‘Blameless’ Spurs liability Vicario should be Frank’s first sacrifice to save his job | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher has laid into Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, claiming he is “always blaming someone else”.

Vicario was poor once again as Thomas Frank’s side were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

Guglielmo Vicario: 2025/26 PL stats

In the summer, the Italian shot-stopper was added to Tottenham’s ‘leadership group’, alongside Ben Davies, club captain Cristian Romero, James Maddison and Micky van de Ven.

Fast forward to today and Davies remains a back-up option, albeit an important and experienced member of the squad; Romero and Van de Ven are likely to leave at the end of the season, Maddison is out with an ACL injury, and Vicario is proving to be a major liability.

Vicario has been playing well below par for some time now. When he first joined, he excited fans with his sweeping ability, but his dodgy goalkeeping soon became clear for all to see.

His ball-playing ability isn’t good enough, he is awful at defending set-pieces, and he doesn’t appear to be a particularly strong leader on the pitch.

Most weeks, there is an example of Vicario unnecessarily berating his teammates or flapping his arms after conceding a goal, even when the blame lies with him.

He threw Archie Gray under the bus with a hospital pass for Forest’s opening goal on Sunday and clearly felt the young midfielder was entirely at fault.

Gray certainly should have done better and appeared to want the ball in a dangerous position without realising Ibrahim Sangare was breathing down his neck. He was ultimately credited with an error leading to a goal by Opta – a decision that is hard to argue against – but it was a stitch-up from his goalkeeper.

It summed up another awful day for Frank and Spurs, who sit 11th in the Premier League having won just one of their last seven top-flight matches.

Carragher points finger at Spurs liability Vicario

Former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher was unimpressed with Vicario on several fronts.

He criticised the 29-year-old for his “typical” arm-throwing and habit of “blaming someone else”, pinning the blame squarely on the goalkeeper for Callum Hudson-Odoi’s opening goal.

“It’s not just a keeper playing out,” Carragher said on Sky Sports’ Extra Time show. “It’s a keeper on his weak foot. Typical Vicario, he is always blaming someone else.

“Every time I see a goal go in, he throws his arms at someone else. He seems to do it a lot, and he did it again today.”

He continued: “We can talk about young Archie Gray in midfield, but I’m putting this on the goalkeeper.

“Archie Gray could do a lot better, of course, he could, but what the lad does initially is he is trying to help someone who doesn’t actually need help.

“The goalkeeper doesn’t actually need any help because the ball should go out wide to his player. I don’t know what the problem is. There is no real pressure on it.

“But what Vicario does instead of passing with his right foot to Van de Ven on his left foot, he then takes the ball on his left foot and tries to play a little dinky pass here.

“The point I am trying to make about being on your weak foot as a goalkeeper is, there is a reason you’re in goal for one – you are probably not going to be amazing with your feet – but on your weak foot you are trying to be intricate and trying to pass it to a certain player’s foot.

“Archie Gray can play with both feet, but he is predominantly right-footed – he plays it to his left foot.

“Could his (Gray’s) control be slightly better? Of course it could, but for me that is on the goalkeeper. It’s a horrible ball to deal with. Credit for the pressing, you think of Sean Dyche, you think of Nottingham Forest getting after the opposition players, and they do really well.

“But talking about the left foot pass. It’s not a great pass, it’s bobbled in because it’s on his weak foot, so that bobbling bouncing pass into Gray, on his weak foot as well – yes, control should be a little bit tighter – but even if his control was right, Sangare would still be on top of him.

“I’m laying all the blame on the goalkeeper, I am.”

Replacing Vicario could save Frank’s job

Frank may feel he has bigger issues to address than Vicario, but it is clear the goalkeeper position needs upgrading – perhaps as early as January.

Antonín Kinsky has shown he is capable of deputising in Vicario’s absence, but he is unlikely to be the immediate solution.

With pressure mounting, Frank may need to ring the changes to save his job.

Most Spurs fans have already lost patience with their new head coach, and making bold calls such as dropping or replacing Vicario could be the first step in attempting to turn the tide.

It felt as though Spurs were turning a corner under Frank after Tuesday’s impressive Champions League win over Slavia Prague, but that mini-revival came to an abrupt end at the City Ground.

They were second-best all over the pitch and comfortably beaten by a side that had ground out a hard-fought victory in the Netherlands on Thursday night.

One team looked knackered and like it didn’t want to be there, and it was the side with two extra days of rest and the significantly more expensive squad.

Frank has to make significant changes. Starting with the goalkeeper would not be a bad place to begin.

Oh, and Vicario got lobbed by a cross against Forest as well.