Former Tottenham Hotspur star Hugo Lloris has opened up on Daniel Levy’s shocking move in the build-up to the 2019 Champions League final.
Spurs enjoyed an exceptional run to the final, squaring off with Liverpool in an all-Premier League continental showpiece.
They came agonisingly close to ending their trophy drought and winning their first-ever European trophy but fell to a deflating 2-0 defeat.
Mohamed Salah netted a penalty after just two minutes, breaking the spirit of Mauricio Pochettino’s side, then Divock Origi wrapped up the win for Liverpool with a last-minute strike.
Lloris, who was part of the France squad that won the World Cup a year earlier, rued the early penalty that set the tone for the rest of the match.
However, that wasn’t the only thing that shocked the Frenchman in that period.
He narrated (via The Guardian) how the club seemed to have settled for second place even before the ball was kicked, with Levy distributing a runners-up gift ahead of the final.
Lloris said: “Four days before the final, Daniel Levy called us all together to announce that, with the support of a sponsor, we would each receive a luxury aviator watch from the club.
“At first, we were excited to see the elegant boxes. Then we opened them and discovered that he’d had the back of each timepiece engraved with the player’s name and “Champions League Finalist 2019”.
“Finalist.” Who does such a thing at a moment like this? I still haven’t got over it, and I’m not alone. If we’d won, he wouldn’t have asked for the watches back to have “Winner” engraved instead.”
Levy’s move sums up Tottenham’s flawed culture
Levy’s move epitomises everything wrong with the culture at Tottenham, and it’s unsurprising that they’ve failed to end their trophy drought five years down the line.
They’ve hired some of the best coaches in the game, but not even serial winners like Jose Mourinho – who was fired days before a League Cup final – and Antonio Conte were able to make any telling difference at the club.
Managers have lamented the club’s hesitance to fully commit to what it takes to be a trophy-winning team.
Tottenham are more concerned about maintaining financial stability and a top-four finish rather than taking risks to win trophies, and it all points to Levy’s flawed leadership.
Ange Postecoglou is the latest head coach tasked with achieving the bare minimum, but the Australian has set a higher target for himself.
He has a history of winning trophies in his second year at previous clubs and is eager to repeat that success at Tottenham.
However, he’s more likely to become the latest manager to be swallowed up by Tottenham’s flawed culture, joining the list of impressive tacticians who were failed by the club’s lack of ambition.
