Ange Postecoglou praises Tottenham duo

Tottenham face Liverpool in Saturday’s late Premier League kick off this week.

Ahead of the game, Ange Postecoglou has hailed the impact of ‘outstanding’ pair Guglielmo Vicario and Destiny Udogie.

Vicario joined Spurs from Empoli in a £17.2million deal, having worked his way up from the fourth-tier of Italian football and has been praised on his manager:

“You get presented with some options and I just really liked Vic from the start in terms of the characteristics he has as a goalkeeper,” Postecoglou said. “His agility, his demeanour, his character.

“Then I spoke to him and he’s just such an infectious personality. He was so determined he wanted to come to Tottenham and prove himself at the next level. He hasn’t had a long time at the top level, similar to Micky van de Ven. I like players who have worked their way up from a low level very quickly because it shows that they adapt very quickly but also that they’re coachable, that they learn.

“And you look at Vic, and he’s taken big steps very, very quickly and he’s been absolutely outstanding for us in the first six or seven games. He’s been a really strong influence on the field in the big moments when we’ve needed him. And he comes in every day and wants to improve, and that’s exactly what we need.”

On Udogie, he added:”That’s the Premier League, that’s why he’s here,” Postecoglou said. “There’s no greater learning curve for him.

“You saw last week, he had to work really hard against a top opponent but in the end he came out pretty good and he can’t rest on that because he’s got Salah this week and then he’ll have somebody else, a [Jack] Grealish or someone else, coming in the next weeks and he’s got to cope with all of it, but so far he’s doing very well.

“When I got the role I had a look at all the players who were out on loan last year and Destiny was one. I really liked his profile. Physically he’s got outstanding attributes but he obviously played a different style of football in terms of a lot of times he was used as an attacking wing-back.

“He made a real impact in a tough league as a young man. Serie A is a tough league. He handled himself really well and it was one of those where as soon as we got him in I could see that he wants to improve every day.

“He’s got outstanding attributes and for a 20-year-old he’s already had some really big challenges, defensively and he’s handled himself so well.

“When he has the ball and he runs forward he looks exciting. Really pleased to have him in the group.”

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