Ange Postecoglou has failed to rule out Tottenham Hotspur signing a new goalkeeper in January, but has offered his support to Fraser Forster after making some glaring errors in Thursday's 4-3 win over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
Forster has played in Tottenham's last four Premier League matches after first-choice player Guglielmo Vicario suffered an ankle injury in… Tottenham beat Manchester City 4-0 In November.
The 36-year-old was also between the sticks Tottenham He reached the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, facing Liverpool back and forth, but made two fatal errors to give goals to Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo.
The errors proved inconsequential in the end, with Son Heung-min's direct goal from a corner kick enough to keep United at bay, but questions were inevitably raised about Forster's position given Vicario is still no closer to returning to action.
Speaking to the media before the Tottenham match Premier League In Sunday's match, ironically with Liverpool, Postecoglou did not completely rule out the possibility of signing another goalkeeper, but he gave a strong indication that Forster has his support for as long as he needs it.
“I think I left the door open to sign a new goalkeeper, because if we have another goalkeeper injury, we will definitely have to sign someone,” Postecoglou said. “I think Firas did really well for us. It's not easy. Anytime a No. 2 goalkeeper comes in, it's always, especially for a long period of time, not the easiest position to get into, but I think he's dealt with it. He's good.” Really, as I expected from him.
“And as I said, he was disappointed last night, but we have to keep that in the context of his overall performance. It's not, you know, four or five games have been a series of mistakes. So, we keep that in context of what happened last night.”
“He contributed to our win. I thought his first half was fantastic, he helped us get up the pitch to overcome their pressure, and he made a good save 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 some bad decisions that night and we're going to work with him. Pershy is going to work with him. And like I said, we have no choice but to get back in the saddle on Sunday And off again.”
Postecoglou also said Vicario is “going above and beyond” in his recovery but is “still a little way off” in terms of returning to action.