Hugo Lloris - 'I'm not crazy' - but should he be?

Hugo Lloris has made the comment ‘je ne suis pas fou’ which I am reliably informed is translated into ‘I am not crazy’ in a recent interview in France. The reasoning behind his recent remarks comes in light of the fact he still remains on the bench for Tottenham, behind American veteran Brad Friedel.

After a reportedly average performance against Panathinaikos, with opinion spread over the quality of his play, he has been dealt more pressure on his plate. Hugo is a lot like Joe Hart in terms of ability and personality. Both are prone to the odd heart-stopping moment of indecision which most likely stems from their other unwavering quality, there self-belief.

But does Hugo need some of that ‘crazy’ that he might be missing in order to endear himself to the fans.

It seems a twisted logic but you only have to look at Joe Hart’s string of funny face pulling against Italy to see his outward eccentricity flowing, if you want more proof check out this video….

I am of course using the term crazy here as a means of describing eccentricity and not as a diluted and un-pc way to declare judgement on somebody’s sanity. There will be no mockery of Andy Goram’s schizophrenia and subsequent ‘Theres only two Andy Goram’ chants.

But the English game has had a love for the more ‘mad’ keepers over the years with a long list of goalies with more colourful personalities then a pair of Del Boy’s braces.

But the fact is that English football fans are probably more in love with the cliché then the truth which is, goalkeepers are not really mad at all.

We all remember Bruce Grobelaar, Jens Lehmann or Espen Baardsen, who quit football to travel the world and surf, as ‘mad’ keepers. But Espen Baardsen is now a fund manager for an asset management company, hardly the definition of eccentricity.

Pepe Reina seems to have his moments but the best keepers have always been the more stable one’s, Ray Clemence, Peter Shilton, Gordon Banks are keepers you would choose over the Schumacher, Campos and Rustu’s of the past.

The best keepers in the world right now are far more level headed and that is mirrored in the Premier League. Simon Mignolet, Asimir Begovic and Petr Cech for instance get the nod over David de Gea any day of the week.

So maybe it is the cliché that stands the test of time in this case, or should Hugo add a little madness to his game. I personally think that there are as little eccentric goalkeepers as there is Del Boy’s grasp on the Gallic language.

So are goalkeepers really mad? Or just another tired cliché? And share your memories of some of the world's most eccentric stoppers.

images: © LaertesCTB, © mr-football