Premier League 2019/20: Tottenham 2-1 Southampton - 5 Talking Points

#3 Playing out from the back remains a risky strategy

Hugo Lloris made a ridiculous error to gift Southampton their goal today

Southampton’s goal came from a simply ridiculous mistake from Hugo Lloris – there’s little more that can be said, really. Lloris collected the ball from a back-pass and had plenty of time to clear with his left foot, but instead he attempted an ill-advised pirouette-type move, stumbled and allowed the pressing Danny Ings to steal the ball and roll it into the empty net.

The French goalkeeper largely redeemed himself in the second half with a pair of fantastic saves from James Ward-Prowse and Maya Yoshida, but while anyone can make a mistake, the fact is that not only was this one completely avoidable, it also points to a wider trend in top-level football right now – the trend of playing out from the back going horribly wrong.

We’ve already seen huge mistakes from the likes of Sokratis (Arsenal) and Nicolas Otamendi (Manchester City) that have led to goals this season, and while nobody would deny that a team who play the ball out from the back with short passing rather than booting it up the field is more aesthetically pleasing, something surely has to be said for defenders and goalkeepers simply playing it safe and clearing their lines.

Tottenham fans will be praying their side don’t concede any more goals like the one they let in today, but with the rules of the game even seeming to encourage risky play at the back nowadays – thanks to the change in the goal kick rule – you can bet that Lloris’s howler will just be one of many that we see in 2019/20.