Lloris: Trophies are the most important thing in football – it’s what you remember in retirement
Tottenham Hotspur captain Hugo Lloris has responded to his team’s double cup exit by underlining that trophies are more important than anything in football.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were dumped out of the League Cup and FA Cup in the space of four days after defeats to Chelsea and Crystal Palace at the end of January.
That leaves Spurs with two remaining major honours to aim for; the Champions League, where they will meet Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 this month, and the Premier League, where they occupy third place, seven points behind leaders Liverpool.
Goalkeeper Lloris, who skippered France to World Cup glory last summer, reiterated that silverware remains an important objective for his side despite the recent disappointments.
“We are all ambitious, we all try to do our best in every training session and game, but we have run after trophies,” he told Sky Sports.
“They are the most important thing in football - it's the only thing you remember when you retire.
“We are reducing the gap every season, coming closer, and the only way to go is to keep trying. Winning and losing changes the perception outside [the club], and sometimes inside.
"I think we can see the improvement of the club over the last few years. Tottenham has a great history in football, but it's not the type of club which used to win every season.
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"If you compare it with bigger institutions like Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern, Juventus, it's a different project."
Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.