Benching will ‘kill’ Guglielmo Vicario as Tottenham coach slammed over more errors
Thomas Frank will have to make one of the hardest decisions there is over whether to bench Guglielmo Vicario at Tottenham, says Alan Pardew.
Vicario was at fault for both of Callum Hudson-Odoi’s goals as Tottenham lost 3-0 at Nottingham Forest on Sunday to erase the momentum built up by domestic and European wins in the past week.
During the home defeat by Fulham a fortnight ago Vicario also made a major error for Harry Wilson’s goal, after which the Italian was booed by Spurs fans during the game.
But Pardew is hesitant to suggest the Tottenham keeper should be taken out of the line up because it is so much more significant than making a change at other positions.
Pardew blames goalkeeping coach for Vicario error
Ex-Newcastle boss Pardew, speaking live on talkSPORT, partially absolved Vicario of blame for the opener as he put Archie Gray more at fault for being dispossessed by Ibrahim Sangare after a pass out from the keeper, but was highly critical for the second when Hudson-Odoi’s cross sailed straight into the net.
But he did say Vicario still had issues with the first goal: “I still think the selection of the pass and the momentum of the pass was such that made it difficult for him, so 30 percent [of the blame] to the goalie and 70 percent to the boy, I’m afraid.”
For the second he added: “If I was on the sideline and I was the manager I would have gone, my head would have spun round and looked straight at the goalkeeper coach and blamed it on him… because there’s no-one going across the flight of the ball at any pace. It’s not like he’s been distracted by players getting in his vision and they’re coming across him. He literally has a clear view of it… he has to carry the can for that.”
But held back from saying the Spurs keeper needed to he dropped: “It’s one of the hardest decisions you can make as a manager because it kills the keeper, it actually kills him in terms of his confidence.”
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Vicario could get Thomas Frank sacked
Pardew is obviously right that dropping a keeper comes with far more stigma than other players who can be rested without much of a dent to their self-esteem.
But clearly the Italian is struggling at the moment and if he keeps being involved in incidents that contribute to losses then there may be no other option.
Frank was always going to have a difficult job taking over from Ange Postecoglou when the Australian’s 17th-placed finish showed this squad has issues, and the Europa League triumph arguably clouded that.
But Postecoglou was sacked for his league form, and the Dane is now racking up losses in a similar way so he risks being sacked himself if he shows too much loyalty to Vicario.
Antonin Kinsky is supposed to be the man for the future, and the changeover has to come at some point, so on current evidence that point may need to be sooner rather than later.
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