Wayne Rooney admits that he rates Richarlison highly and explains why Thomas Frank appears to be getting the best out of the Tottenham striker.
Richarlison has scored twice and set up another goal in Tottenham’s first two Premier League games of the season.
What has been even more impressive is his all-round centre-forward play, with the 28-year-old holding the ball up impressively, pressing incessantly, and combining well with Tottenham’s other attackers.
Thomas Frank has said that Richarlison will be his first choice centre-forward at the moment, with Spurs’ record signing, Dominic Solanke, having work to do to win back his place in the starting eleven.
Wayne Rooney claims Tottenham are playing to Richarlison’s strengths
Tottenham fans and a lot of pundits may be surprised by how the Brazilian has started the season, but Rooney is not.
The Man United legend believes that we are now seeing the best of Richarlison due to the fact that Spurs are now getting a lot more crosses into the box, with the former Everton man thus knowing where he needs to be in the box.
The pundit said on BBC’s Wayne Rooney Show: “Yeah, and Richarlison is a good player. And if you play to his strengths, then he’s a handful. And it’s similar to what I was saying before about the basics.
“If Tottenham get the ball out wide, there’s no thought of going in the box. And so for the forwards, the difference that makes in terms of before the ball reaches the wide man or the full-back, you know, you might start pulling off the centre back to get across him.
“So knowing the ball is going to come in the box, so it allows you that little bit more time to adjust your body position or readjust yourself to get that little edge on the defender.
“So it makes it so much easier for the forwards if you know that ball is coming in. And all you’ve got to do is work on your timing, and he’s aggressive, he will put himself in there. So yeah, I think the change tactically, which has happened, is certainly going to bring the best out of Richarlison for sure.”
Richarlison had good spells under Ange Postecoglou
It is easy to put the Brazilian’s improvement down only to Frank’s arrival at Tottenham. While there is no doubt that the tactical tweak has helped Richarlison, one should not forget that he also had good spells under his predecessor.
Midway into Postecoglou’s first season in charge, the striker went on a fantastic run of goalscoring until his progress was once again interrupted by injuries.
In fact, prior to the Man City game, Richarlison has scored 13 goals in his last 16 league starts for Tottenham, which shows that he has always been deadly when he is fit and firing.
Have something to tell us about this article?
