Patrice Evra admitted that he was bemused by Antonio Conte’s decision to leave Hugo Lloris on the bench and start Fraser Forster for the clash against Brentford.
Conte was without the injured Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Moura and Richarlison for the trip to the Brentford Community Stadium while Cristian Romero had not joined up with the squad following Argentina’s World Cup win.
Lloris, who was also involved in the final in Qatar, did make the trip but he was left on the bench, with Forster making his first Premier League start for Spurs.
The game took up a familiar pattern to what we have seen from Conte’s men so far this season, with the Lilywhites going two goals down before fighting back in the last 30 minutes to salvage a draw, courtesy of goals from Harry Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Evra has questioned why Conte did not start Lloris if the Spurs captain travelled to Brentford with the squad.
The former Manchester United left-back told Amazon Prime Sport (26/12/22 from 12:00 onwards): “I would like to know whose decision it is for Hugo Lloris not to play. He is a goalkeeper, no matter if he’s been affected emotionally (by France’s World Cup final defeat).
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“I am surprised he’s not in the starting XI. I think it will be Conte’s (decision), but he is also the captain. They must have talked with each other.
“And why is he on the bench? Why didn’t you leave him at home if you really want him to recover? But he is still part of it, with the team, in training and in the hotel. Why isn’t he starting?”
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I think Conte not only wanted to give Lloris an extra few days to recover emotionally from the loss in the final but also wanted to reward Forster for his work during the past couple of weeks. One cannot say that the decision backfired as the former Southampton man was not at fault for either goal.
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