It's been suggested that an in-form Tottenham Hotspur star could actually end up costing manager Ange Postecoglou, despite his terrific performances.
Tottenham's star players – 2023/2024
The north Londoners are still unbeaten after a superb run of eight wins from their opening 10 top flight games – a start which has both thrilled supporters and taken critics by surprise. Postecoglou's arrival from Celtic in June was met with some skepticism at first, with the Australian possessing little experience in an elite division like the Premier League. However, the rejuvenation of Spurs has, thus far, put the doubts surrounding him to bed.
Tottenham look like a team transformed by barely recognisable from Antonio Conte's last season in charge. Both summer signing James Maddison and club legend Son Heung-min have formed a deadly partnership going forward, while centre-back duo Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are enjoying a rock-solid understanding at the heart of Postecoglou's defence.
The likes of Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie have also starred as Spurs' new regular inverted full-backs, and it's hard to really pick a weak link in this Lilywhites team, even though Richarlison has been criticised at points and some doubts surround his place in the starting eleven. However, one Tottenham ace who's stood out as somewhat of an unsung hero is new goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
The Italy international, who's started every single league game as Postecoglou's new first-choice shot-stopper, has made some crucial saves in big moments; with Vicario being praised by ESPN pundit Janusz Michallik recently.
“It’s easy to point at James Maddison, all the goals and how they’re scoring in so many different ways. But defensively what he’s done is even more impressive. They’re the second-best defensive team, look at Vicario, Google probably went down when Vicario came to London because nobody paid attention to who he was, but, today, we’re talking about Sanchez, Onana and Raya, here you have Vicario who is excellent."
Vicario could cost Ange at Spurs
Despite his sensational form since joining from Empoli in the summer, former Premier League star Mark Schwarzer now suggests that Vicario may not be the calibre of keeper to maintain Tottenham's place at the top of the table. Sharing his doubts over Vicario, BBC pundit Schwarzer explained to the Optus Sport Podcast this week:
“Look, I think he’s done really well, I really do. I think he’s done really, really well. I want to see how it goes on further into the season.
“I hold my hands up, yes, so far, he’s done well but there are still question marks in my head about whether or he is the right goalkeeper for them moving forward. At the moment yes, it’s all positive, all working fine for him. I’m not quite sure just yet, but he has had a good start to the season.”
The 27-year-old, who signed for Spurs to the tune of less than £20 million, is apparently making Tottenham very happy with his performances.
"Tottenham are very happy with Guglielmo Vicario and his impact with English football," said Fabrizio Romano on Vicario recently.
"Understand real fee invested by Spurs to sign Vicario from Empoli was €19m. Top signing."
