Richarlison isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he’s taken every step in his stride to end up in Tottenham and Brazil when few believed it.
Who is it then?
Richarlison de Andrade is a 6-foot, 25-year-old Brazilian striker who plays for Tottenham Hotspur and scored twice against Ghana on Friday for his country.
Born in Nova Venécia, he made his América Mineiro debut in 2014 after being rejected by several other clubs, making his debut in 2015 and eventually playing 24 games and scoring nine times.
From there he moved to Fluminense for two seasons, impressing in his second scoring 15 goals in 36 games.
At this point Watford, then a Premier League club, came into the room carrying a used 20-pound £11.2million bag of garden waste, shouted ‘get in the van’ at our man and drove him into the notorious wastelands of Hertfordshire. .
He was only due to stay at Watford for one season and played the entire Premier League campaign, but scored just five goals. However, it was the kind of form that attracted him to Everton who needed such a striker.
The Everton manager’s revolving door had, by then, pushed Marco Silva into the room, who had been Watford manager for seven months before being sacked for being bad enough, but bad enough was good enough to Everton trying to clear the Sam Allardyce. their filthy bodies stink. And Silva thought Richarlison could do a job for the Toffees.
It turned out he was right as the Brazilian netted 14 times in his first season and 15 in his second when Silva was sacked after 18 months in charge. In subsequent campaigns, he would play under four different managers, all doing equally poorly. His form was only intermittently good, but he had 13 goals and 11 in his last two seasons at Goodison. Finished with 53 goals in 152 games.
It was a bit of a surprise when Daniel Levy shoved £50million through Everton’s letterbox to take him to Spurs. 50 million pounds! Everton tried to keep a serious face as they waved him off, then proceeded to do a bender and ended up with Neal Maupay in the band. No one could remember why.
However, it turned out, in a simple twist of fate, that Richarlison was one of those players who plays better the better his team gets. He’s upping his game. So while some cynics thought Levy bought him as part of a midlife crisis, in fact, in the eight games he’s played, he’s looked more impressive than at any other time in his career, largely because he’s not in the most bleds.
Better yet, his international career is blossoming in a World Cup year, having now scored six goals in five games for Brazil and 16 in 37 overall. Another proof that the better the players he plays with, the better he plays.
Why love?
It’s too early in his tenure at Spurs to suggest anyone other than his mother actually likes Richarlison and he tends to sport the scowl of a man who’s just swallowed a wasp. Add to that his current nasty bleached merkin haircut and it could make a man hard to love. But sure to say his two late goals against Marseille in the Champions League helped Spurs fans feel favorably towards him. Add assists against Forest and Fulham and there’s reason to think he’s added a lot to the squad already.
I think FIFA and other games have led us to believe that players are of a certain quality and they rarely deviate from that form. However, real life is more nuanced than that. If you’re good at football, you might think you’ll just be good for who you play, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Richarlison is one of those players who looks in a different class when you put him on a team of great players. Put him in a failing team like at Watford and especially Everton, while he’s not getting desperate and has scored some great goals for both, he’s just not performing at the top of his game. Whether that’s because of the tactics the manager is playing or whether it’s an emotional response to being surrounded by duffers is hard to say, but so far at Spurs it has seemed more quick in the field, lighter on his feet and just a whole lot sharper.
He was criticized for what was called ‘showboating’ against Nottingham Forest, and was wiped out for it. But surely showboating is one of the reasons everyone goes to see football in the first place. Anyone who pushes the idea that somehow it’s disrespectful misunderstands sport. All he did was a quick interview; if that bothers you, take a step back. That said, I’m all for kicking anyone who does. That too is part of the fun.
For Brazil he plays in the middle and his goals against Ghana suggest he is damn good, with a quick first strike and a deft header, so for Spurs he can clearly operate in any position of the three first. This kind of flexibility will come in very handy in the post-Christmas part of the season, as injuries and general exhaustion will start to really bite.
three big moments
His two goals against Ghana are both fine finishes, but note how quick and light on his toes he looks in this context:
It was a first in the Champions League:
Five Watford goals:
Future days?
Initially it was thought he would play second fiddle to the existing top three at Spurs but Heung-min Son’s lack of form gave him a chance to prove himself and it was an opportunity he seized. With the South Korean seemingly back in favor with an excellent hat-trick, Richarlison may find himself on the bench more often, but this season is so compressed and busy there will be plenty of chances to shine while others are rested . And let’s be honest, we all know that Harry Kane will soon have some sort of severe talent. He always does. If so, Richarlison can easily play in the middle and succeed.
His 88 goals in 292 career games isn’t very impressive, but what’s exciting about him is that he’s now 25 and in the peak years of his career and he’s doing it playing for Brazil and Tottenham. While in some ways he remains high potential and now needs to start delivering the goods consistently, I have a feeling we are outside of a purple spot for the Brazilian and we will see him tear it up. in Qatar. . Upon his return to north London, it may seem like a very well-spent £50million.
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