Ange Postecoglou addressed the media today for the first time since Tottenham Hotpsur’s 4-0 win over Manchester City at the Etihad, and the subsequent ankle injury to keeper Guglielmo Vicario, which required surgery.
The injury to Vicario is a huge gut punch to a Spurs side that is coming off of what felt like a season defining victory over the four time defending Premier League champions. Now they face the prospect of months without their starting keeper, putting the fate of the team in the Thanksgiving turkey-sized hands of 37-year old Fraser Forster.
Postecoglou started by crediting the character of Vicario, who played 60 minutes on a broken ankle during the win, and his immediate reaction to Googly Elmo’s injury and surgery.
”A bit of a shock first of all. We saw he picked up an injury during the game. We saw at half-time but there was no doubt about him continuing. You kind of digest that. Post game he was sore but he played 60 minutes with a sore ankle. We will tape it up and go again.
“But, and I guess externally now people realize, it is a testament to him as a person. He is as tough as nails, as tough as they come. The fact he played at that level for 60 minutes with a fractured ankle was quite outstanding.
“When the shock off it wears off, you process he is going to be missing for a while. Knowing him, he will push the limits as to how long that is and you will get daily updates about that through his Instagram.
“Big blow, but for him personally I guess because he was having an outstanding season for us and really growing as a leader within the group. But we have dealt with setbacks before and we will deal with this.”
Forster is a very, very different player to Vicario, and it has made a lot of Spurs fans nervous about the prospects of playing so many matches without their starting keeper. Forster is a good shot stopper, but is decidedly less mobile, worse with the ball at his feet, and slow to get down to make saves. Postecoglou, however, tried to downplay any concerns that Spurs would need to radically adjust their tactics with Forster between the sticks.
“You will see the same Spurs you see every game mate. It’s about going out there trying to play our football and try to be the best we can be. Sometimes that doesn’t work out and it hasn’t worked out for us in a couple of games this year. We know that and it’s something we need to improve.
“At the same time, there has been more good than bad. If you are looking for likely outcomes, I would say good. We have had the flat spots that we are working through but I don’t discount the football we have played either. I think we have played some outstanding football. For me it is just about progress. I keep saying it, we are a better side than we were last year and we want to keep improving. If we keep improving then the areas where there are gaps we will slowly overcome.”
Ange also pushed back on the idea that Forster wouldn’t be comfortable with the way the club plays, noting that he’s been working with Spurs’ goalkeeping coach Rob Burch for the past year and a half.
“I think there is a misconception around that. I do want to play out from the back but don’t need my goalkeepers to be Maldini or Platini. In fact, the simpler they can keep it the better for me. I keep saying to the players, don’t pass it to the goalkeepers, they’ve got the gloves on, they’re the goalkeepers and you’re the player.
“The thing is setting it up so we give really simple solutions to our goalkeepers. It’s not about their technical ability because i you look at the way we play out from the back, and Joe’s a great example of that when he came to Celtic, it’s about them executing really simple passes that they do every day. They’re actually quite good at it, goalkeepers. All goalkeepers. It’s more about mindset. It’s more about them not thinking that what they’re doing is risky, because that’s what it comes down. It’s not a skill. I’m not asking them to pin 50 yarders. In fact, it’s harder when goalkeepers go long. It’s actually a harder skill for them to do. So I’m asking them to do short passes that they’re capable of.
“It’s more, like I said, the mindset of it. Just showing them that there’s no risk here. Don’t worry about the risk. The setup is there for you to execute. And I found that with Joe and other keepers I’ve had in the past where it was, ‘oh, he can’t play out from the back’, and of course he can. He’s a goalkeeper, he can pass the ball, that’s what they do. It’s just about having a structure which allows them to do it in the cleanest possible process. And changing their mindset.
“The only barrier to that is if the goalkeeper doesn’t feel comfortable doing it. Not because they can’t. Joe was brilliant at Celtic, he embraced it all in, and Fraser’s the same. It’s not like Burchy is going to start working with him this week. He’s been doing it for 18 months. That’s all we do at training. They get included in some of our passing drills, some of our possession drills. They’re in there, so they’re doing it. So that’s where I sit with that.”
Edgy fans are already scouring the list of free agent keepers on the back of a recent report that the Vicario injury might force Spurs into accelerating their summer plans of signing a young backup keeper. Spurs may or may not target a new keeper in January, but Big Ange made it clear the club will not sign a free agent journeyman now for the sake of it.
“That’s not going to happen. That’s why we’ve got a squad of players here. I don’t think us signing a free agent now is going to help us.
“If I hadn’t named Fraser in the Europa squad, then jeez that would’ve been a radical decision, and you’re left with two, again they wouldn’t be able to play in Europe, then you kind of look at it. Unless something else happened, that’s why we’ve got four goalkeepers. There’s young Luca but to be fair he’s been injured so he’s not really ready. Fraser I’ve known for a long time and he’s such a strong character within the group and ready to play. Brandon’s improving all the time and Alfie’s been at the club for a while. Whenever they’ve been asked, in terms of the training capacity they bring, we’re happy with what we’ve got...
“January, we’re always working towards the next window of what the best scenario is for us, and a lot of that will depend on where we’re at from the squad perspective and the game’s perspective. Just this injury doesn’t change any plans for January.”
Vicario joins Richarlison, Micky van de Ven, Wilson Odobert, Cuti Romero, and Mikey Moore on the injured list; all are dealing with physical injuries except for Moore, who has been suffering from a particularly pernicious (but undisclosed) virus over the past few weeks.
