BBC pundit Micah Richards has scorned Tottenham Hotspur for failing to resolve their set-piece problems, after they left goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario exposed for Gabriel's towering header from a corner - a sequence that saw Arsenal beat the Lilywhites on their own turf to leave Ange Postecoglou's men with just four points from their opening four Premier League games.
Vicario had coped well with matters in the first half, barring a minor off-the-ball scuffle with Jurrien Timber for a challenge on Pedro Porro that could have seen the Dutchman given his marching orders with his studs up. The incident seemingly gave Arsenal confidence to bombard the Tottenham goal despite their youthful side, and when the Gunners earned a corner in the second half, Vicario was isolated as Gabriel lost Cristian Romero to power home a header unchallenged. Many have been blamed for their role in the goal, but Richards believes that £17m star Vicario should be blameless, with his teammates picking up the flak instead.
Richards: Tottenham Star Vicario 'Exposed'
The Italian has not been helped out from set-pieces
Speaking on 'The Rest is Football' podcast, Richards believed that Tottenham need to work on set-pieces going forward and protect Vicario in the future if they are to quash any cheap goals from dead ball situations. He said:
"You can work - in training - on not making him have to come for those situations. Put someone, or put two people in the centre of the goal, that can just be zonal. You'll have a few blockers around, and just leave the goalkeeper to focus on the reaction of where he needs to go if someone has a shot.
"But yeah, I just feel like he's being exposed. I think it's easy now, because we did something on Match of the Day last season, about the amount of times that teams were targeting Vicario. But you need to help him out, you know, that's what they need to do.
"They need to help him out a little bit more, if that's his weakness."
Tottenham Must Turn Their Fortunes Around
The Lilywhites have had a poor start to the campaign
Loss to Arsenal means that Tottenham's season continues to be underwhelming. Despite dominating possession against Leicester City on the opening weekend of the campaign, they could only muster a 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium thanks to Jamie Vardy's second-half equaliser.
A 4-0 win over Everton looked as though they could turn the tide, but a 2-1 loss to Newcastle United just a week later - despite once again dominating possession and missing countless opportunities - meant that a win over Arsenal was almost imperative if they were to make progress going forward.
That, of course, didn't happen, and it leaves them sitting in a paltry 13th place in the table. European football is a necessity in the white half of north London, but Tottenham do seem a long way from that despite facing two tough games in their previous two fixtures.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Guglielmo Vicario has two caps for Italy, with his debut coming back in March against Ecuador.
Their upcoming run of fixtures that sees them face Brentford, Manchester United, Brighton and West Ham United in their next four, which isn't entirely easy. Postecoglou will need to remedy that quickly if they are to play on the continent next season.