Once again, Tottenham Hotspur suffered a humiliating defeat, and although the one a couple of weeks ago to bitter rivals Arsenal was the worst of the season, this latest loss to Nottingham Forest was honestly quite close.
Forest have fired two Tottenham reject managers in Ange Postecoglou and Nuno Espirito Santo this season, hiring relegation specialist Sean Dyche, a literal walking meme at this point, as their manager. And the anti tactical journeyman coach pretty much put on a technical masterclass against Thomas Frank, who joined Spurs this summer as a supposed tactical genius.
Frank bears the most blame for another embarrassing display, as Spurs lost 3-0 to one of the worst teams in the Premier League this season. And yet, you cannot tell the story of this game fully without highlighting several culpable parties among the players, including goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Guglielmo Vicario is losing Spurs more points
Just like the Fulham game a couple of weeks ago, Vicario had Spurs losing before the game even truly began. His awful error on the ball, a pass to young midfielder Archie Gray that never should have been made, completely left his teammate out to dry and put Tottenham in a hole early.
Several times this season now, Vicario has helped Spurs lose a game to an inferior opponent by making an inexcusable error early in the match to seal defeat for his team. There have been more games in which Vicario has lost point for Spurs than he's won points, and although he is in the Premier League leaderboard for saving statistics as a goalkeeper, the stats do not fully capture the mistakes he is making that other top keepers do not.
Worse yet, his lack of leadership is appalling. Jamie Carragher may be persona non grata to Liverpool fans, but this is a pundit who calls it like it is. And even he is noticing that Vicario is making a lot of mistakes and then trying to pin the blame on his teammates for them. Carragher said on the Sky Sports broadcast, via The Spurs Express, “Every time I see a goal go in, he throws his arms at someone else. He seems to do it a lot, and he did it again today.”
Tottenham fans have BEEN noticing this, too. James Trafford could be available this winter transfer window, and young Antonin Kinsky is right behind Vicario on the depth chart. If Vicario keeps making blatant errors and losing games, Tottenham fans are going to be more and more ready to cut this guy loose because they cannot get behind him or rely on him.