Eric Dier and Hugo Lloris have been a part of the core of Spurs’ best side in recent years which saw the club fail just short of silverware on two occasions, domestically and in Europe. The duo was vital for the 2015/16 Premier League second-place finish and the 2018/19 Champions League runners up place under ex-manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Captain Lloris notched up his 400th appearance for the club as Spurs won against league leaders Manchester City over the weekend. The Frenchman was in fine form against City, making a few crucial saves to ensure parity remained until Harry Kane’s winner in stoppage time.
Dier, who joined the club (in 2014) just 2 years after the Frenchman, was all in praise for Lloris’ performances over the years and his longevity within the team, leading them from the front.
The English defender found perhaps the aptest analogy to convey his thoughts on the captain’s career in north London as he compared Lloris to the fictional character Benjamin Button from the short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who ages in reverse.
Pulling out a HUGE save on his 400th Spurs appearance.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 20, 2022
👏 Our Captain.
🚘 @cinchuk pic.twitter.com/5u2hwTp82P
“I watched some clips of his saves over the years and it’s the way he reads players so well, he’s so strong one-on-one, his timing is so good, he moves his feet so well and he’s definitely not slowing down, hence the nickname,” in an interview published on the club’s website.
Lloris is in fact Tottenham’s record appearance maker in the Premier League with 321 caps. For the national team, only Lilian Thuram has more caps than the French goalkeeper (136) where he has had better luck with silverware having picked up a World Cup and a Nations League trophy.
After being made captain in the 2014/15 season, the 35-year-old is now very much a senior figure at the club in both age and rank but his recent performances are testimony to be fitting of Dier’s Hollywood comparison.
