Premier League announce rule change which looks like brilliant news for one Tottenham player - opinion
Finally... ????
The new Premier League campaign is now just days away for Tottenham Hotspur who travel to Leicester City on Monday night.
But there are now more new rules for the Tottenham players to get up to scratch with before kicking off against the Foxes.
Ange Postecoglou‘s side are facing a much busier 2024/25 campaign having now made their return to the European stage.
But the Australian was not left completely satisfied as Spurs failed to land a spot in the Champions League by just two points.
Improvements have been made over the summer with the signings of Archie Gray and Dominic Solanke as the Lilywhites look to develop on the foundations set last season.
Spurs were shaky at the back last season but there is now a new rule in place which will have Postecoglou and, more specifically, Guglielmo Vicario delighted going into the new season.
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What are the new Premier League rules for 2024/25 season?
One of Tottenham’s biggest weaknesses last season was their inability to defend against set pieces.
That was certainly an even bigger issues in the second half of the campaign when clubs realised they were able to target Vicario from corners.
Manchester City seemed to kickstart the targeting of the Italy international in the FA Cup fourth round game back in January.
And from then on, Vicario was forced to face some really physical tactics inside his six yard box as he battled to win the ball.
It has now been announced by the PGMOL that blocking and interference inside the box is going to be much more stringently penalised.
Attacking players are going to be under much more scrutiny when it comes to how they look to effect the movement of the defending players who are going for the inswinging set piece.
This is positive news for Vicario, then, following his difficulties which came from set pieces during his first Premier League season.
Vicario enjoyed a really promising first season in England last year. However, his only real issue came through defending set pieces once teams realised they were getting away with so much on the Italian.
What Guglielmo Vicario said to Ange Postecoglou about defending corners
It has to be said, there were the odd instance where Vicario could potentially have been stronger against the attacking players.
But the majority of the incidents did see the Spurs goalkeeper harshly treated by the officials as he looked to claim the ball.
Postecoglou spoke over the summer about the discussions he and Vicario have held on the matter with the Italian taking a positive approach.
There was a period where I thought the officials were getting it wrong,” Postecoglou told The Athletic.
“But we had to weather that storm and the beauty of it is that he accepted that.
“He wasn’t making excuses. He wasn’t coming in on a Monday saying, ‘Oh, I can’t believe I’m not getting protected’. Instead, he was coming in and asking: “OK, how do we solve this?”
Considering how hard Spurs had to work last season to keep a clean sheet, this new ruling will certainly be taken as an added bonus.
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