Ex-Spurs captain Hugo Lloris gives brutally honest verdict on Ange Postecoglou sacking
Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as Tottenham Hotspur manager despite leading the team to Europa League glory, with Thomas Frank taking his place
Hugo Lloris says a weight has been lifted off Tottenham’s shoulders after they ended their 17 year trophy drought. But Lloris also claimed that sacking Ange Postecoglou after his “remarkable” success was just a brutal reality of football.
Former Tottenham captain Lloris, 38, who spent 12 years at Spurs, is hoping lifting the Europa League will signal a change in the club’s fortunes. Los Angeles FC keeper Lloris, whose side face Chelsea in the Club World Cup, said: “I am really pleased.
"I am really happy for the club. For the people at the club, for the players. We ran for so many years after this trophy, finally the club got rewarded and it is well deserved.
“Hopefully it will make their shoulders a little bit lighter for the future and I think it is also the moment to build on this success for Spurs. Even if I am not a Spurs player, I still follow the news, the team and the results.
"I think Ange Postecoglou deserves a lot of credit, the players as well, it is not easy to win that kind of competition. It is also another way to get the Champions League.
“There was a lot of frustration and disappointment about the Premier League season but at the end, the last few years everybody was talking about trophies and finally they got one so that’s really good. I hope now they are going to build a momentum and get even more competitive in all the competitions they are involved in.”
Despite leading Tottenham to their first trophy since 2008, Postecoglou was given his marching orders and has now been replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank. Even Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy admitted it was a tough decision to make the change but Spurs had lost 22 games in their Premier League season. However, Lloris was brutally honest about the failings of his teams during his time at the club and questioned whether they would have swapped finishing higher in the table for a trophy.
When asked whether the decision to sack Postecoglou surprised him, Lloris added: “No, nothing surprises me in football. But at the same time, it is hard to say something because I am on the other side. I don’t know what happened inside the club so it's really hard for me to judge.
“If they made this decision it is because they believe there is another option which is better for the future of the club. What Ange Postecoglou did was just remarkable. He brought this Europa League trophy, he brought a lot of joy to the Spurs community, a lot of pride as well and we all have to be thankful for that.
“I think they had a really hard season. They had a lot of injuries as well that affected the team and performances and I think in the second part of the season, it looks like they decided to go all-in for the Europa League.
“They made it and you just have to congratulate them because it is another way to go to the Champions League. At the end of the day, I don’t know, if you finish 10th, 14th, 15th, 16th and if you get a chance to win a trophy on the other hand, it is just an amazing achievement.
“I was part of a really competitive team for many years and the target was to reach the top four but at which price? We could not find a way to win a cup, a league cup or even a Europa League cup but we managed to go and get the top four for many years. I don’t know, it is all about the optics of the club.”