12 December 2023 , 14:00
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Gus Poyet has warned Richarlison he must stop looking for excuses and show he can be Tottenham’s main man.
Former Spurs midfielder Poyet says it is now down to Richarlison to prove he can step into the void left by Harry Kane and become a prolific striker. Richarlison scored twice in Tottenham’s thumping 4-1 win over Newcastle on Sunday and now already has scored four goals in all competitions which is one more than he managed all of last season.
It has been a frustrating 18 months at Tottenham for Richarlison since he made his £60m move from Everton but Poyet says now it is “on him” to show he can be Ange Postecoglou’s first choice No9.
Poyet, talking to NewBettingOffers.co.uk, said: "When Spurs signed Richarlison I thought it was a great opportunity for him, because they were always missing a player that was able to play if Harry Kane couldn’t for whatever reason.
"It seemed perfect, and he did okay when Kane was still there. Everyone thought that when Kane left he could be the starting number nine, but it has not happened for him for some reason.
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"Now it is at the point where they’ve decided to play Heung-min Son up front and they have found a better way to win football matches. Now Richarlison has a problem.
"As a player, you can complain that you don’t play under one coach, then the next coach, but you can’t blame everyone. Sometimes you need to take a look at yourself.
Gus Poyet has warned Tottenham's Richarlison he must stop looking for excuses (Getty Images)"He’s a good player but needs to play in a certain way and I don’t know if he has the right characteristics to play as the number nine in Postecoglou’s system.
"If I was the coach, I would be constantly communicating with him. I would talk to him a lot about what I need in that position and what he needs to do more or less to have a better chance of making the starting XI."
Richarlison grasped his opportunity against Newcastle and, in fairness, injuries have played a major part but now he must be confident of a run of games and goals. Equally, Postecoglou put a bad run of five games without a win behind him with the victory over Newcastle to get their season back on track.
After a brilliant start, their form has slumped through injuries but Poyet says the fans must stick with the manager and his attacking philosophy if he is to be a success. Poyet added: “Spurs fans one hundred percent need to trust the process. They have had a tendency to complain about how defensively the team was set up under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, but now they find themselves with a manager who does the opposite.
“They play so high up the pitch and the fans love it. To maintain the level of performance and win playing in the way they do for the long term, [Spurs] need their best players fit. When the best players aren’t fit then the quality of the squad comes into the equation, and you need proper depth.
"As coaches we always think that everything is okay when it is going well, but then you miss your best player for a period of time and realise that maybe you are not okay. It also depends on who you have fixtures against in that period when you’re missing key players."