Guglielmo Vicario horrendous as Thomas Frank hooks unhappy bright spark – Tottenham player ratings vs Nottingham Forest
Tottenham were dreadful as they squandered any momentum from back-to-back wins in falling to a 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest.
In what would have been Tottenham’s reunion with Ange Postecoglou, before he was sacked and replaced by Sean Dyche, the home side made the better start and hit the post through Ibrahim Sangare’s header.
Callum Hudson-Odoi would open the scoring inside half an hour thanks to a calamity between Archie Gray and Guglielmo Vicario, as the keeper passed out to the youngster who was immediately robbed from behind by Sangare who advanced into the area and squared for an open goal.
A bad afternoon got worse early in the second half as Hudson-Odoi scored his second with a cross that caught out Vicario and went straight in at the back post, for the exact opposite sort of reaction Thomas Frank would have been looking for.
Then, just as Frank was finally about to bring some new attackers Hudson-Odoi turned provider as he laid it off for Sangare to smash a third in off the post from outside the box to make the result safe.
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Guglielmo Vicario horror show at City Ground
Vicario took a lot of heat for his error in defeat against Fulham, which sparked controversy with supporters for Frank and Pedro Porro.
The Italian had another nightmare against Forest as he played a major part in both Hudson-Odoi’s goals.
He could share the blame with Gray for the opener, although the Englishman could at least argue he had his back to the danger, whereas the keeper should have seen the ball wasn’t on with Sangare bearing down just outside the box.
The second not only derailed whatever Frank’s team talk at the break would have asked for but got Forest and their fans back in the groove amid frustration at the officials, and the blame was all his as he misjudged the flight of the cross and was caught under the ball as it sailed into the net.
Vicario is thought to want to leave Tottenham for Serie A and this outing won’t have done anything to change that, as his confidence looked to be affected judging by a miscommunication with Ben Davies soon after the left-back came on.
Spurs were flat across the board at the City Ground and few players were on their game, but without a pair of massive errors they might have still managed to get something out of this.
Djed Spence unhappy to be removed
On a day where the collective performance was pretty dismal and had shades of Tottenham‘s limp loss to Chelsea or the capitulation as Eberechi Eze scored a hat-trick in the North London derby, nobody exactly shone.
Mohammed Kudus was direct early but faded as the going got tough, while Randal Kolo Muani had some exciting runs where he beat multiple players before running up a dead end and losing possession, but there was barely a Man of the Match to speak of.
Most concerning around Frank, who will likely be facing more doubts over his long-term suitability after this, was the fact that the first player he decided to remove when chasing the game was arguably the sharpest performer in Djed Spence.
The left-back was one of the few in yellow who was actually putting a shift in up and down the flank, and certainly wasn’t close to the biggest issue on the pitch.
His irritated reaction towards the Tottenham bench as his number was held up and Ben Davies waited to come on said it all, as the Englishman can justifiably feel unfortunate to be first off.
It was a dreadful day all round for Spurs here, and after Spence’s apparent snub of Frank along with Micky van de Ven caused yet another issue after the Chelsea defeat it will hardly boost the defender’s relationship with the manager to be the first change when most of his teammates deserved it more.
Tottenham player ratings at Nottingham Forest
Guglielmo Vicario – 2
Pedro Porro – 5
Cristian Romero – 5
Micky van de Ven – 6
Djed Spence (off for Davies ’59) – 7 – (Man of the Match)
Rodrigo Bentancur (off for Bergvall ’59) – 5
Archie Gray (off for Palhinha ’59) – 4
Mohammed Kudus (off for Johnson ’80) – 6
Xavi Simons – 5
Randal Kolo Muani – 6
Richarlison – 5
Substitutions
Ben Davies (on for Spence ’59) – 5
Lucas Bergvall (on for Bentancur ’59) – 5
Joao Palhinha (on for Gray ’59) – 6
Brennan Johnson (on for Kudus ’80) – 5
Mathys Tel (on for Kolo Muani ’80) – 5