Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is proving to be a weak line for Tottenham
Tottenham Hotspur suffered a 1-0 defeat to fierce rivals Arsenal on Sunday, leaving head coach Ange Postecoglou in a spot of bother.
The Lilywhites have picked up just one win from their opening four Premier League games and remain in 13th place. Indeed, after a defeat to the Gunners, an inquest has started at Tottenham, and many players have attracted criticism from fans and pundits alike.
Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has been one of them. The Italy international hasn’t been anywhere close to his best version in recent weeks. He was, once again, exposed from a set-piece against Arsenal when the shot-stopper decided to stay in his line and not come off it to punch the corner kick via which Gabriel Magalhaes scored the header.
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Guglielmo Vicario cannot be blamed alone for Gabriel’s goal; Spurs defender Cristian Romero was equally culpable for getting shrugged off so easily by the Arsenal defender. Gabriel’s header turned out to be the difference in the end as Arsenal took home the bragging rights last weekend.
Former goalkeeper Shay Given thinks Vicario’s own teammates may have started viewing him as a weak link presently. Speaking on Premier League Productions, Given shared his verdict and what he thinks about the Tottenham No.1:
“Teams look at it now and they seem to recognize there’s a weakness with Vicario with high balls into the box.
“I think he has his own players now seeing it as a weakness, you have Maddison and another Tottenham player bringing them inside, he’s fighting his own players and the opposition players to get to the ball. He’s worried about the fight and forgetting about the ball.”
Given has hit the nail right on the head with his remarks on Vicario. The £75,000-per-week is a good shot-stopper and also decent with his distribution skills, but he has proven to be a liability from set-pieces. He was exposed from corners and free-kicks in his debut season in the Premier League, and Spurs fans thought the 27-year-old would work on those deficiencies and come back stronger this year.
However, Gabriel and Arsenal gave a timely reminder on Sunday that things have just not changed for Vicario. The Premier League is arguably the toughest league in the world where such issues will be exploited time and time again. The defensive structure, coupled with Vicario’s weakness in set-piece routines, will continue undermining Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs.
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If Big Ange and his coaching staff don’t address the glaring issues in terms of defending set plays, we will continue to get hurt by half-decent teams and struggle in the Premier League.
