Richarlison, a Tottenham Hotspur forward, has chastised his club manager, Antonio Conte, for not playing him more frequently.
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that Richarlison joined Tottenham Hotspur from Everton last summer for a fee of £60 million.
Since joining the north London club in 2013, the 25-year-old Brazilian international has made just seven Premier League starts. Richarlison has appeared in 661 Premier League minutes for Spurs.
Coach Antonio Conte introduced the Brazilian forward in the 70th minute of the club’s Champions League round of 16 second-leg match against AC Milan on Wednesday.
Richarlison, who had only recently returned from injury, was unable to help Spurs as AC Milan defeated them 1-0 on aggregate.
Richarlison insisted after the game that he “should have played” from the start of the Champions League game.
I was playing well, we won against Chelsea and West Ham and suddenly I was on the bench”, he told Brazilian TV station TNT Sports.
I played five minutes against Wolves, asked the reason and no one told me why. Yesterday (Wednesday), they asked me to take a fitness test in the gym and told me I was going to start today (Wednesday) if I passed it.
And today (Wednesday) I was on the bench. There are things I can’t understand. There was no explanation again, let’s see what he [Conte] will tell us tomorrow – but I’m not silly, I’m a professional who works hard every day and I want to play.
He continued;
There haven’t been enough minutes given to me. I don’t have enough minutes, was injured for a bit, but when I’m on the pitch I give my life.
I played well in two games, especially against Chelsea, so I think I should have played tonight, but I can’t go on crying about it now.
On Saturday, Tottenham, who are currently in fourth position in the Premier League, will host Nottingham Forest as they continue to fight for a top-four finish.
Discussion about this post