Judging by Ange’s words the other day, I don’t think we’ll be seeing him for quite some time. More or less told journalists to stop asking about his situation as there isn’t any updates, could be wrong but that feels like it’s still potentially months more so than days/ weeks away.
He was excellent yesterday, I think some of the criticism he’s received has been a tad harsh anyway. His only real weaknesses in my opinion are playing it out from the back (I mean he’s better than Lloris at that but who isn’t?) and commanding his area in set pierces. The first weakness is more down to the system, the second is on him.
Playing out from the back and commanding the area are important things in the system and the PL though. Like Dragusin, I think the club signed the wrong type of player for the manager.
I get that to some degree, although from the comments he has consistently made about Davies I don't think he was either wanting or expecting his departure this season.
please log in to view this image Probably explains why playing out from the keeper is an essential skill for anyone in our system. We definitely need to address that with some competition in that position in January or the summer.
For me, all the criticism of our players by fans is disappointing. It is as well to remember that we have a young squad in the early days of their development at this level. I tend not to critique individual players because in my view football is a team game. Players are dependent on their teammates. No player can perform at their best unless the team works to their advantage. @KingHotspur is pointing that out when he talks about Dragusin or Vicario not fitting Ange's system. I don't share his view (yet) but I agree with the concept that players need to fit teams and vice versa. I am still extremely excited by what Ange is trying to do and very much hope he succeeds. I hope that fans will support him and give him the time he needs to see it through. I do believe we have the best group of young players I have seen at Spurs in years. I am reminded of the two great Man. United teams under Busby and Fergusson and how they started. Yes for sure I maybe overly optimistic but Spurs are now once again capable of playing at the very top and there is no reason why this young team cannot go on to achieve great things.
I'm not going to reopen that can of worms, but I'm going to guess that they'd claim it's distorted by fixtures and red cards. 85% long kicks still seems like it's too much to not be part of their normal system, though. I'd guess it would be lower but still substantial.
Commanding the area I’m not sure is a definite pre-requisite even if we do need him to improve on it but ultimately all keepers in football will have some form of weakness barring the few elite. I think he’s saved us far more than he’s cost us since joining and that’s generally the sign of a decent keeper. We could definitely do with some competition for him though.
I'm struggling to see skills that Hugo was any better at the age of 26. Both have pretty dodgy kicking. Hugo also wasn't the best at commanding his area, albeit he didn't play in an era when it was apparently totally fine to assault the keeper at set pieces. I rate them roughly equal in shot-stopping and Vicario the superior 'sweeper keeper'.
I do think Vic is better with the ball at his feet. Distribution has felt more reliable. It’s his decision making, both with the ball at feet, and when commanding his box, that I think needs improvement.
They had/ have similar weaknesses but I think Hugo was a far better keeper in his pomp, think we were very lucky to have had him in his prime. Way better sweeper keeper than Vicario too, he was absolutely rapid off of his line. I think back in the day the stattos had Lloris as something like the 4th or 5th best keeper in Europe over a number of years. I like Vicario but he probably wouldn’t make the top 15 at present in my opinion. Even in games like FIFA or FM, Hugo was regularly regarded as one of the top keepers in them during his best years.
But the options Spurs had weren’t just Lloris or Vicario. Had the whole world to choose from but Ange wanted Vicario for non footballing reasons it seems.
Vicario is better at his near post, that was Hugo's achilles heel in my opinion but I always thought Hugo had that aura that a really good keeper should have, Vicario is OK better than Walker on a par with Robbo? Way behind Jennings and Clemence.
Call that assault!! I played in an era when it was OK to barge keeper and ball over the line for a goal,or knock the keeper to the ground dislodge the ball from his grip and score Proper assault!
Apparently he trained on grass at the training ground today. Doubt he would be training at all if it was a mental issue.
