Gary Neville was speaking after Tottenham kept their second consecutive clean sheet on Sunday at Everton
Gary Neville has paid tribute to Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario following a string of exceptional performances between the sticks. The Italian shot-stopper has now kept back-to-back clean sheets after starring against Monaco and Everton, respectively.
Vicario was called into question after the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa as he was beaten by long-range strikes from Morgan Rogers and Emi Buendia.
However, Neville has seen a real improvement and admitted there was a time when he wasn’t sold on the 29-year-old.
He said on the Gary Neville Podcast when assessing Spurs’ triumph at the Hill Dickinson Stadium: “They did things certainly last season they weren’t capable of doing, and that’s being reliable when they’re not playing well.
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“Can they withstand pressure? Can they soak up teams putting balls into their box? They did that today. I think they defended really well.
“The goalkeeper looks a lot better. There were times when I wasn’t 100 per cent on him, but I just think there is an element of him looking a lot more solid than he has been.”
Vicario has also been a crucial figure within the dressing room in the absence of injured captain Cristian Romero.
He’s expected to be rested on Wednesday, however, when Antonin Kinsky should be handed a start in the Carabao Cup against Newcastle.
Speaking after the 0-0 draw in Monaco in which Vicario made eight saves, Thomas Frank said: “I think the two goals against Villa, I don’t think it’s mistakes. I don’t think it’s any of that.
“It was two great finishes. But what I would say, and as you said, I think he was very good today. I think some of the saves were exceptional tonight. He’s a big part of why we got a hard-fought point, but at the end of the day it can be a crucial point.”
Spurs now have the joint second-best defences in the Premier League. Only Arsenal’s David Raya and Newcastle’s Nick Pope (both five) have kept more clean sheets than Vicario in the top-flight this season.
While they have also improved from set-pieces in an attacking sense, they are also better at defending them.
Vicario made two top stops to deny Beto and Iliman Ndiaye on Merseyside last weekend. He now boasts a save percentage of 78.8 per cent – only Raya (84.2) and Sunderland’s Robin Roefs (82.5) have better numbers.
