Ange Postecoglou reveals stance on Tottenham signing new goalkeeper
Posted By joeerazer
December 20, 2024
6:02 pm
Ange Postecoglou has failed to rule out Tottenham Hotspur signing a new goalkeeper in January, but offered his backing to Fraser Forster after a couple of glaring errors in Thursday’s 4-3 win over Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Forster has played in Spurs’ last four Premier League matches after regular number one Guglielmo Vicario picked up an ankle injury in Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Manchester City in November.
The 36-year-old was also between the sticks as Spurs reached the last four of the Carabao Cup, setting up a two-legged date with Liverpool, but made two horrendous mistakes to gift goals to Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo.
The mistakes proved to be inconsequential in the end, with Son Heung-min’s goal direct from a corner enough to keep United at bay, but questions have inevitably been raised about Forster’s position given Vicario is not yet close to returning to action.
Speaking to the media ahead of Spurs’ Premier League game on Sunday, ironically with Liverpool, Postecoglou didn’t completely rule out the prospect of signing another goalkeeper, but gave a strong indication that Forster has his backing for as long as he’s needed.
“I think I left it [the door to signing a new goalkeeper] open in that if we had another injury to a goalkeeper, then we would definitely have to sign someone,” Postecoglou said. “I think Frase has done really well for us coming in. It’s not easy. Any time a number two goalkeeper comes in, it’s always, especially for an extended period of time it’s not the easiest position to come into, but I think he’s handled it really well, as I expected him to.
Vicario suffered an ankle fracture during Spurs’ romping win over Manchester City in November / PAUL ELLIS/GettyImages
“And like I said, he was disappointed with last night, but we’ve got to keep that in context of his overall performances. It’s not like it’s, you know, it’s been four or five games of kind of a series of mistakes. So, we keep the context of what happened last night.
“He still contributed to our victory. I thought in the first half of his feet, he was outstanding, he helped us platform us to get up the park to beat their pressure, and pulled off a good save just before they scored the first goal.
“He didn’t have a lot to do to be fair. I thought we handled it really well. But, you know, he made a couple of poor decisions on the night and we’ll work with him. Birchy will work with him and like I said, we’ve got no choice but to saddle up again on Sunday and go again.”
Postecoglou also said that Vicario is “pushing every boundary” in his recovery but is “still a fair bit away” in terms of returning to action.
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