Vicario criticised after Tottenham’s stalemate at Leicester

Tottenham failed to secure all three points in their first Premier League outing of the season as Jamie Vardy’s header nullified Pedro Porro’s first-half opener at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes had a couple of chances to win in the second half. Vardy had a left-footed shot saved shortly after his equaliser while a stoppage-time error from Lucas Bergvall needed Guglielmo Vicario to intervene in order to thwart Wilfred Ndidi from snatching all three points.

Just after the ball went out of play, the goalkeeper gave the teenager a mouthful which was not well looked at by a number of fans and pundits. Jamie O’Hara, formerly a Tottenham player, was especially critical of the Italian as The Sun quoted him saying:

“I really liked Lucas Bergvall when he came on, he was really bright and really comfortable on the ball. “I’m really annoyed with Guglielmo Vicario, because of the way he dug Bergvall out when he gave the ball away and conceded that chance. Not one Spurs player was showing for it. The way he came out, all guns blazing, shouting at the young lad – that’s bang out of order! Vicario is meant to be a leader, but he wasn’t shouting at Christian Romero when he left Jamie Vardy free in the six yard box for a free header.”

Ange Postecoglou was quick to defend Vicario when asked about his actions towards Bergvall and insisted that the goalkeeper is a part of the first team’s leadership group.

The Australian’s comments show that the 27-year-old has been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring law and order on the pitch. Moreover, O’Hara has overlooked the fact that some things happen on the pitch in the heat of the moment, not least a verbal confrontation when a chance is easily conceded in the latter stages of a game.

There are bound to be contrasting opinions regarding the goalkeeper’s actions towards the Swedish teenager but the most important thing is that the duo puts the matter behind them and focuses on the next task at hand – which is a home meeting against Everton on Saturday.

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If Spurs beat the Toffees convincingly, Vicario’s berating of Bergvall will immediately be a forgotten matter and the reaction would shift to the team’s latest result.