Hugo Lloris has admitted that he has been impressed by what Ryan Mason has brought to the Tottenham set up in the short time he has been in charge and backed the interim boss to surprise his doubters.
Mason became the youngest coach in history to take charge of a Premier League game when he guided Tottenham to a 2-1 win against Southampton on Wednesday.
Lloris is almost five years older than Mason and is one of several players in the current squad who played with the former Spurs midfielder but the Frenchman revealed that the 29-year-old is ready to take on the big responsibility he has been handed.
The Tottenham captain told Football.London about the interim Spurs boss: “You would be surprised, you would be surprised. He’s ready. He knows exactly what to say to the players.
“He’s got the proximity to the players that’s helping him. Then it’s about the [team] leaders as well to show their leadership, but he’s got a real philosophy of football. It will surprise you.”
Lloris admitted that Mason wants the Lilywhites to play on the front foot as they did in the second half against the Saints on Wednesday.
The goalkeeper said: “Honestly if the club gives him this responsibility it’s because he’s got the confidence of people at the club. He’s got the club DNA.
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“Then he’s got the football approach he tried to bring to the team. I think in the second half [against Southampton], we saw a bit his way and his approach.”
It remains to be seen whether Daniel Levy’s gamble in sacking Mourinho and appointing Mason six days ahead of a cup final pays off but the squad was certainly in need of a lift and Lloris insisted that Mason’s arrival has injected some fresh energy.
The 34-year-old added: “Everything has happened so quick.
“We only had two days to prepare for the game against Southampton and now it’s going to be a short time to the final, but even with a short time, he gave us a team structure, a shape.
“He gave us his football approach. To be honest, he’s 29-years-old but he shows more maturity than that, and confidence.
“He transmits this good energy to the players. To be honest, I think the players have more responsibility than before and we have to perform better and better to finish as strongly as we can.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Many pundits have opined that we had a much better chance of beating City in a one-off game with Mourinho in charge than an inexperienced coach like Mason. However, the reality is that we have rolled over to any decent team we have played under Jose over the past three or four months.
Going by the various reports suggesting that the atmosphere in the Tottenham dressing room was toxic in the final few weeks under Mourinho, I believe we might have a better shot of beating City now than we did under Jose as Mason could bring the squad back together.
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