Should Lloris fear Gazzaniga for his Tottenham starting spot?

A little over a year ago, Paulo Gazzaniga made his Tottenham debut. The Argentine’s arrival was met with little fanfare compared to his fellow summer captures and rumours were about that Spurs even delayed the announcement as, late last August, they geared up to confirm their first new signings of the window. 

Signing a perceived third choice goalkeeper was never going to grab the headlines, but in Gazzaniga, Spurs at least had a young shotstopper prepared to bide his time and wait for his chance to shine. At 26 years of age, Gazzaniga is very much in the infancy of his goalkeeping career such is the longevity of those in his position. 

When his chance came to prove his credentials, though, Gazzaniga didn’t let supporters down. Stepping in for the injured Hugo Lloris and the ill Michel Vorm, with Spurs unable to call upon the pair for the first time since November 2013, the north London side ground out a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Wembley. 

There was a rustiness to his performance, as early on he misjudged a cross and flattened Mamadou Sakho, while he was fortunate that Wilfried Zaha failed to hit the target after the Ivorian had rounded Gazzaniga. However, saves to deny Scott Dann, Luka Milivojevic and Andros Townsend, the latter a smart low stop to keep the former Spurs man from scoring, saw Gazzaniga come away from the London derby with a WhoScored rating of 7.52, the fourth best of all Spurs players. 

Fast forward to the present and not only is Gazzaniga firmly second choice in north London, but is pressing Hugo Lloris hard for a regular spot between the sticks. He started the 2-1 win over PSV due to Lloris’ suspension and did plenty right. Luuk de Jong’s header after 61 seconds was the worst possible way for Spurs to start, yet there was little the goalkeeper could do to deny the Dutchman from powering Gaston Pereiro’s header into the back of the net. 

The Uruguayan almost got his name on the scoresheet to double PSV’s advantage on the hour mark, but it was Gazzaniga who turned his header away. He then produced a superb close-range stop to Donyell Malen as the former Arsenal winger let fly with a powerful effort after Harry Kane had drawn Spurs level in what proved to be a game-changing stop. 

With the ball at his feet, too, Gazzaniga won admirers for his Cruyff turn as Hirving Lozano charged down the Spurs man. It was a risk to take, but one that paid off and the composure shown is one that the north London side have lacked in the past. That’s not to say that Gazzaniga isn’t prone to mistakes - in the 2013/14 Premier League season, for example, he committed more errors leading to an opposition goal (2) than he kept clean sheets (1) - but having matured since, his reliability in possession is exactly what Spurs need. 

There is no denying that Lloris is a fantastic shotstopper, yet his ability with the ball at his feet leaves little to the imagination. There have been times when he will look to play the ball out from the back, only to mess up a pass to the flanks that leaves Spurs under pressure. What was great to see about Gazzaniga on Tuesday was that, after leaving Lozano tackling thin air, the Spurs man didn’t panic and look to clear his lines as rapidly as possible, but instead bide his time to find a teammate that would allow the Premier League side to build another attack.  

That he did so at 1-0 down speaks volumes of his mental toughness and, while some may have panicked, Gazzaniga was composed enough to calmly play the ball out from the back. When called upon in the Premier League and Carabao Cup, he’s looked comfortable between the sticks and this resonates positively throughout the team. It’s no coincidence that Spurs are yet to lose when Gazzaniga starts in goal, from an admittedly small sample size of course. 

However, if Lloris believes his first team spot is sown up, then he may be in for a harsh wake up call. The form of Gazzaniga could given the Spurs captain a necessary shot in the arm, yet it’s the latter who has the strong ball skills that would allow him to operate, not only as a goalkeeper, but as an 11th outfielder to help Spurs dominate. 

Lloris is set to start Saturday’s visit to Crystal Palace and having impressed in his last London derby, a 1-0 win at West Ham, a similarly solid display is to be expected. The World Cup winner, though, can’t simply rest on his laurels now with Gazzaniga again impressing when called upon.