In the days after Tottenham’s remarkable Champions League semi-final win over Ajax, Harry Kane emerged as the inspiration behind their comeback.
According to Kieran Trippier, Kane, who was injured on the night, stormed into the away dressing room at half-time “going mental” and helped to rouse his team-mates to a famous victory.
But Mauricio Pochettino later offered a different version of events, insisting it was another player who had the final word as the team headed back out, trailing 3-0 on aggregate.
Michel Vorm, who was there in Amsterdam, remembers it the same way as his then manager.
“We were done. This was the general feeling,” said Vorm. “And then Hugo Lloris stands up. I don’t remember his exact words but he lets you think, ‘Don’t give up’. He gives you hope.”
Pochettino’s desire to recognise Lloris’s role in the miracle of Amsterdam was connected to a feeling, which still persists at Spurs, that the Frenchman does not always get the credit he deserves, as a player and captain.
Lloris has not been immune to high-profile errors during his time at Spurs and he was at fault for both goals in last weekend’s 2-0 home defeat against Wolves. But he has been one of the most consistent keepers in the Premier League during his decade in England.
His new two-year contract will take him to 12 years at the club and there is little new to learn about Lloris the goalkeeper. But Lloris the leader remains more of a mystery, despite him captaining France to the 2018 World Cup, and Kane is still occasionally assumed to wear the armband for club as well as country.
Almost everyone who has played or worked with Lloris agrees he is a great captain, albeit without conforming to stereotypes.
“When people think of a captain, they think who wears the armband, shouts and puts people in their place. But with Hugo, it’s a different kind of captain,” said former team-mate Toby Alderweireld.
“He wasn’t saying a lot but when he said something people would listen. That’s a lot stronger than shouting.”
Intelligent, thoughtful and serious to the point of severe, Lloris chooses his words carefully. He can be ferocious and is not afraid to call out his team-mates, best demonstrated after Spurs’ 3-0 defeat by Dinamo Zagreb last season, when he labelled their performance “a disgrace”, or in his heated clash with Heung-min Son during a game against Everton in July 2020.
He can also be encouraging, self-critical and even funny, but he is rarely emotional.
“He’s always clear, and he always thinks before he speaks. What he says makes sense,” said Vorm, Lloris’s long-time understudy and briefly his coach. “Sometimes he was more aggressive, sometimes more calm. But he finds the balance always.”
Beneath a placid exterior, Lloris is an imposing figure. One member of Spurs’ staff said they would not be surprised to learn he had gone into politics after football, such is his gravitas.
“He’s humble but his personality is huge,” said Jesus Perez, Pochettino’s assistant. “From long distance, maybe it seems he’s not a big guy. But when you’re next to him [it’s different].”
Perez says Pochettino’s decision to name Lloris as permanent captain at the start of the 2015-16 season was “common sense” and he quickly became the bridge between the manager and his young squad, often relaying messages from Pochettino’s office to the dressing room. He grew in influence to the point where Pochettino effectively considered him part of his staff.
“You would see him in Mauricio’s office most days,” said Perez. “I’m not saying sacrificing his family but he was spending time with us when he could be at home. That gives you the meaning of the man, the meaning of the captain.”
When Lloris was arrested for drink-driving in 2018 and subsequently charged, there were conversations at boardroom level about stripping him of the armband, but sources say Pochettino never considered it an option.
Today, under Antonio Conte, Spurs have a young squad again and Lloris, the only over-30, takes his role of elder statesman seriously. He is not part of any cliques, flitting between groups within the squad and making a particular effort to assimilate new signings.
In Cristian Romero’s early weeks at the club, Lloris drove him to training every day. “He is a point of reference for the team and for the club,” Conte has said.
Lloris’s seriousness on the job is such that some members of staff have still never seen his lighter side but Vorm insists he can let his hair down.
“When he organised a BBQ or we played poker, he was always involved,” Vorm said. “He’s not the type who will speak a lot, even when we play poker, but he’s always there. He would organise things. He’s not a party animal but he tried to make sure when we needed it, a dinner or night out, he was always open.”
This season, Lloris surpassed Darren Anderton as the club’s record appearance maker in the Premier League and, for his colleagues, the best example of his mentality is his longevity for a Spurs side who have been up and down since he signed from Lyon in 2012.
“To perform with the consistency that Hugo is, while not playing for a top, top club, is remarkable,” said Perez. “He’s one of the greatest goalkeepers. It’s so difficult to be at his level for so long. Hugo was one of the biggest factors, at least for us, to be at the level we were.”
Alderweireld added: “It’s about the big moments. For example, the [Manchester] City game in the Champions League, [against Sergio] Aguero’s penalty. That’s something a real captain does — help the team when it’s in need.
“People underestimate it but a captain is always there for the club. You can shout as much as you want, throw your arms around like you care, but if you don’t perform it’s not the same. He always performs, he’s always there for the club, for 10 years.”
If Spurs are to end their long wait for a trophy, they will need characters such as Lloris — and surely there is no one at the club who deserves silverware more than the 35-year-old.
“He’s the captain of France who won the f*****g World Cup,” said Vorm. “But his ultimate dream is winning something with Tottenham. That also gives him an extra energy towards the group, towards himself to push more.”
