Three weeks ago, the talk was of Richarlison drinking in Tottenham Hotspur’s last-chance saloon.
It always felt hasty, given his own struggles for form and fitness and confidence before Ange Postecoglou’s time, but you could see the point: £60m for two league goals is nobody’s idea of value.
Now, with Son Heung-min’s Asian Cup duty around the corner and with three goals in two games, Richarlison will be the de facto leader of a forward line aiming to re-establish a top-four place and that isn’t a reason for widespread fear.
Last season, he did kick-ups at the City Ground and rival fans joked that it was the highlight of Richarlison’s season. This one might get better.
Postecoglou has been keen to stress that there were multiple mitigating factors.
“Everything was a bit of a struggle for him when I first got here,” Spurs’ manager said in the build-up to Friday’s game at Forest.
“You could tell he wasn’t able to play or move as freely as he wanted to and he was kind of labouring through things.
“Whereas since he’s come back, you see him at training and even before the game at the weekend, he feels more like himself in terms of what he can do physically.”
It’s a very easy answer in the week after Richarlison has scored three times, but he clearly does look different.
It’s not just the demeanour – nothing looks sadder than a confidence forward scratching through his professional life.
Richarlison is sprinting more and finding the pockets of space that he didn’t dare dash into last season. Son will clearly be missed, but if it means Richarlison has the honour of carrying the responsibility while he’s gone, it might just work out perfectly.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/lu5DtZ1
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