Tottenham: Richarlison’s astonishing return to form

Recruited in the summer of 2022 by Tottenham from Everton for a check for 58 million euros, Richarlison was to reach a milestone with Spurs. Coming off a good season where he helped keep the Toffees in the Premier League, the Brazilian striker ultimately experienced very complicated times. Replacing Harry Kane and Heug-min son, sometimes used as a winger or attacking midfielder, he had to wait until the 34th day of the Premier League and April 30 to finally unlock his counter in the championship. Playing 35 matches for 3 goals and 4 goals, the native of Nova Venécia had missed his first exercise in North London.

Not necessarily suited to Antonio Conte’s style of play last season, he hoped to revive with new coach Ange Postecoglou this summer. Moreover, he confided it at the start of the season, he who had had to go through a psychologically complicated stage: “I’ve been through a turbulent time over the last five months off the field. Now everything is fine at home. People who only cared about my money left me. Now things will start to go well, I’m sure I’ll have a good run at Tottenham and things will happen again. I am going to return to England, seek psychological help, from a psychologist, to work on my mind. I think I will be at the next Brazil call-up, I will work for that. It’s about having a good sequence at Tottenham, this week I’m going to sit down and talk to them, I need a good sequence, to get into the rhythm of the match and to arrive here well.

Richarlison finally decisive

However, it did not go as planned. If Ange Postecoglou was able to quickly revitalize Tottenham, this was not necessarily the case for Richarlison. With only 2 goals and 3 freebies in his first 13 matches played with Spurs, the 26-year-old gradually lost his starting place. However, his coach never doubted him and wanted to help him regain his level. “Whatever Richarlison needs, we will help him achieve the space he wants to achieve. He said it because he was very emotional after the match (after a 2-1 victory against Sheffield where he scored) and we will give him the support he needs, but we do it for all the players. Nobody has a perfect life” explained the Australian technician last September. With Tottenham facing waves of injuries, Richarlison took the opportunity to finally put together some interesting performances. Author of a double against Newcastle (4-1), he then scored against Nottingham Forest (2-0), Everton (2-1) and Bournemouth (3-1) participating in Spurs’ return to form. With 5 goals scored in the last five league matches, he allowed Tottenham to return to fifth place, six points behind leader Liverpool and a unit of Manchester City (3rd) and Arsenal (4th).

“He had a fantastic impact in the Premier League with Everton, he came here and every time there is a big transfer the expectations go up, you go to a club where you are competing for honors and all these kinds of things are the challenges you have to overcome when you come to a big club. That, coupled with the physical setbacks he suffered, as a striker there’s usually only one thing people measure you by, and that’s goals and all that sort of factor, but it depends of him now. Like I said, we’re trying to give him that confidence, and he showed last week that he can be a real threat at this level with and without the ball. He will have no shortage of opportunities here and it is up to him to seize them and take his football to the top. The kind of level we think he can reach”, explained Ange Postecoglou about him after the 4-1 victory against Newcastle. Already twice as decisive as last year at mid-season, Richarlison is in a very positive phase with the Spurs. The hardest part now will be to confirm it over time with Tottenham.