Spurs' Vicario on the evolution of the 'Keeper' | One on One Podcast

Thank you so much for joining me here today. Obviously you are one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League. Today we want to talk about the evolution of the goalkeeper because it has changed so much over time and probably since you've become a goalkeeper as well. Let's start by rewinding the clock back to when you were first involved in becoming a goalkeeper. When was it you first decided goalkeeper was going to be the position for me? I can say probably when I was 9 or 10 years old. Of course I started as most of the kids trying to be an outfield player, enjoying scoring goals and trying to have my celebrations. Probably I enjoyed the best part of the game. That is probably the one reason why people go to watch a football match. But I wanted to be on the other side and try to have the other excitement in trying to deny people to have their celebration. And try to build my celebration. I just wanted to see this part of the game with my mindset. And then since I was 9 or 10 I had a lot of issues with my dad because he tried to force me to play outfield. But I was very convinced to play as a goalkeeper. Since that time I started and I'm very happy between the sticks. So your dad wanted you to play outfield but you were having none of it. Why did your dad want you to play outfield but you were so decided I want to be a goalkeeper? Just because probably I was enjoying most being there. Just probably the funnest part of my game. I was happy there. I was happy there trying to save goals, trying to create my moments in that way with the gloves. Not just with the boots. So that was the main decision to be fair. Have you always been really tall? Because I feel like it's a prerequisite for goalkeeping. No I wasn't. I grew up in terms of height quite late when I was 17 or 18. So when I was a kid I was like a normal kid in terms of height. And then when I was 16 or 17 my height increased so I said ok. Also I have the capacity and the height to stay between the sticks. And when you were growing up obviously people watched a lot of different goalkeepers now. Who were you looking at when you were younger and trying to base your game on? Yeah of course as an Italian I grew up with Gianluigi Buffon. Because when I was 10 years old it was the season that fortunately and well deserved Italy won the World Cup. And Buffon was between the sticks and he had an amazing tournament. So of course this was my idol. And as an Udinese fan when I was going to the stadium I was a season ticket holder with my parents. The keeper of Udinese was Samir Handanovic. He had a big, big, big spell at Inter Milan for more than 10 years. He was the captain so also in terms of leadership and this kind of inspiration to me. He played a big role in terms of inspirational moments. Obviously you mentioned Buffon there. He's involved with the Italian set-up as well now. He's neat behind the scenes I think. How is it working with somebody who you've tried to replicate a style of? Or you've grown up watching thinking this is the kind of goalkeeper I want to be? Yeah then of course you have to try to make your own history. Make your own path to the position and to the game of course. You have to find I think an inspirational model mostly in every aspect of your life. Sometimes it's your dad, sometimes it's your mum or a friend of yours. And of course in terms of purely goalkeeping I just want to try to replicate something of Buffon. Because of course what he did for his team and the country. It was just a kind of inspirational character rather than go deeply into technical drills or skills that he had. Because for me he had this natural talent that he grew up with. That was something that you cannot replicate. I absolutely agree with you. I think it's interesting isn't it? If you look across the span of time since you've become a goalkeeper. How that role has changed and become more modern. How have you seen it from when you first became a professional to now change? Yeah of course in my perspective it's the position in football that has changed the most. Especially when the rules have changed into the direction that you can play the ball also from goal kicks inside to the penalty box. This for me was one of the biggest reasons that of course the position has changed. Because the idea and the style probably of most managers is to try to play out from the back. So the goalkeeper is a big part because most of the times you are the spare man. So to find some solution, to find some good passes. And then of course in terms of pure goal kicking probably the quality and the speed of the ball has increased a lot. Compared to when I started. Especially here in the Premier League of course the level of shooting and the ability of players to put the ball in the right corner at the right tempo is extremely high. So yeah I think I had personally to study, to develop, to learn a lot from when I started since now. So you talk about that build up and playing as a sort of spare man. Do you remember a time when that came in? Were you thinking to yourself I've got to really look at how other goalkeepers do this? Were managers talking to you specifically about that role a lot in build up? Yeah of course. I always think you have to try to steal something from the best of the position. Of course every goalkeeper is different. Every goalkeeper has different skills. Of course sometimes in the build up it's not so easy because you're not an outfield player to find properly the right way to go out. But I think it's something of course we work on. It's extremely important. More than find of course the right pass to recognise some situation. Where's the overload, when you have to go long, when you have to go short. Of course in training we do a lot of this kind of situations. What other goalkeepers do you think you look at and you think they're very good at that build up role? Because I think it is much spoken about now isn't it? Fans and pundits they're constantly talking about goalkeepers with their feet building up from the back. Is it a change? Yeah of course. Probably mainly is of course you cannot dribble your opponents. So the biggest help that you can have is from your teammates. From how they move, how they recognise the space. And then the ability of the goalkeeper is to find the right pass, the right timing and the right situation to recognise. And to play the ball this side, that side and to go long and to go short. Of course it's a team sport, of course football. So you have to work very closely to your teammates. But if we can speak and talk about proper goalkeeping distribution ability. Of course if I have to see probably for me the best in long