Pundit Thomas Sorensen, in a discussion with Mark Schwarzer, has named Tottenham Hotspur goalie Guglielmo Vicario in his Premier League team of the season.
Vicario established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the Serie A over the past couple of seasons. Understandably, he garnered interest from Italian giants like Juventus and Inter Milan (Michael Bridge – LWOS).
However, it came as a huge surprise to everyone when Tottenham struck a £17m deal for the 27-year-old relatively unknown commodity, in terms of English football. It is fair to say that he is already proving to be a bargain.
Journalist Danny Kelly, in an interview with The View From the Lane podcast revealed that several Serie A clubs were plotting moves for Vicario in the summer and were left shocked when Tottenham swooped for the goalkeeper.
In 12 Premier League games for Tottenham so far, Vicario has conceded 15 goals and kept four clean sheets.
To give some perspective, six of those goals have come in the last two games against Chelsea and Wolves. Against the Blues, Spurs were down to 10 men and against Wolves, they had three of their first-choice defenders missing through injuries or suspension (Transfermarkt).
Vicario is already proving his doubters wrong
Discussing on The Optus Sport Football Podcast, Sorensen claimed that it was a tough decision to choose between Alisson Becker and Vicario but he would have to go with the latter.
“I think for me it was between [Alisson] Becker and Vicario. You look at the stats as well. Firstly, you look at the eye test and I think they’ve both passed it and then the stats back it up as well. So, you can pick either. I think they both deserve to be in there.”
“You know I picked Vicario because it’s always difficult to come into a new league. We’ve seen how other goalkeepers have struggled, Alisson Becker is just consistent so just for a little bit of new spice I’ve picked Vicario.”
Schwarzer also admitted that he did not see this coming from the Italian goalkeeper, when Spurs first signed him.
“You know, I’ve eaten my words already, I’m going to eat them again. I wasn’t sure about Vicario, but I put him in my team so far as well.”
Spurs Web Opinion
We seem to have struck goal with Vicario. His performances have been a joy to watch and despite conceding four goals against Chelsea, the show that he put on that night earned him a place in our hearts for a long time.
The signing of Vicario also shows us our strength and connections in the Italian market and Serie A. Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Cristian Romero and Vicario are all thriving. We must look to exploit this opportunity more going forward.