Son Heung-min says everyone is ‘standing behind’ Richarlison at Tottenham
Son Heung-min says everyone is “standing behind” Richarlison at Tottenham as he ended a difficult week with a vital contribution against Sheffield United.
The Brazil striker scored his first home league goal for Spurs, who scored twice deep in injury time to defeat the Blades 2-1 in a dramatic Premier League encounter on Saturday (16 September).
Richarlison has struggled badly for form at Tottenham and endured a difficult time on international duty with Brazil where he was pictured in tears after being substituted in a 5-1 win over Bolivia.
After that game Richarlison said he would seek “psychological help” (The Independent, 14 September) following a difficult period away from the pitch and Spurs captain Son – who pushed his teammate towards the front of celebrations after the win over United – hailed his teammate.
“This is part of [being a] family,” Son said in quotes reported by the Evening Standard (17 September). “We always want to have a good time when we play with each other. Richy obviously had a very tough time, a tough season.
“But I was very, very happy. I was probably more happy than him. We need him as a team, he has really good quality but the confidence is massively different. For Richy, I just wanted to give him the big hug he deserved and he really showed his quality.
“Richy is a really strong guy, a good character and can always bounce back strong. But when you have a tough time you need good people around you.
“I always try to be a friend of him and if he needs anything then I can help him from my experience or my playing wise also. I think everyone is standing behind him helping. He did an amazing job for this club.”
A world of good
It is never nice to see a player so openly struggling and the scenes of Richarlison in tears on the bench for his beloved Brazil were difficult to witness.
Which is why it was so lovely to see him make such an important contribution for Ange Postecoglou’s side against Sheffield United, where his equaliser preceded Dejan Kulusevski scoring a dramatic winner.
For Richarlison, it will hopefully give him a massive confidence boost on the pitch and hopefully help with any issues he has been contending with off it.
Richarlison’s average SofaScore rating this season still sits at 6.88 but was boosted by a score of 8.6 off the bench against the Blades – helped mainly of course by his goal.
But he did also manage to complete a key pass during his limited time on the pitch, while winning three of his five aerial duels (SofaScore).
It is obviously too soon to say he his form has turned around, but the goal and his overall contribution will have done the mercurial forward the world of good.
In other Tottenham news, Spurs were better off without Micky van de Ven against the Blades.