Tottenham Hotspur had barely 48 hours to celebrate the best result of Ange Postecoglou’s reign before disaster struck.
On Monday evening, the club released a statement that first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario fractured his right ankle. The 28-year-old suffered the injury during the first-half of Saturday’s stunning 4-0 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad but completed the full 90 minutes and produced a series of crucial saves. It was only when he limped through the mixed zone after the game that people started to worry about the true extent of the damage.
Vicario has had an operation on his foot and will be unavailable for months. This is potentially the worst injury Tottenham’s squad could have suffered and it is not an exaggeration to say this will have huge ramifications for their season.
It means they head into the busiest period of the campaign, which includes league games against Chelsea and Liverpool as well as a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie with Manchester United, leaning on Fraser Forster to step up. Forster, 36, is an experienced keeper who has made nearly 150 appearances in the Premier League. He played 14 times for Spurs during the 2022-23 campaign after an injury to Hugo Lloris. Forster has not played in the division since a 4-1 victory over Leeds United on the final day of that season. This table shows that he slightly underperformed by conceding 24 goals from an expected goals on target conceded rate of 21.4.
The alternatives to Forster are Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman, both of whom came through Tottenham’s academy but have never made an appearance in the Premier League — Whiteman played the final eight minutes of a 4-0 Europa League win over Ludogorets four years ago this week. Given neither has played a minute of competitive football under Postecoglou, it seems reasonable to assume it will be Forster who steps in.
Austin, 25, played five times in the MLS for Orlando City in 2021, while Whiteman, 26, spent a couple of years on loan in Sweden with Degerfors IF.
Since he joined Spurs from Italian side Empoli in June 2023 for €20million, Vicario has started all 50 top-flight games under Postecoglou. During that time, he has faced 216 shots and conceded 74 times with the underlying data showing that he prevented 5.7 goals. The Italy international’s shot-stopping prowess was on display against Manchester City as he denied Erling Haaland on multiple occasions.
The loss of Vicario will have the biggest impact on how Spurs build out from the back. Postecoglou expects his goalkeepers to be composed on the ball and draw in the opposition’s strikers before fizzing a pass between the lines. Vicario has had the fourth-highest number of touches (530) for a goalkeeper in the top flight this season behind Mark Flekken (720), Andre Onana (568) and Robert Sanchez (564). Will Forster be comfortable receiving the ball as much as his team-mate?
There is a perfect example of what Postecoglou expects from his No 1 in Saturday’s win against Man City. Vicario remains calm under pressure and, despite appearing to have a limited number of options, picks out Pape Matar Sarr with a beautiful pass. The sequence ends with James Maddison winning a free kick from Ilkay Gundogan.
Only seven per cent of Vicario’s passes from open play this season have gone beyond the halfway line. Postecoglou explained why this was integral to his style of play in October.
“The shorter pass means you’re going to start off with possession,” Postecoglou said. “We don’t want to give away possession. The kind of team we are, we want to set things up so we have control of the game and the shorter pass guarantees that and from there you move your way forward. A big part of our build-up play is to manipulate oppositions as much as we can as we move up the park rather than go long to a contested ball and hope we get the second ball. We’re just not that kind of team. But within that context, there’s enough variety there that we still make it difficult for teams to stop us from achieving that.”
This is the challenge Forster faces and the evidence suggests he will find it difficult. Look at what happened in the opening minute of Tottenham’s 2-1 victory over Coventry City in the Carabao Cup. At first glance, it appears that Lucas Bergvall’s slip leads to Jack Rudoni’s shot but he is actually overstretching for the ball because Forster misplaced his pass.
Another crucial element of Postecoglou’s brand of football is the high defensive line. Tottenham’s players aggressively push up the pitch to try to contain their opponents. It means they need to have a goalkeeper who is comfortable sweeping up huge spaces behind the defence. This clumsy incident against Coventry indicates Forster is not at the same level as Vicario.
You could even argue that if Forster was positioned on the edge of his box at the beginning of this sequence, Coventry’s goalkeeper Ben Wilson might not even attempt the pass to Bobby Thomas because of the unlikelihood of it succeeding. Vicario is regularly positioned on the edge of or just outside his penalty area and you can always hear him barking instructions to the defenders.
It will be crucial for Forster to develop a better understanding with his centre-backs to prevent a repeat of what happened. Postecoglou will have to consider if his team needs to play slightly deeper to compensate for Forster’s weakness in that area.
There were multiple occasions during Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat by Galatasaray where Forster’s passing put them in trouble. In his defence, he made multiple saves to prevent Victor Osimhen from scoring a hat-trick including one in the second half when he was diving in the opposite direction to the ball’s trajectory but flung his legs out to stop the shot.
Forster will need to work with goalkeeping coach Rob Burch on his distribution in training but across his three appearances this season there have been a few encouraging signs. He often tricks strikers into thinking he is about to hit the ball with his right foot before quickly sweeping it away with his left. He is accurate when he throws the ball and sometimes prefers that option. There was a cheeky lofted pass which flew over AZ’s winger and into Archie Gray’s path but he saved his best moment for Istanbul.
Osimhen and Mauro Icardi are pestering Forster but he picks out Maddison with a clipped left-footed pass. Maddison spins away from former Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira and Spurs find themselves in a promising counter-attacking situation with numerical superiority from Forster’s bravery. He found himself in a similar situation to Coventry but there was a positive outcome this time which shows he is learning.
Forster would be an ideal third-choice goalkeeper. He could perform a similar role to Scott Carson at Man City where he passes his experience onto the next generation and sets the standard as a senior member of the dressing room. He is a well-loved member of the squad who is known for his practical jokes. He has strong relationships with Son Heung-min, Ben Davies and Gray.
The former Celtic and Southampton goalkeeper will come under the spotlight over the next few weeks but it is important to remember that he will be asked to play in a way which does not suit his strengths. Legitimate questions need to be asked of Tottenham as to why they did not foresee this potential issue if Vicario ever suffered a long-term injury.
They have space within their squad to sign a free agent, or somebody on loan when the January transfer window opens, but for now it is Forster’s time to shine.
(Top images: Getty Images)
