Tottenham Hotspur fans may have been unhappy with their players after the loss to Chelsea on Saturday evening, but Troy Deeney saw enough in one player to warrant a place in his team of the week.
It was yet another humbling defeat at the hands of London rivals Chelsea for Tottenham, who have now won just two of their last ten home league meetings against the Blues.
Thomas Frank opted for a surprising team selection and formation, but it didn’t pay off, with Spurs generating just 0.10 xG in the entire game and failing to threaten Chelsea at all.
In truth, it was a game that the Lilywhites could and probably should have lost by a bigger margin, but one man kept them in the contest, and earned praise from Deeney in the process.
Troy Deeney was impressed with Guglielmo Vicario
Putting together his Premier League team of the week for BBC Sport, Deeney chose to include Guglielmo Vicario in goal. While the inclusion of any Spurs player is surprising, it has to be said that Vicario is the most deserving of anyone in that disappointing defeat.
On Vicario, Deeney wrote: “I know he was on the losing team at home to Chelsea but his Spurs teammates abandoned him. He faced 18 shots, nine shots on target, an xG of 3.36 for Chelsea and he kept them in it. He didn’t quit on his team.”
Indeed, while Tottenham struggled in attack and their defence looked shaky, it was Vicario who appeared almost unbeatable on the night.
Were it not for him, the scoreline would have been far more embarrassing for the home side, and while other goalkeepers in the division may have kept clean sheets this weekend, the sheer nature of the onslaught Vicario faced has to be commended.
Other players involved in Deeney’s team of the week are: Nico O’Reilly, Gabriel, Jean-Clair Todibo, Ryan Sessegnon, Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice, Ryan Gravenberch, Diego Gomez, Erling Haaland, and Rayan Cherki.
Guglielmo Vicario has responded to doubters perfectly
Results may not have gone Tottenham’s way over the past couple of weeks, by and large, but Vicario has certainly impressed in his role.
Just last month, questions were raised over the Italian’s proficiency and there were calls for him to be dropped in favour of Antonin Kinsky. Since then, Vicario has responded perfectly.
His heroics against Chelsea come on the back of an impressive showing against Monaco in the Champions League and the win against Everton, where he made a couple of brilliant reaction stops to maintain Tottenham’s dominance at Hill Dickinson Stadium.