distribution, the insane one is Ederson. Because he has the big ability to recognise the space when he's in front of it, when he's behind the line. And he has this 70 yards kick that can of course produce an assist. And he produced I think six since the time he was in the Premier League. So I have to name him as one of the best. How hard is that? Because I think it's not really taken for granted actually how difficult the goalkeeping position is. If you make a mistake in that scenario, trying to pass out from the back, you are getting hammered by everyone aren't you? Yeah I think it's also when you miss a catch or when you receive a shot. Probably 99 times out of 100 there's no one that can save you. So it's the balance of course of our position is the most riskful I can say in football. For sure the position that has more responsibilities. Because of course probably if a striker misses out, I don't know a penalty or a big chance, it's not impacting as much as a goalkeeper mistake. And then of course we should talk about a lot of what is a goalkeeper mistake. Because now it's going probably not in the right direction in my opinion. But of course it's a position of big responsibility. You have to deal with it, you have to get used to some situation in which you are not probably how clean you want it to be. And you have to accept that some situations are sometimes bad luck and you cannot overthink about okay I should have done this instead of doing that. So it's a bit of having of course a big personality, a big balance and a big belief in yourself. So you said then you feel like sometimes goalkeeping mistakes aren't actually goalkeeping mistakes. What do you mean by that? Do you think playing out from the back can be a bit harsh? Yeah a little bit. I think it's just not related to playing out from the back. It's just probably in goalkeeping of course. To judge a goalkeeper you have to, in my opinion, you have to be playing in that position. Because there aren't many goalkeeper pundits are there? It's very specific. You don't know the feeling because probably not everyone but most of the people have played like an outfield player. So they know of course probably different levels of football but you know the situation you are in. But the goalkeeper is very unique and you don't know the feeling if you haven't played in that position. As well I think you mentioned it there about the shot stopping and things like that. The shot stopping now feels like it's at such a high level because the finishing is so good. The ball striking is so good. Do you see a little bit of a return to that at the moment? A lot of goalkeepers people are talking about the likes of Donnarumma arriving to the league. Amazing shot stoppers in particular. Yeah I think in my opinion that aspect has to be the main one. Of course that can give a goalkeeper the best goalkeeper. So we have to start from there and then build up the keeper on two other aspects. That can be of course playing out from the back and having a 70 yards distribution. For me the key area is being and trying to be the best shot stopper as you can be. This is my view, my personal view and of course you mentioned Donnarumma. That has already shown what he's capable of in the Premier League with this event. Obviously you've also got a new coach come in this season in Thomas. What's he changed for you in your position? Of course his style of play is a little bit different from what we were used to playing over the last two seasons. But especially to try to be a leader of that back four. Especially trying to be very vocal and help the team in some situations. Because of course from the goal you can see the situation and you're not involved in much running. You can be more fresh in your mind and more focused in some situations. It's just the kind of help you can give to your teammates and try to be also a good leader for the team. Trying to help everyone across the games and also off the pitch. He's obviously a brilliant coach in terms of his set pieces. There's lots made about his attacking set pieces. But from a goalkeeper's perspective how difficult are the defensive set pieces at the moment? Because teams are really focusing in on that aren't they? Keepers are getting put under pressure on their line. Let's get a bit of propaganda going for the goalkeepers out there. I think here in the Premier League and overall across football in England it's definitely different to what you can see also during European competition and across all the other leagues in Europe. But it's just the kind of attitude you go in. I needed a little bit of time to understand why sometimes I didn't get a foul in some situation. But it's just about the culture of football. So when you get used and when you know that the contact is coming you are more ready. And so it's just of course repeating, repeating, doing training. We are training a lot also the defensive side of set pieces. And I think the numbers, finger cross of course, are increased and we are doing a very good job. How do you find that? How do you deal with when somebody is pushing you or pulling you or pulling your glove and trying to cause chaos? How do you personally deal with that? In my opinion the goalkeeper is a zonal player. So if your role is to play as a zonal player you have to be focused on the ball. And if you get contact from an opponent you have to try to stay strong and hold your position and then trying to react. Sometimes you cannot go for every ball. Also balls that are dropping the six yards sometimes you cannot go because you are blocked. But the most you can stay strong and stay physical and waiting for the moment to go the batteries. So this was the kind of approach probably at the beginning of my career in the Premier League. I was a little bit trying to move a lot and trying to avoid blocks. Deal with the block and try to go otherwise you don't go. And of course other zonal players will deal with the ball. And how different is it at international level to the Premier League? We have spoken a lot here about the Premier League and its physicality and its different style. How different is international football? Because there is a World Cup coming up. People will be very interested to hear about the different levels of goalkeeping at an international stage. I think it's just a decision probably made by referees to decide to have a different approach from the Premier League to European football. So it's up to them. It's just the ability to deal with it, adapt with it and have the ability to switch from the Premier League to European or international football. It's just the kind of mindset that you can produce on a weekly basis and go on from the Premier League to international football.