Guglielmo Vicario slammed on BBC after what he did v Arsenal, Tottenham have ‘massive problem’
Tottenham have been told they have a “massive problem” unless Guglielmo Vicario improves at set-pieces after another error against Arsenal.
That is the verdict of BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton, and he has a point on the basis of Sunday’s (28 April) North London derby.
Vicario struggled to deal with a corner swung into the box as Arsenal raced into a three-goal first-half lead in an eventual 3-2 victory.
The Italy international’s struggles in that department have been highlighted for a while now, but no improvement appears to have been made.
Guglielmo Vicario exposed by Arsenal
With Ange Postecoglou playing down Spurs’ set-piece struggles after the Arsenal loss, the manager has to take his share of the blame.
The stats do not paint a great picture for Vicario. As per FBref, he stops just 6.2 per cent of crosses into the box – collected or otherwise.
For context, that sees him ranked 14th among Premier League goalkeepers, with Arsenal’s David Raya topping the list on 12 per cent.
That means Raya collects pretty much double the number of crosses than Vicario, so clearly something is not right in that regard.
Vicario’s strengths lie in other areas, of course, with his 2.06 defensive actions per 90 outside the box bettered only by Jason Steele (2.50).
Spurs like to play the ball out under Postecoglou, which is again reflected in the stats as Vicario launches just 15.6 per cent of his goal-kicks.
Only Bart Verbruggen (9.1 per cent) goes long from fewer goal-kicks, so Vicario is clearly sticking to what he has been told by Postecoglou.
When he does go long, Vicario’s 18-per-cent pass-completion rate in the opposition half is not the greatest [Sofascore].
Tottenham need to bounce back from Arsenal setback
There are no complaints with regards to the former Empoli stopper’s distribution on the whole, nor his shot-stopping ability.
Vicario’s 67.6 save-percentage rate in the Premier League is only the 13th highest, as is his 18.2-per-cent clean sheet rate.
However, it is his inability to take command of his box from set-pieces that causes the most concern, as mentioned by Sutton.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Monday Night Club [29 April, 42m 29s], Sutton said: “I think the goalkeeper is a problem.
“He’s a goalkeeper who we’ve all given praise to for the way he plays out from the back and the way that he sweeps.
“But I do think that teams like Arsenal will do their homework and target Vicario. There was one particular game that he got found out.
“That information will get passed around by coaches. I just think that’s a massive problem if teams know your goalkeeper is vulnerable.”
As with pretty much any player, Vicario has his strengths and he has his weaknesses. The problem with keepers is that the mistakes are more prone to being exposed.
When you concede three goals from an opposition xG of 0.94 [Fotmob], in a game in which he made just one save – albeit an impressive one – you know that is not sustainable if Spurs are going to finish in the top four.
Postecoglou can play things down all he wants, but Spurs need their number one to be more commanding if teams are to stop exposing him.
In other Tottenham news, a pundit has urged the club to sell a regular this summer after what happened against Arsenal.
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