Guglielmo Vicario rarely receives praise; that much is true.
Let’s start with a great quote. Harry Redknapp once said that people want perfect goalkeepers, but “…they don’t exist!” There must be some truth to this, as even universally acclaimed goalkeepers have off days and experience the odd clanger.
There have certainly been times when Vicario has struggled, flapped, whatever language one might seek to use, but the question is, does Italy’s first-choice goalkeeper since 2023, with 15+ caps, really deserve the criticism he gets?
Let’s begin by comparing him this season with his immediate rivals. The Vicar has started all Premier League matches, so far, and as we compare his stats to elite peers (e.g., Alisson of Liverpool, Ederson of Man City, David Raya of Arsenal—top PL goalkeepers by save percentage:
The Italian’s distribution is often criticised, particularly with his feet, and his mean passing accuracy is 82%. He does come out with the lowest percentage Alisson (88%), Ederson (82%) and Raya (leads with 95%).
Guglielmo is an excellent shot-stopper (top-10 in PL for saves per 90), commands his box well on crosses, and has improved distribution. His 72.5% save rate is solid for Tottenham’s mid-table defence (conceding ~1.1 goals/game), but the question is often asked why he can’t always hold the ball more frequently?
Observers show him respect. The Athletic praised his reflexes and penalty saves (3/4 in 2024-25). Sky Sports analysts rank him in the PL’s top-8 goalkeepers.
Guglielmo Vicario is an above-average Premier League goalkeeper and a key asset for Tottenham and Italy, but he doesn’t fully qualify as “elite” in 2025. Elite keepers (e.g., Alisson, Courtois, Neuer) dominate stats, win major trophies, and command €60m+ fees—Vicario’s trajectory points there (he’s only 29), but Tottenham’s lack of silverware and his stats lag slightly behind the absolute best.
Fan voices are less forgiving, and in this video, we get a flavour of the dismay.
For a player in the Spurs leadership group, he frequently lacks class and is given to demonstrating with players, although he has not yet gone face-to-face with Cuti Romero.
Here are some quotes from just this video – less charitable views can also be found on social media platforms.
“He doesn’t catch enough times, he likes to either punch the ball out or he will parry the Ball out, that was the reason for the first goal against Wolves.”
“Been saying this for so long, dives the wrong way for 5/5 pens in the super cup too”
“If it wasn’t for Levy refusing to pay Brentford, what they wanted for him and hoping to get him on the cheap, and then Arsenal paying what Brentford what they asked for, he would probably be playing for us ?”
“He infuriates me when he makes goal conceding blunders“
And here, I think we find the answer. People’s expectations of a Deloitte Money League side are that we have an elite goalkeeper.
Under Daniel Levy, it was all about doing things in the cheap, and did not hesitated, and just bought Raya, none of the conversation would exist.
Vicario is about the level one might hope for, given the money we paid.