The Tottenham goalkeeper has opened up on how the Italian head coach saved the club from relegation and why supporters should be excited for next season
Guglielmo Vicario has explained how Roberto De Zerbi saved Tottenham from relegation and revealed that he made it clear to the Tottenham boss that Antonin Kinsky was ready to star for him.
Vicario has had to watch on in the past month as a concerned spectator after undergoing hernia surgery and could be seen on the final day sprinting over to De Zerbi and almost strangling his head coach in delight when Joao Palhinha scored the goal against Everton that played its part in keeping Spurs in the Premier League.
The Italian goalkeeper, who admits he is still "not 100 per cent fit but in a better place", lays all the praise at the door of De Zerbi for turning around a club that was low on confidence and hope.
"A lot of emotion. It has been a very long season. We suffered a lot as a team. Also individually I suffered a lot for many reasons, different reasons. So of course [staying up] was something we were looking for and what we worked for, especially when Roberto came in," said the 29-year-old.
"This club deserves at least to stay in the Premier League. This is the minimum you can get at this football club. Sometimes there are situations that happen that are not more in your control. You lose the focus, you lose hope, you lose a lot of stuff but fortunately Roberto came in and gave us a lot of confidence.
"A lot of patterns, a lot of football. It was not the main focus though. He gave us a lot of confidence, good vibes, good feelings and we got the result."
Vicario drilled into exactly what his compatriot De Zerbi did behind the scenes to lift the north London club off its knees with 11 points from the final six matches to save its top flight status.
"He had a lot of talks with the players. I spoke a lot with him. I was not able to help him on the pitch but I tried to do it behind the scenes. It was important for everyone to get everyone around the environment, very focused and to play for this badge," said the stopper.
"That was his first message. Get behind the people to try to follow us and to stay close to us in these tough moments and they did it brilliantly today. The response from the crowd was unbelievable. We felt it.
"We went through this tough period and we got the result, that is the most important thing. From next season there will be a different Tottenham Hotspur for sure."
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The player who has enjoyed the biggest turnaround under De Zerbi is Vicario's fellow goalkeeper Kinsky. The 23-year-old Czech recovered from a horror night in Madrid against Atletico, which saw interim boss Igor Tudor substitute him after just 17 minutes, to come to Spurs' rescue in Vicario's absence with a string of spectacular saves against Wolves, Leeds and Everton.
Vicario admitted that when De Zerbi asked him about Kinsky he made it clear that the young keeper had already rid himself of his Champions League hangover.
"He has been incredible, impressive, he did unbelievably well. In every game it was not easy. Now it’s easy to say but I was sure of his mental strength and ability. When I spoke to Roberto the first day he signed he asked me how Toni was and I said 'I think he is fully recovered from what happened because in football it can happen', and he showed it," said the Italy international.
"That's the biggest strength he can put on the pitch. I’m very proud of him, he made some really important saves to keep us in the league and he deserved his moment. Sometimes football is downs, I think he had the brilliance to show his ups. Especially in the last two, three games. He did unbelievably for us."
Vicario, who has been linked with a return to Italy and Inter Milan this summer, is on the mend and said he was "confident and I have a break now to be ready for next season". He believes that the Spurs supporters and players should be excited about what comes next under De Zerbi.
"Yeah of course we are [excited]. Roberto has been massively important for us. He changed everything. He changed all the mood, all the vibes, all the football as well, because we needed also the football on the pitch because we were struggling to play good football," he said.
"But he is probably known very well for the football he wants to play but also the defensive phase since he came in has been unbelievably good. [Against Everton] we conceded just one shot where Toni did this big save at the end of the match but for 95 minutes we didn't concede any shots. Both on the ball and off the ball I think he did an unbelievable job.
"Also the boys, everyone who was playing or not playing followed him in a great way. That is of course the credit he deserves, and I can say without him this result would not have been possible. I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart because we were suffering a lot and he gave us a lot of joy in every aspect."