Taking care of goalkeepers at Chelsea, Christophe Lollichon is a French press favourite when it comes to all things Blues and, well, goalkeepers.
Already admitting he was talking to Alphone Aréola over the summer about a possible move to Stamford Bridge, the coach wasn’t impressed per se about the France number three’s performance against Germany on Thursday, it’s just what he expects of him.
In fact, speaking to Le Figaro on Friday, Lollichon even goes as far as saying the Paris Saint-Germain shot stopper is better than Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris.
He said: “I didn’t wait until Thursday to discover Alphonse. For me, he’s the best current French goalkeeper. He has all the characteristics to be France’s number one. The height, ability with ball in his feet, wingspan, his diving ability, footwork. He’s the most adapted to how they play.
“People live in a dream world when it comes to Lloris a bit too much, but for me Areola is above. Against Germany, he was positionally very good and in his ability to come out. It’s the basis of all goalkeepers, but not everyone does it well. He’s pro-active in his anticipation.”
Non-plussed by Areola’s saves, which many have claimed were excellent, Lollichon simply believes the goalkeeper was ‘just doing his job’, which he did ‘pretty much perfectly’.
Annoyed at seeing Paris Saint-Germain prioritise a 40-year-old, no matter how good he is, instead of giving their club-grown goalkeeper more opportunities, the Chelsea coach wants to see him play regularly, and finds goalkeeper rotation ‘ridiculous’.
It will be interesting to see if Maurizio Sarri gives Willy Caballero Europa League duties after this…
