It’s been an underwhelming start to the season for Tottenham, and Postecoglou is visibly aggravated that his ambitious targets are currently looking unrealistic.
The Spurs manager wants to compete for the biggest trophies in N17, but right now the club still seems a long way off.
There’s no question that signing the likes of Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert were good moves for Tottenham this summer, players with very high ceilings.
But even taking Dominic Solanke into consideration, Spurs didn’t dramatically improve their eleven, one that ultimately wasn’t quite good enough last season.
Tottenham already know their perfect Guglielmo Vicario replacement
In the summer, there would have been very few Tottenham fans crying out for a new starting goalkeeper to be signed, Guglielmo Vicario had just delivered a promising debut season.
However, as the campaign went on, the Italian’s weakness from set-pieces began to be a problem, undermining his brilliant shot-stopping.
The £17m goalkeeper was being targeted by opposition teams and Spurs were losing points as a result.
In the new season, many may have hoped that Vicario and Tottenham’s goalkeeping coaches would have found a solution over the summer, but that doesn’t quite seem to be the case.
Against Arsenal, Vicario flapped at a corner in the first half and then stayed on his line when Gabriel Magalhaes headed home – a goalkeeper that’s still struggling.
As a result, it’s not a knee-jerk reaction to suggest that Tottenham could do better – Vicario’s shot-stopping isn’t good enough to ignore such a glaring weakness elsewhere.
Postecoglou’s goalkeeping department isn’t good enough
Of course, with Vicario struggling, it’s logical to assess the competition that exists for the goalkeeper at Spurs, and in reality, there’s not much.
36-year-old Fraser Forster is number two, who is never realistically going to start ahead of Vicario in any scenario.
And beyond the pair there’s then Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman – two more keepers who wouldn’t be trusted at the top level.
So whether the signing is seen as a Vicario replacement or not in January, Spurs need to bring in a new goalkeeper.
Tottenham were linked with Joan Garcia in the summer, and pursuing the Spaniard would still appear to be a well-considered idea.
Garcia could put pressure on Vicario initially, perhaps even then leading to his improvement as number one.
But right now, Alan Pardew is correct to call Vicario a ‘massive problem’, a player who will continue to cost Tottenham points.
