Tottenham end of season grades: The Keepers
Hugo Lloris was clearly Tottenham’s No. 1 keeper this season, but the race for the No. 2 spot got really interesting for Mauricio Pochettino.
Tottenham’s season ended with a disappointing 2-0 loss to Liverpool in the Champions League final, but the overall campaign was still magical for Spurs. The challenge for Mauricio Pochettino and company will be to elevate the squad this summer. Part of that means casting a critical eye over the players currently employed by the club.
This piece will evaluate the three keepers who played anything close to a meaningful role for Tottenham this season. Captain Hugo Lloris was clearly Pochettino’s first choice. However, Paulo Gazzaniga did beat out Michel Vorm for the No. 2 position during the campaign. As expected, that will have a significant impact on these grades. We start, with evaluating Lloris’ work.
Hugo Lloris
It was an uneven campaign for the French captain. On one hand, he was bedeviled by the catastrophic errors that have plagued him over the past several seasons. Lloris makes schoolboy errors every season and this year, it cost Tottenham valuable points during the Premier League campaign.
On the other hand, Lloris also has the ability to make world-class saves when Spurs need him most. One need only look back at his penalty stops during Tottenham’s Champions League run to see how crucial he can be for Spurs. His play at Ajax was also scintillating.
Add it all up and the Spurs No. 1 had a good, but definitely not great season. His grade reflects the good and the bad points in his game.
Grade: B
Paulo Gazzaniga
It’s fairly easy to forget the 11 total appearances the 27-year-old Argentine made this year. After all, it’s been quite a while since we’ve seen him play an important match. Gazzaniga did, however, step in and play three really good Premier League matches when Lloris was unavailable.
The work he did during his limited playing time solidifies him as the Tottenham backup heading into next season. Gazzaniga isn’t going to displace Lloris anytime soon, but this season was a massive step forward in his career. It’s still unclear whether or not he can eventually grow into a Premier League starter, but the fact that it’s even a question represents solid progress.
Grade: A-
Michel Vorm
Vorm is the big loser in this group. He entered the campaign as Tottenham’s backup and he quickly lost out to Gazzaniga. In the end, it will be a major shock if he isn’t shown the door via a free transfer this summer.
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Vorm’s biggest issue is that he is not a commanding presence inside the penalty box. He used to overcome that problem by being an excellent shot-stopper, but age has robbed him of a crucial step. It was a very disappointing season for the Dutch keeper.