Unlikely combination: Thomas Frank’s experience working with David Raya could help him unlock Guglielmo Vicario
Tottenham Hotspurs Football Newsletter
Thomas Frank hopes he can draw on his experience working with David Raya as he looks to help Guglielmo Vicario overcome his mistake-ridden performance against Nottingham Forest.
Vicario was twice at fault as Spurs fell to a 3-0 defeat away to Forest last weekend - playing Archie Gray into trouble on the edge of his own area before misjudging a pass from Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The Italian last month gifted Harry Wilson a goal during Spurs’ 2-1 loss to Fulham, and despite coming to his side’s rescue on a number of occasions this season, questions have been raised about whether Vicario, who signed from Empoli in 2023, is the long-term answer in goal.
“I think he is a very good goalkeeper. I think he is a fantastic shotstopper,” Frank said.
“I think he has saved us a lot of times this season where we needed it the most. Then, like with any goalkeeper, there are a few development areas or any player that we need to do our best we can to improve.”
Frank worked with Raya on his confidence from crosses when the pair were at Brentford, and the Spaniard has since gone on to become one of the world’s most renowned ‘keepers at Arsenal.
The Tottenham boss, under increasing pressure heading into Saturday’s game against Liverpool, hopes to be able to develop Vicario in the same way he did Raya and said it was natural for ‘keepers to be under the spotlight more so than other players.
“I think he has a good level in distribution. I think it's a level he could work on and get even better at, that’s something we are working on,” Frank continued.
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“I think every keeper will always be highlighted. I experienced that with David Raya when he was with Brentford in the beginning with some crosses or some distribution where he was wrong, we worked on it and it became better and then he was sold to a club (Arsenal) we can’t mention.”
Frank, who believes the criticism around Vicario this season has become overblown, also highlighted the development of Mark Flekken during his two seasons at Brentford.
Flekken openly admitted to using the services of a mental coach during his time in west London and after a shaky debut campaign, became a reliable presence between the sticks for the Bees.
“Mark Flekken, when he came to us in Brentford, the first six months also took a little bit of time, but developed over time which is natural.
“I think Vic, some of the key areas Fabian (Otte) the goalkeeper keeper coach and I identified from the beginning, I think he worked very hard on it but I think he showed that that is the way to go.
“I've actually looked at his (Vicario’s) data for this season it's better than his previous two seasons at Tottenham which slightly surprised me, because the narrative around him because of a couple of mistakes is that he is probably not having a great season.”