Richarlison slams Conte over lack of playing time
Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison is not happy with club manager Antonio Conte. The Brazilian star criticized his coach for a lack of playing time following the team’s draw at home with AC Milan on Wednesday. Spurs were bounced out of the Champions League because of the result against the Italians.
“I should have played,” Richarlison told TNT Sports following the match, translated to English. “I was playing well, we won against Chelsea and West Ham and suddenly I was on the bench.”
Conte delivered no explanation to Richarlison over playing time
“I played five minutes against Wolves, asked the reason and no one told me why. Yesterday, they asked me to take a fitness test in the gym and told me I was going to start today if I passed it. And today, I was on the bench.
“There are things I can’t understand. There was no explanation again, let’s see what [Conte] will tell us tomorrow. I’m not silly. I’m a professional who works hard every day and I want to play.”
Much like the first leg of the tie against Milan, Richarlison only entered the fray as a late substitution. The 25-year-old forward managed just 20 minutes on the pitch in each game. Following his latest appearance from the bench, Richarlison has now been substituted into more games than he’s started during Champions League and Premier League play.
Brazilian hasn’t yet lived up to lofty expectations
The Brazilian joined the north London outfit last summer in a deal with around $60 million. Although the move was widely praised by pundits, Richarlison hasn’t exactly hit the ground running with his new club. In fact, the forward has managed to scored just two goals in 25 total games this season. Both of these strikes came in the opening group stage fixture against Marseille in September.
Despite his lackluster goal output, Spurs have seemingly performed better when Richarlison is in the starting XI. The club hasn’t lost a Champions League or Premier League match when the Brazilian starts since October 1st. This defeat came at the hands of bitter rivals Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.
Richarlison also acknowledged his poor goal record in the interview, but claimed that he is now fit and ready to help the team. “I’ll try to score as many goals as I can because the club has paid a lot of money for me and I haven’t given enough back on the pitch yet,” continued the Brazilian.
“Fair to say my injuries didn’t help and I haven’t had enough minutes. But now I’ll go home, rest, train tomorrow and see if he’ll put me in the first XI next game.”
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