Spurs supporters reacted angrily to goalkeeper waving his arms in their direction after the defeat to AZ
Frustration: tGugleilmo Vicario called for more support from the Tottenham fans
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Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario says supporters were entitled to criticise the team after the abject defeat to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League but urged the club to “stick together” ahead of the second leg, when he promised they would show “the real Spurs”.
AZ will take a deserved 1-0 lead to north London for Thursday’s last-16 decider after Lucas Bergvall’s freak own goal earned them a first win over an English club in 13 attempts.
Ange Postecoglou’s toothless side did not muster a shot on target and had Vicario to thank for keeping the scoreline down, with the Italian saving from Troy Parrott and Ernest Poku either side of the interval.
Vicario went over to try to rally a despondent away end after the final whistle, demonstrably waving his arms in what appeared to be a call for more support.
The travelling Spurs fans responded angrily, leaving Vicario looking frustrated after the exchange.
Asked if supporters were being critical of the players, Vicario said: “They can do [that].
“They have to be, they must be disappointed for the game we played but we still have another game to play against AZ at our place, so it’s the moment to stick together now because we can go through this round.
“I can [understand] the disappointment for the night because we didn’t play our football. So I can understand the frustration of the fans. But we still have a lot to play for, especially in the second leg.
Guglielmo Vicario has urged the Tottenham fans to stay behind the team
“It’s just a way of trying to stay together because we have the opportunity to go through to the next round.
“Of course we need them every game, home and away. We know they are very important for us and now is a big moment of the season and with them we can play with one more man on the pitch so it’s so important.
“I can really understand the disappointment they had because we didn’t show our level of football. It’s disappointing for us but we have to analyse and forget, and be ready for the next round.
“The performance is nowhere near the level we should have played this game. We know, it’s frustrating.
“The result of course is not great. But we have to play the second leg, so it’s on us. Now we have to analyse but also forget straight away this game. We have a big game on Sunday and ready for the second leg next Thursday.”
Spurs’ display was particularly alarming given the importance of the Europa League to salvaging what has been a difficult season for the club.
Postecoglou’s side are languishing in 13th in the table and already out of both domestic cups, but they went into the first leg among the bookies’ favourites in Europe.
Asked if they could still win the competition, Vicario said: “Of course.
“We have to think game by game, as we thought we had to do in this game — and we didn’t.
“It’s really disappointing from our perspective but I can understand the fans out there. But now we have to play another game. There’s still everything in our hands and we can reverse the result.
“I don’t know [why we are so inconsistent]. It could be whichever reason but we know what we have to do but for us tonight is very disappointing.
We take the responsibility for what happened but now we’re going to show the real Spurs in the next game.”
