Robbie Mustoe has lauded Guglielmo Vicario after his performance for Tottenham against Crystal Palace on Friday, insisting that he is a huge upgrade on the player Hugo Lloris had been.
Mustoe was speaking on The 2 Robbies podcast after Spurs briefly extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to five points.
Guglielmo Vicario has been one of several revelations in the Tottenham team so far this season. The Italian was hardly a household name before his arrival from Empoli. And you would imagine that Spurs fans would have had a host of other names they would have wanted to replace Hugo Lloris.
Robbie Mustoe lauds Tottenham for Guglielmo Vicario signing
Some expected Vicario to be a liability. But the 27-year-old could have hardly dreamed for a better start to his Premier League career.
Tottenham lead the way. And Vicario has been excellent for Ange Postecoglou’s side. He fits perfectly into the way Postecoglou wants his team to play. And when Tottenham have needed him, Vicario has come up with some outstanding saves.
Following his performance at Selhurst Park on Friday, Robbie Mustoe labelled the goalkeeper his under-appreciated player of the week.
“What a find! Under the radar, makes great saves. We aren’t talking about him making mistakes with his feet. Some of the saves he made, even in this game, it’s a very, very good signing,” he told The 2 Robbies.
MORE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STORIES
“I go back to Leicester again, you have to make spectacular signings to win. And they made some in Mahrez, Kante and Jamie Vardy. You’ve got Micky van de Ven, you’ve got a goalkeeper like Vicario, they’ve got James Maddison. They’re spectacular signings.
“A really big upgrade [on Hugo Lloris].”
An inspired signing
Tottenham really cannot get enough credit for the deal to sign Vicario. In today’s game, Spurs have signed an unbelievable goalkeeper for £17 million. That is an absolute steal when you consider some of the other fees being paid for players right now.
Lloris was a huge player for Spurs. Obviously, he was the captain for a long time. And there was a time when he was arguably the best goalkeeper in the world.
Vicario will not be thinking about that. But he certainly has an amazing platform to build from right now. He has the faith of the manager, his teammates and the fans. So when he does make an error, such as give the ball away on the edge of his box against Fulham, there is an awareness that that is going to happen occasionally.
Certainly, if Vicario’s start at Tottenham is a sign of what is to come, Spurs have themselves a stalwart of the side for a number of years yet.