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Gary Neville noticed ‘weird’ Tottenham player ‘panicking’ during 1-0 defeat vs Arsenal
Clashes between Arsenal and Tottenham are not for the faint hearted by any means.
Every game in the Premier League is significant, although the north London derby requires a different kind of bottle – a trait Gary Neville noticed one Tottenham player lacking substantially in Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal.
So, which Spurs player did the Sky Sports pundit accuse of looking panicked in the 1-0 loss to Arsenal? Let’s take a look…
Gary Neville criticises Guglielmo Vicario
Neville was scathing in his analysis of Guglielmo Vicario – both before and after the Italian found himself stuck on his line as Gabriel Magalhaes put Arsenal ahead.
After the Tottenham No.1 failed to convincingly deal with a corner from the Gunners in the 34th minute, the 49-year-old live on Sky Sports: “He is flapping like mad, Vicario. I mean, he flaps at it, then he starts doing that weird little running afterwards to make it look like he is calm. No, no settle down. Just relax. It’s you that panicking, no one else is.”
It is a theme that has carried on from the 2023/24 campaign.
Last term, Vicario often found himself targeted by opponents from dead ball situations, and while it seemed as if the 27-year-old had ironed out this crease in his game towards the end of last season, Sunday’s north London derby would suggest this is still very much a problem for Tottenham.
Tottenham need to find a solution
Ange Postecoglou is surely losing sleep over this situation.
The Australian could work all week on a game plan, but one dangerous set-piece may cause all of his preparation to unravel against more physical opponents, so it is a key detail which needs sorting out immediately.
Whether that means putting the fairly slender Vicario on a different workout routine to bulk him up a bit, or crowding the Italian with some added protection from his defenders, Postecoglou does need to figure something out swiftly.