Ange Postecoglou has hailed Guglielmo Vicario for the way he has settled into life at Tottenham, revealing that the goalkeeper has shown a tremendous desire to improve from the day he walked through the door.
Even though Vicario had been a standout performer in Serie A for Empoli over the last two seasons, he was a relative unknown to Premier League fans when he arrived at the club.
Some Spurs fans were not overly pleased with the signing, with many seeing it as the club taking the cheaper option rather than signing David Raya from Brentford.
However, the 26-year-old has hardly put a foot wrong since arriving at the club and has proven to be a great shot-stopper and reliable with the ball at his feet.
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 19: Guglielmo Vicario of Tottenham Hotspur celebrate during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on August 19, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
Why has Guglielmo Vicario been such a success?
Goalkeepers from Spain and Italy have sometimes not found it easy to settle into the Premier League and when Postecoglou was asked why Vicario is an exception to the rule, he told Football.London: “Hard for me to say.
“I sometimes think we stereotype people and I have been one who has been trying to break the notion that because a certain player or individual has come from a certain place that he will struggle.
“They are all individuals. That is why I have always recruited from different parts of the world and not worried about it.
“My Celtic experience of people saying that ‘players from Japan will find it hard to adjust’ and because I don’t look at it as a player from Japan and I don’t look at Vic as a goalkeeper from Italy.
“I saw Vic as a person, as a goalkeeper who had outstanding attributes. And after speaking to him as a person I thought that he will fit in perfectly because he did not come trying to prove a point. He came here to be the best goalkeeper he could possibly be.”
Postecoglou explained that Vicario is determined to improve on the training ground every single day and revealed that the new Spurs number has built a strong with the goalkeeping coach Rob Burch and the others at the club.
The Australian continued about the Italian: “He comes in every day wanting to improve and he has got great self-belief but at the same time a humility around him and he wants to work hard every day.
“He is in here every day and if we have a day off he is the one player who comes in to do something. And when you have people like that coupled with his attributes as a goalkeeper they give themselves a good chance be successful and to fit in comfortably. It is a great environment for him.
“Rob Burch has got a great relationship with him and that is very important for the position as it is the one position where that one-on-one relationship with the coach is important.
“That is the one question which Vic asked me before he signed was ‘who is the goalkeeping coach going to be’ as he knew that would be important.
“Rob has created a great environment. Vic has the fortune of training with guys like Fraser [Forster] who is unbelievable training, his attitude, work ethic, his quality, it will raise Vic’s quality as well.
“Young Brandon Austin is improving all the time. And he has got a legend of the club and one of the greatest goalkeepers ever beside him.
“A lot of it is being driven by him wanting to be better. When we signed him I was not looking at him as a risk as he was as a foreign goalkeeper, I don’t look it as that way.”
When asked if there was something in particular about Vicario that appealed to him, Postecoglou said: “No. It was kind of my priority was that if we were going to sign a keeper, then we need to do it early.
“We need to get him in pre-season so those kind of things. West Ham he conceded a couple of goals and he had no saves to make.
“To build confidence with goalkeepers you want to make saves but he worked through that process. That was really important for us. It would have been more of a challenge for us if we signed him on the eve of the season. The club was great in ensuring that we got him in early. That helped us.”
Spurs Web Opinion
There is no doubt that the club’s recruitment decisions this summer were spot on, with the likes of Maddison, Van de Ven and Vicario hitting the ground running.
However, that is also because of the kind of first-team environment that Ange has created, with the players evidently finding it easy to settle in.
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