Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris refused to comment on Antonio Conte’s criticism of the players but came close to echoing the former head coach’s comments by saying they “stopped making effort” in Monday night’s 1-1 draw at Everton.
Spurs began life without Conte in familiar fashion as they shipped a 90th-minute equaliser to draw with relegation-threatened Everton, blowing the chance to leapfrog Manchester United into third.
Michael Keane struck from 25 yards to cancel out Harry Kane’s penalty after Abdoulaye Doucoure had been sent off for striking the England captain and substitute Lucas Moura was also shown a straight red card for a rash late challenge on the Everton goalscorer.
It was Spurs’s first game since they conceded two late goals at Southampton to draw 3-3, prompting Conte’s furious denouncement of his players’ “spirit”, character and togetherness, and claim that they do not like playing “under pressure”.
Lloris refused to offer his views on Conte’s comments, but criticised Spurs’s game management at 1-0 up and with an extra man.
“When we were 1-0 up, 11 men against 10, there was a better way to manage the game,” said the goalkeeper, who returned to the side after a nine-game absence with a knee injury. “It’s the Premier League, you cannot drop intensity, you cannot drop effort.
“You cannot stop making effort, even if you already made a lot of effort until the end. It’s again proof that in Premier League anything can happen. Even if you’re 2-0 up, you have to keep this intensity and mentality until the end.
“The way we managed the end of the game should have been better, especially in possession. We could have kept them away from our goal with good pressure, but we started to drop as a team on the pitch. We dropped the intensity and the red card [for Lucas] didn’t help the situation.
“But if you look at the performance, [there were] a lot of positives. The only regret is that last 20 minutes. At 1-0 up, we have the legs and the quality to go for the second goal.”
Asked if Conte’s comments at St Mary’s were fair, Lloris said: “I have nothing to say about that, I’m only focused on the present and the future.
“The club took a decision, but it doesn’t matter who the manager is, all the players have to feel the responsibility when they wear the shirt. You have to do it first of all for yourself, then for the team, the people who work at the club, for the fans, for the club in general.
“But we are aware of the situation, we try our best. There is still nine games ahead of us. It’s going to be difficult for all teams involved and we have to finish strong. And the key is consistency.
“We have to forget about [what has gone in] the season. The first day was last night, a draw away against Everton, a difficult place to go. We have to show consistency until the end and win home games, this is key if we want to finish as high as we can.
“The next two home games [against Brighton and Bournemouth] are very important before we play the other challengers to fourth place.”
