‘Past his sell-by date’ – Graeme Souness slams Tottenham Hotspur’s Hugo Lloris following howler in Aston Villa loss

Graeme Souness has said Hugo Lloris is “past his sell-by date” following the goalkeeper’s blunder against Aston Villa that led to Emi Buendia’s opener.

Douglas Luiz scored a second 23 minutes later to seal a memorable win for Unai Emery’s side in north London as Spurs dropped more points following the Premier League’s return.

After the game, Souness called out Lloris for his howler and suggested that Spurs should move on from their 36-year-old captain who has been at the club since 2012.

“I’m not a fan of Lloris,” Souness said. “Since the start of last season, he has made four errors which have led to goals – that’s the worst record of any goalkeeper.
“He is past his sell-by date.”

The defeat saw Tottenham drop outside of the top four following Manchester United’s win against Wolverhampton Wanderers a day earlier.

Jamie Redknapp believes Spurs are a “long way away” from regaining their position in the Champions League spots, and urged Conte to demand signings in the January window.

“Options off the bench, I’m sure the manager after the game is going to try and get some numbers into the office – if he can – because that is not good enough from their point of view,” he said. “Brian Gil didn’t do enough on the ball, they look very short on numbers, and right now top four looks a long way away.”

Tottenham boss Antonio Conte blamed a lack of creativity for his side’s defeat, which Souness’ fellow panelist Redknapp agreed with.

“Spurs were crying out for creativity,” he said. “Without [Rodrigo] Bentancur, [Dejan] Kulusevski, you think ‘where is something going to come from?’

“They couldn’t string any passes together, unless Son [Heung-min] or [Harry] Kane did something special.”

Tottenham are next in action when they make the short trip to Crystal Palace on Wednesday.