Journalist Alasdair Gold has criticised Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison after a poor display as they were eliminated from the FA Cup.
How has Richarlison performed for Spurs?
The Brazil international joined from Everton in a deal worth around £60m in the summer, but is still yet to score a league goal for the club, and was particularly disappointing as Spurs were shocked by Sheffield United to all but end their chances of silverware this season.
Richarlison started as a central striker with Harry Kane on the bench, with a rare chance to play in the middle rather than on the wings, but could not make an impact as Spurs fell to a 1-0 defeat.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Gold claimed that despite the 26-year-old gaining more regular minutes recently, he looked in worse form than ever, and his contributions were incredibly poor.
(25:50) “I didn’t think Richarlison played very well at all,” he stated.
“And the most disappointing thing for me was, I think logic would suggest it, that’s now his third consecutive start, you would think he’d be getting sharper and a better rhythm to his game. I actually felt that was probably the worst he’s looked.
“He was pretty poor, to be honest. He looked like he hadn’t tried to take a shot on goal in about a month with ome of his efforts. They were really, really poor.
“There was one when he got away on the edge of the box, cut inside and you kind of thought ‘okay, he’ll try and curl this’. He sliced it so far wide, it was closer to the corner flag than it was the goal. It was dreadful. He played a couple of nice passes, but not enough. His hold-up play wasn’t good enough.”
Does Richarlison deserve more criticism?
The Brazilian has scored just twice in 23 games for the club, with both goals coming in the Champions League group stages.
Given that he was a big-money arrival to provide a strong rotational option to Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski, the lack of goals are concerning.
He scored 11 times for Everton last season, helping the Toffees avoid relegation, and perhaps his lack of consistent game-time is not allowing him to play to his full ability.
The majority of his appearances last season came as a central striker, a role he has played just four times this season, but his performance against Sheffield United will have done him no favours to justify his selection through the middle.
Just seven of his 16 league appearances this season came from the start, and he has only played 90 minutes once, which may have disrupted his rhythm in front of goal, but given his performance levels when he is playing, he has not done enough to justify a role in the side.
