What goalkeeping experts are now saying about Guglielmo Vicario dealing with corners at Tottenham

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It’s no secret that Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is now starting to be targeted by opposition sides at set-pieces.

Vicario has enjoyed an excellent start to life under Ange Postecoglou at Spurs, but is now enduring a slight bit of pressure.

Following a couple of shaky moments defending corners and set-pieces over the last month or so, opposing teams are now seeing an opportunity.

Vicario is now often crowded in the box, with sides attempting to expose a weakness.

That being said, Everton did a fine job of disrupting the Italian on the weekend, which arguably helped in both of their goals.

Interestingly, The Athletic have now shared a long-read assessing how Vicario is coping from corners, and whether he’s performing below-par.

As part of the piece, John Harrison, who is head of data science at goalkeeper.com, shared his view.

And whilst it was pretty hard to defend Vicario for the corner that resulted in Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal, Harrison did have more sympathy when assessing Jarrad Brathwaite’s late equaliser.

Tottenham’s Guglielmo Vicario isn’t statistically underperforming at set-pieces

Speaking about that late goal from an inswinging free-kick, Harrison didn’t think Vicario was at fault.

He said: “The decision not to come first of all is a fine one, and then Vicario does what you’re taught to do as a goalkeeper and maximise your reaction time for headers by getting tight to your line, because headers are slower than foot shots and if you position yourself too far off your line, you can give the attacking player a much easier finish.

“After Romero’s header, it becomes a race between him and Branthwaite and he just loses out. If he was that tight to his line and the cross had gone straight to Branthwaite without the Romero intervention, then it would be a really bad mistake on his part.”

And in fairness, Harrison among other experts did go on to prove that Vicario isn’t underperforming from corners or set-pieces at Tottenham at all.

Data shows that Vicario has performed above the Premier League average much more often than below it when corner claiming this season.

So whilst the Italian isn’t quite passing the eye-test right now, Spurs fans can keep faith that things will improve, Vicario is evidently a strong keeper.

The deal to sign Vicario this summer still looks like an excellent one, and could prove to be one of the bargains of the season.

And whilst it still seems as if Daniel Levy got it right with a move for Vicario, former Manchester United chief David Gill has been recalling a time he got it wrong.