It is one of those things that never fails to warm the heart: the moment a young fan lays eyes on a player from their club. The reaction is almost always the same. A widening of the eyes, stunned incomprehension. Then delayed realisation and, after that, just giddy excitement.
When Guglielmo Vicario turns up at a training session run by Tottenham’s global football department at Richard Hale school in Hertford on Friday, the levels among the eight- to 13-year-olds immediately go up. “It’s Vicario,” they shout. Some of them wave. Others decide whether they want him to sign their boots or their gloves.
The Q&A at the end is fun because, as usual, the questions are great. Most dangerous opponent in the Premier League? (Mohamed Salah.) How about outside England? (Nico Williams.) Best player at Spurs? (Son Heung-min). Closest friend at the club? (Destiny Udogie).
Vicario is obviously cool with them because, at the risk of laying on the schmaltz, he oozes charisma. And yet not every kid in a Spurs shirt has enjoyed the same experience of late with the towering goalkeeper.
It was the 91st minute of the club’s opening game of the season when Lucas Bergvall, the 18-year-old debutant, lost the ball to Leicester’s Stephy Mavididi. He crossed for Wilfred Ndidi, who almost made it 2-1 with a header.
Vicario got up after making the save and rushed towards Bergvall, incandescent, channelling his inner hairdryer. Some saluted the passion of the man known as Venom, whereas others criticised him for laying into a youngster. For the record, Bergvall is not the kind of character to allow that – or anything – to affect him.
“I was too aggressive with him and I apologised,” Vicario says. “Maybe it was because we had dominated, then conceded [in the 57th minute] and I had a feeling in the last five minutes – by anything – that we could lose.
“So it’s just to understand where the game is leading us. But it was not the right way in terms of screaming at him.
“He will understand, he’s a good guy. And it’s part of football. I suffered this, too, when I was a teenager. We are men. We move forward. Maybe my acting at that moment was not the best but the message was for the right reasons and came from the right place.”
Vicario has form in this area. Remember his monstering of Ryan Sessegnon after January’s FA Cup win over Burnley? But the wider point concerns a shift in the dynamics at Spurs and the greater status Vicario now enjoys.
The squad has a younger feel after the transfer window, Bergvall having been joined by another couple of teenagers in Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert. It is as if the chairman, Daniel Levy, has gone back to the approach that once worked so well for him – the acquisition of young players with huge potential, who are likely to improve and increase in value.
Vicario is 27 and at the start of his second Spurs season but there are only a handful of players at the club older than him – Fraser Forster, Ben Davies, Yves Bissouma, Timo Werner and Son. Vicario discloses he has been given an unofficial leadership role by the manager, Ange Postecoglou, charged with supporting the captain, Son, and the vice-captains, Cristian Romero and James Maddison.
“I think it comes with age,” he says. “It’s not an official position. We speak between ourselves in the dressing room and I like to take this responsibility, especially with the young lads.
“Our commitment, discipline and focus has to be always at the top. And it’s to try to make sure our performances are always at the top. Sometimes you have good days, sometimes you don’t. But the right mindset during the week and during the game will help some of the young lads to develop. I’m very pleased by this new role.”
Vicario was excellent last season, posting eye-catching numbers, including with the ball at his feet. According to Opta, he had the most successful passes in the Premier League by a goalkeeper and was second in the keeper sweepings metric. There were numerous huge saves, some of them spectacular.
If there was a criticism, it was that he could be distracted by the dark arts from opponents on set pieces. It looked as though he was targeted over the second half of the season, with Ben White’s attempts to mess with his gloves on a corner during the derby against Arsenal attracting plenty of analysis, mainly because Spurs conceded.
“I didn’t realise it at the time … I only saw later that he tried to grab my gloves,” Vicario says. “We conceded but not for that reason. And it’s not about targeting. Everyone is targeted by every team. You just have to deal with it.”
Nor does Vicario want to dwell for too long on the 61 league goals Spurs conceded; a number that surely has to be reduced if they are to qualify for the Champions League this season.
“Aston Villa conceded 61 goals and they reached the Champions League by two points,” Vicario says. “Manchester United, Newcastle, Chelsea … everyone conceded about 60. Only Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool conceded around 30, 35, 40.
“It’s the way we play football in England, it exposes teams to concede more chances and goals. Here, it’s to score one more than the opponent rather than not to concede one less, which is the best way for the people who come to see the games. It’s more entertaining.
“I also like to play a good game … with the ball, to play in some situations where there is a lot of pressure from the opponents and with my work, we can overcome it, break some lines and score.”
Vicario will be out to settle a score at Newcastle on Sunday, where Spurs were beaten 4-0 last season, albeit an improvement on the 6-1 hammering they suffered there in 2022-23. It is when the Italian outlines his targets for the season that the emotion bubbles.
“It is to be a team until 25 May, to build a big team until 25 May,” he says. “But everyone wants to win and if we have the opportunity we will try until the end. We know if we do it at Tottenham, we will be remembered by our fans for life, for eternity.
“It would be one of the biggest things that could happen in your career, in your life. Also, maybe one day you could come back to the stadium and walk into the tunnel, into the corridor and see some pictures and say: ‘OK, maybe 40 years ago I did this.’
“If it’s me there on the pictures, it would be very nice. So we will try to do this.”
