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.
“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.