Tottenham gamble backfires as they face up to Guglielmo Vicario injury nightmare

Guglielmo Vicario was outstanding successful Tottenham's 4-0 triumph astatine Manchester City connected Saturday, making a drawstring of good saves to gain Ange Postecoglou's broadside a uncommon cleanable expanse and assistance condemn the champions to their biggest-ever decision astatine the Etihad.

The 28-year-old Italian needed attraction aft landing awkwardly successful a situation with Savinho but felt capable to play on, and it was not until aft the crippled that his ankle swelled up painfully. Spurs and Vicario were amazed erstwhile a scan connected Sunday revealed a breached bone.

The quality is thing abbreviated of a catastrophe for Spurs, taking the radiance disconnected their landmark triumph implicit City, which has changed perceptions of what mightiness beryllium imaginable for Postecoglou's broadside this season.

Postecoglou volition present person to trust connected seasoned Fraser Forster, astatine slightest until January erstwhile the nine could motion a caller goalkeeper.

Vicario is not conscionable a superb shot-stopper, helium is the starting constituent for Spurs' full game-plan nether Postecoglou, which relies connected high-risk short-passes from the goalkeeper to bait the absorption press, and a goalkeeper susceptible of sweeping up down the precocious antiaircraft line.

Postecoglou demands his goalkeeper plays abbreviated successful astir each script and Vicario's velocity of thought, prime connected the shot and gait disconnected his enactment are important to Spurs' approach.

"It's portion of the mode we privation to play our football," Postecoglou said successful October, erstwhile asked wherefore his broadside astir ne'er play long. "The shorter walk means you're going to commencement disconnected with possession. We don't privation to springiness distant possession.

"The benignant of squad we are, we privation to acceptable things up truthful we person power of the crippled and the shorter walk guarantees that and from determination you determination your mode forward.

"A large portion of our physique up play is to manipulate oppositions arsenic overmuch arsenic we tin arsenic we determination up the parkland alternatively than spell agelong to a contested shot and anticipation we get the 2nd ball. We're conscionable not that benignant of team."

Forster is lone 36 but helium belongs to a antithetic procreation of English goalkeepers, for whom playing retired from the backmost was little valued than shot-stopping and being a commanding beingness successful the box.

It is doubtful if Tottenham's build-up play tin beryllium arsenic effectual arsenic it was against City with the erstwhile England planetary betwixt the sticks, and 2 of Forster's 3 appearances this play - the triumph implicit Coventry successful the Carabao Cup and decision to Galatasaray - person been jittery affairs.

He did, however, support a cleanable expanse against AZ Alkmaar successful the Europa League, making 3 astute saves and proving speedy disconnected his line.

The anticipation for Spurs is that nether Postecoglou's guidance, Forster tin replicate Vicario's occurrence astatine playing retired and even, perhaps, beryllium a much ascendant beingness successful his six-yard box, peculiarly astatine set-pieces.

Joe Hart, whose superb vocation has astir been defined by City caput manager Pep Guardiola deciding helium was not bully capable with his feet, has revealed that Postecoglou wholly changed his cognition of playing retired from backmost aft the erstwhile England No.1 joined him astatine Celtic successful 2021.

"Ange Postecoglou blew my mind," Hart told BBC Radio 5-Live successful an interrogation this month.

"I ever thought, 'play retired from the back, ohio my god, does that mean that I request to bash Cruyff turns, prime passes?'

"No, it doesn't. It means that I request to basal connected the ball, I request to marque definite that my centre-halves are either broadside of me, my six is showing, and past if the abstraction is being created, I'm not playing retired for the involvement of playing out, I'm playing retired to score.

"If that afloat property comes and each I spot is absorption players stood adjacent to mine, I'm giving that clarity successful my caput that there's a small dinked shot into the striker's chest."

Forster is simply a likeable and dependable character, good respected by everyone astatine Spurs, and if helium tin rise his crippled and successfully accommodate his attack similar Hart, Postecoglou's broadside volition anticipation to proceed improving until they tin motion a caller goalkeeper oregon Vicario returns.

Postecoglou was prescient capable to registry Forster for the Europa League, alternatively opting to omit full-back Djed Spence from his squad, meaning helium volition travel consecutive into the broadside for Thursday's sojourn of Roma earlier making his archetypal Premier League quality since May 2023 against Fulham connected Sunday.

But it ever felt similar a hazard for Spurs not to motion genuine contention for Vicario successful the summertime and, with his semipermanent injury, their gamble has present backfired.