Jeff Stelling and Clive Allen blown away by ‘brilliant’ Guglielmo Vicario for Tottenham v Newcastle United
After a disappointing couple of weeks in North London, Tottenham Hotspur managed to get their season back up and running with an excellent 4-1 win over Newcastle United on Sunday 10 December.
A brace from Richarlison partnered with a goal apiece for Destiny Udogie and Son Heung-Min ensured that Ange Postecoglou’s side brought an end to their five-match winless run in impressive style at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
While the attacking talent in Spurs’ ranks stole most of the plaudits for their electric performances, Clive Allen and talkSPORT presenter Jeff Stelling were eager to praise the contributions from the backline, in particular Guglielmo Vicario.
Speaking on talkSPORT (11 December, 6:38) Allen said: “I wasn’t convinced at the start I have to say, there was just a little bit of unease in the way he started, but I think he’s grown in confidence.
“I think he’s commanding of his penalty box which you always need in a goalkeeper. His starting position is very good and his shot-stopping has been second to none. He’s been a massive find I have to say.”
Stelling agreed saying: “You know what’s impressed me the most about him Clive is that when he was in Italy, he never really played for a big club but he’s stepped into that position at that big club and he’s done it as if he’s been playing at big clubs all of his life, he’s been brilliant.”
The Italian stopper didn’t have the busiest of games against Newcastle on Sunday, with Eddie Howe’s side only having nine shots in the entirety of the match and only three of those hit the target to test Vicario between the posts [Fotmob].
Vicario was able to save two of those efforts well but was unable to deny Joelinton’s stoppage-time effort. The Brazilian’s effort from the edge of the penalty area only carried an xG of 0.19, but considering how it was struck, the 27-year-old can’t be criticised for not keeping it out.
Across the three shots, he faced in the match, Vicario faced an expected goals on target of 1.05, so marginally overperformed by only conceding once in the entirety of the clash.
That has been a trend across the Tottenham keeper’s season so far, where he has repeatedly allowed far fewer goals than he should have considering the chances he concedes.
When compared to other Premier League keepers, he places in the 98th percentile for the biggest difference between the expected goals he’s faced and goals allowed (PSxG-GA), meaning he’s been in the top two per cent of the division’s shot stoppers [Fbref].
In comparison, Hugo Lloris last season placed in the 52nd percentile of Premier League keepers for his PSxG-Ga, meaning he was conceding 0.09 more goals a match than he should have based on the xG he faced.
On top of his shot-stopping, Allen is correct to praise Vicario’s ability as a sweeper keeper as very few goalkeepers make more actions outside of their penalty area. The 27-year-old makes an average of 2.5 defensive actions outside his box a game, more than 97 per cent of the division’s keepers.
With the ball at his feet, the Italian stopper impressed, completing 79 per cent of 29 attempted passes, including seven of his 13 long-range efforts which is a huge improvement from some of his other performances this season.
Vicario doesn’t tend to look long when he has the ball at his feet, “launching” 7.5 passes a match, but his completion rate has sat at a poor 23.3 per cent so far this season, so his 54 per cent performance against Newcastle was impressive.
If Tottenham have genuine ambitions of finishing in the top four this season, having a consistent number one between the posts will be key to those ambitions. It seems Spurs now have a world-class number nine again.
In other Tottenham news, Pedro Porro left Alan Shearer stunned with his “wonderful” performance against West Ham United