Despite going into the north London derby without key duo Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, Arsenal dug deep to secure a vital win away from home.
The winner came courtesy of centre-back whose thumping second-half header secured the Gunners’ third successive win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It also continued Spurs’ sorry defensive record at set pieces, with only Nottingham Forest conceding more goals from dead-ball situations than Ange Postecoglou’s side since the Australian’s arrival.
Hoddle was quick to point the blame at Spurs’ keeper Vicario who he insisted remains lacklustre when trying to deal with set pieces.
‘The goalkeeper has an Achilles heel,’ the former Tottenham manager told Premier League Productions. ‘Other clubs have seen it – it’s any ball in that inswinging area into that six-yard box
‘His instinct is to go backwards. He’s never looking to come out. He’s involved in the battle up but he’s got to detach himself away from that and think to himself: ‘Where is my intent?”
‘His body is always going backwards – he’s got to come and punch some of those balls,’ Hoddle continued.
‘Arsenal have played that corner because time and time again he’s conceded from that situation. He flapped at one in the first half, he wasn’t convincing.
‘He’s a good shotstopper but he has got to come and make himself more physical, come and get more balls and punch more balls.
‘He’s not got to catch it there but clear the area. And until he does, they are going to concede even more goals.’
Postecoglou, meanwhile, sought to defend his training methods as he continues to come under fire for their leaky record from set pieces.
‘I know, for some reason, people think I don’t care about set pieces and it’s a narrative that you can keep going on for ages and ages. I understand that,’ he said.
‘Like I said, we work on them all the time like we do for every other team. You know that they’re a threat, as I said, for the most part, we handled them really well today, but we switched off for one and we paid the price and you learn from that and you move on.’
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