Postecoglou responds to Lloris’ criticism of Tottenham in new book | OneFootball

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has defended the club following criticism from former captain Hugo Lloris in his new book.

Lloris suggested Tottenham were happy to be second best during his time at the club, claiming chairman Daniel Levy gifted the players watches with “Champions League finalists” engraved before they had even faced Liverpool in 2019.

“Who does such a thing at a moment like this?” Lloris said. “I still haven’t got over it, and I’m not alone. If we’d won, he wouldn’t have asked for the watches back to have “Winner” engraved instead.”

Postecoglou took over at Tottenham in 2023 and managed Lloris before he was sold to MLS side LAFC, and says it is important to put Lloris’ comments in context.

He said: “I haven’t read what Hugo’s said, it’s been mentioned to me. I think with these things you’ve got to put context around them and understand the broader view and that could have been a very successful period for the club.

“They came very, very close. You’re talking about finishing runners-up in the Premier League and runners-up in the Champions League. It could have been a very different era and maybe in retrospect you’ll be looking at those things.

“It’s easy to focus on the negatives when the outcome is not what you want but there’s obviously a lot right at the time.

“From my perspective I’ve never allowed anyone else to dictate my ambitions, my aims, or what I try and do with everyone around me is you don’t put a limit on what you can achieve because if you do you potentially might miss something that comes along your way.”