• Premier League

Villas-Boas 'astonished' by Lloris criticism

ESPN staff
November 6, 2013
AVB: I made the decision

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas insists he is astonished by the reaction to the decision to allow goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to play on after being knocked unconscious.

Lloris briefly lost consciousness after colliding with striker Romelu Lukaku's knee late on in Spurs's 0-0 draw with Everton on Sunday.

Villas-Boas prepared Brad Friedel to replace the Frenchman but after consulting with the club's medical staff elected to allow Lloris to play on - a decision that has angered the Professional Footballers' Association, FIFA's chief medical officer and the FA chief executive as well as brain injury charity Headway.

"I stand by the decision I took and I stand by the decision made by my medical staff," said Villas-Boas. "They did everything by the book."

"A couple of people used this as an opportunity to get some publicity. They have no experience on the pitch of these situations.

Lloris later underwent a CT scan showing no signs of concussion, prompting Villas-Boas to insist that the collision was not as bad as it looked - but he did question whether or not Romelu Lukaku could have prevented it from happening.

"It is not comparable to NFL or rugby. It is not comparable to [Chelsea goalkeeper] Petr Cech. It astonishes me that it is trying to be put in the same mode as these situations.

"I don't want to question Lukaku because he is a good young player. But I think he could have jumped over Hugo."

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