Media slam Richarlison for poor Tottenham performance

The media have ripped into Richarlsion for his display during Tottenham Hotspur’s London derby win.

The Lowdown: Tottenham back in the top four

The big news pre-match was that of Son Heung-min being dropped out of the starting lineup for only the second time in the Premier League this season with Richarlison taking his place.

That experiment only lasted 68 minutes, however, with the South Korean international being introduced deep into the second half after Richarlison failed to impress managing just 26 touches throughout.

While Tottenham were delighted to pick up a huge three points and capitalise on Newcastle United losing yesterday evening to see them jump into the top four, Richarlison’s worrying league form will be alarming as he’s still yet to find the back of the net in the league this season.

The Latest: Richarlison fails to impress

Richarlison’s performance was picked up by several people within the media that took in the London derby which will have left more questions about why Spurs splashed out £60 million on him over the summer.

Sky Sports’ Joe Shread – who was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – insisted that Richarlison was showing rustiness when he struck an effort straight at Lukasz Fabianski as he said:

‘That was tame from Richarlison, with the Brazilian perhaps showing the rustiness of a player that hasn’t started a game club since before the World Cup.’

Luke McLaughlin of The Guardian was equally as unimpressed by that effort from Richarlison as he said: ‘It’s all a bit laboured, all slightly mistimed’

Finally, George Sessions of the PA claimed that when the Brazilian was subbed off he looked rather ‘dejected’ at the decision.

The Verdict: Competition for places is key

While it certainly is always a bold decision to bench someone of Son’s calibre and ability, it always appeared to work as he’s been demoted twice in the league this term and it’s resulted in the winger netting four goals in those encounters.

The fact that he has netted once again would suggest that Richarlison will be set for a few more games starting on the bench because getting Son back to top form will be imperative for Tottenham.

However, he will know that the Spurs staff aren’t worried about benching him as they have a £60 million attacker as his backup, which may be what he needs to get him firing on all cylinders knowing that competition is very rife.

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