Hugo Lloris has claimed that Marcus Edwards’ ability was apparent when he trained with the Tottenham first-team as a teenager.
Edwards proved a handful for the Tottenham defence on Tuesday and was only denied a wondergoal by a quick reaction save from Lloris towards the end of the first half.
Jack Pitt-Brooke said on The Athletic Football Podcast this week that those at Spurs did not think the winger was capable of reaching the level he has, just three years on from leaving the club.
However, Lloris insisted that he is not surprised at the Tottenham academy graduate’s development.
The Spurs captain told Football.London about Edwards: “Yeah [he’s blossomed]. He’s more mature. He’s 23 years old now. It was the same quality that we could see a few years ago when he trained with the first team.
“He has the profile to play in that type of team, in that type of league, but obviously, if he continues in the same way, he will have a bright future.”
Lloris remarked that Tottenham should have held on for a draw at the Jose Alvalade Stadium and admitted that conceding from a set-piece late in the game was a bitter pill to swallow.
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He said about Tottenham’s 2-0 loss: “In the last few moments of the game, I believe that if you cannot win the game you do everything to not lose it.
“From this corner, we have to focus to not concede this goal. There were some moments we managed well the game, other moments they had good chances. It was a Champions League game and in the end, there is a lot of regret because we could have got something.
“We expected a tough game. We knew it was a difficult place to play. I think we lacked a bit of aggressiveness in the last third.
“We managed quite well the ball but I think even if they were well organised, at some moments in the game we could have pushed a little bit more to get the goal.
“But as I said, when you cannot win, you don’t have to lose the game, especially on set-pieces in the last minute of the game. That’s a bit painful.”
The Frenchman insisted that he and his teammates will take important lessons from the loss on Tuesday, which was their first defeat of the campaign so far.
He said: “Yes, it’s a kind of reminder. Every team, every player, they play at their best in this competition, as we saw from the Sporting players. They had a great team performance.
“I believe that if you leave the opponent alive, at one point they will have a chance to get a goal. We’ll have expected more in transitions, in counter-attacks, on set-pieces.
“We knew they used to kick the ball in that part of the box, but we will analyse. Now we focus on the recovery and finish the week in a better way.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Edwards certainly proved a point to his former employers with his display on Tuesday. However, there is no need for Spurs to panic.
There were positives to take from the second-half performance and hopefully, the defeat will serve as a reminder to the players to not get complacent and retain their focus until the final whistle.
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