Opinion: Ange Postecoglou must not ignore the struggling form of one Tottenham star

Tottenham Hotspur have conceded plenty of cheap goals recently and Guglielmo Vicario has been responsible for a number of them – so is it time for Ange Postecoglou to take action?

Spurs have struggled in defence this season, conceding 57 Premier League goals, which is more than 14 other teams.

This poor defensive record looks unlikely to change before the end of the season, as Tottenham have only kept one clean sheet since February 2. This was in the pleasantly surprising 1-0 victory against Frankfurt in the Europa League.

No one player is responsible for such problems at the back, and injuries to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven certainly played a key role. The defenders have missed 27 and 30 games respectively during the current campaign. However, there is one player who has been particularly underwhelming in recent matches, causing Spurs to concede goals.

Guglielmo Vicario is in poor form for Tottenham

Guglielmo Vicario was at fault for two of the goals conceded in a 4-2 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers in mid-April. It could have been even worse, as the hosts missed a sitter, after he gave the ball away to Nelson Semedo in his own box.

A positive performance against Frankfurt was then followed by another poor league display against Nottingham Forest, as Vicario was largely responsible for both goals in the 2-1 home defeat.

There was little the Italian could have done when Spurs let in five goals against Liverpool at the end of April. However, his shaky distribution caused his team unnecessary problems. His passing accuracy was 66 per cent that day, while only five of his 16 long balls were accurate.

Next up, Vicario conceded from the first shot on target he faced against Bodø/Glimt, before allowing Jarrod Bowen to score through his legs when Spurs drew with West Ham last weekend.

According to Sofascore, Vicario has a negative figure for goals prevented in seven of his past eight starts. This means he has conceded more goals than expected, with the quality of shots taken into consideration. Essentially, he is allowing opposition shots that he is expected to save to turn into conceded goals.

Spurs have backup options in Brandon Austin and Antonin Kinsky

Antonin Kinsky has been the goalkeeper on Tottenham’s bench in recent weeks and the youngster has already shown potential. His performances were not perfect, as he often kept the ball at his feet too long and made some handling errors. However, there were signs Kinsky could be a solid Spurs goalkeeper in the future.

Then there is Brandon Austin, who played well a few months ago when he filled in for the injured Vicario and Fraser Forster. He looked full of confidence at set pieces on his debut against Newcastle United, winning 100 per cent of his aerial duels.

The 26-year-old then prevented 0.87 goals in the Europa League against Hoffenheim. After this, he kept a clean sheet against Elfsborg, although in fairness, the Swedish team failed to land a shot on target.

Ange Postecoglou should give his backups a chance to play for Spurs

Ange Postecoglou described Austin as ‘great’ after his January debut against Newcastle United. He said: “Really good. The moments we are going through putting big tasks on players and they’re rising to occasion. The performance deserved a victory.”

Postecoglou had nothing but good things to say about Austin when he played and he seemed pleased with Kinsky too. With this being the case, it makes no sense for either shot-stopper to be continuously left out of Tottenham’s starting lineups when Vicario has been off the mark.

Forster was playing well when he was called on a few months ago, but he has been left out of the Tottenham first-team squad due to some major errors he made. Why is Vicario not being held to the same standard? Just because a player is signed to be a regular starter, does not mean they should play every game, regardless of form.

Spurs have nothing left to play for in the league, except to restore some dignity, so there is no harm in giving Austin or Kinsky a game each. Ultimately, Vicario should not continue to be one of the first names on the team sheet when he continues to disappoint. He is a good goalkeeper on his day, but it has not been his day in weeks.

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