left Liverpool with little hope of a Top 4 finish.

AVB’s Hugo Lloris drama has only added salt on the wounds of an-already angry White Hart Lane.

However, if Rodgers does has a flair for tiki-taka, he might seriously want to consider the Lloris drama as his happy ending.

Of all the problems Rodgers has, the biggest, perhaps even more dire than the lack of a striker is goalkeeper Pepe Reina’s form.

Reina has cost Liverpool points this season which add up to the club’s worst Premier League start in recent history.

Reina feels no pressure from the bench.

Unlike Lloris who is already fighting to take Brad Friedel’s place.

When a club pays £12 million for you, one would fancy a start. Not under AVB.

Villas-Boas has continued to insist Brad Friedel will remain his No.1 keeper.

Friedel said: “Right now I believe the shirt is mine to lose, I believe the manager came out and said that. If that’s the case, then great.

“It’s great to have competition. Hugo is France’s No.1, he’s gonna want to play, I’m gonna want to play, and so are Carlo Cudicini and Heurelho Gomes.”

Arsenal boss Wenger added spice to the Lloris and Friedel rivalry by backing the American stopper.

Rather than calm the situation down AVB has come out and said, “At this moment out of our respect for Brad Friedel the most commonsense decision was to entitle him to play against Reading and continue to be our first-choice keeper.

“You don’t sign any player that has the right to play in the first team every week.”

Why else would you sign a player?

Which means Rodgers can ease the Kop worry and pain over Reina by perhaps putting out the feelers for Lloris.

It is until January that Liverpool have to survive. Maybe get Lloris, and next year they can thrive.

Let’s not be dramatic. Yes, it was a Wenger comment.

As a pundit on French TV, he said: “Brad Friedel saved Villas-Boas (in the league game against Norwich) and he owes him a form of recognition for saving the match – but it doesn’t mean he won’t play Hugo Lloris.

“When they see Lloris in training, they will understand quite quickly that they’ve got a hell of a player.

“Let’s not be dramatic, he has a guy ahead of him who’s 41 and you have to plan his replacement, and this might happen in the next 15 days or three weeks.”

HEART STOPPER