Tottenham player told ‘he’d be playing in League Two if he wasn’t Brazilian’ | OneFootball

Richarlison puts his hands on his head during an FA Cup match.

Aston Villa legend Gabby Agbonlahor insists Tottenham striker Richarlison would be “playing in League Two if he wasn’t Brazilian”.

Richarlison scored 53 goals in 152 appearances for Everton before making the move to Spurs in the 2022 summer transfer window for a fee which could reach as much as £60m.

However, his time at Tottenham did not got off to the best start with the Brazil international scoring just ten goals in his first 54 matches in all competitions.

His Premier League record under Ange Postecoglou is much better this season than last with Richarlison contributing six goals and three assists in the first half of the campaign.

Richarlison is now showing signs that he could be the striker Tottenham hoped he’d become but Agbonlahor was far from impressed by what he saw in Spurs’ 1-0 win over Burnley.

“I was watching the game and thinking ‘I’m wasting my evening, I could be watching a new series on Netflix’ 60 minutes in, I turned it off, it was dreadful,” Agbonlahor said on talkSPORT.

“Richarlison, he can’t control the ball, he’s not strong enough to hold the ball up, he’s not good with link-up play, he can’t run in behind because he’s not quick enough, he can’t finish.

“Honestly, he’d be playing in League Two if he wasn’t Brazilian, I don’t rate him one bit.”

Agbonlahor wasn’t the only pundit to criticise Richarlison in the aftermath of their win against Burnley with former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol insisting Tottenham – who are on the verge of signing Timo Werner from RB Leipzig – need a new striker.

Nicol said on ESPN: “They’re missing a goal scorer. I mean all the questions when Son left was who’s going to put the ball in the back of the net? Who’s going to pick up on what he’s not going to be able to deliver? The truth is we don’t have an answer to that because Richarlison’s not a goalscorer.

“If ever there was a game that showed that, it was tonight. The two (chances) we showed in the first half on his left-hand side – pretty weak, both attempts. And then, he’s whiffing on a header.

“So, you know, I guess if you are Postecoglou, you are delighted you’re through tonight, but at the same time, they should have made this easier, and they would have done if they had somebody up front who actually is a goalscorer.”

“His record with Tottenham is one in four. Now, you ain’t winning anything if your centre-forward is one in four, particularly when your two wide guys are really not there to score goals. This isn’t Salah and Mane of a couple of years ago. It’s Johnson and Kulusevski, so who’s going to score?”

Former Celtic boss Postecoglou recently discussed the improvements that Richarlison has made this season compared to last term under former Spurs manager Antonio Conte.

“He’s free of injury, he feels good physically and he’s able to perform at the level he wants to,” Postecoglou said.

“He couldn’t do that at the start here, he was feeling fairly restricted in his movements and there’s no magic cure, he got treatment for what he needed and he feels good now.

“He’s scoring goals which makes him feel more confident and he’s working really hard for the team which has been really important for us.”