Richarlison superb as star man self-destructs in absolute shocker – Tottenham player ratings vs Liverpool
Tottenham were beaten 2-1 at home by Liverpool in a chaotic match that saw the hosts finish with nine men.
A terrible first half wasn’t going anywhere until Xavi Simons was sent off shortly after the half-hour for a studs-up challenge on Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman was late on his compatriot and after a VAR review which made it look all the worst in slow-motion John Brooks upgraded his initial booking to a red card.
Things went from bad to worse for Thomas Frank when Alexander Isak put the visitors ahead on 56 minutes after Cristian Romero had booted a clearance straight into an attacker, as the Swede combined with Florian Wirtz to fire past the onrushing Guglielmo Vicario despite the attentions of Micky van de Ven. The record Premier League signing went off injured as a result.
Tottenham then fell apart from there as Hugo Ekitike doubled the lead less than 10 minutes later, beating Romero in the air to loop a deflected Jeremie Frimpong into the far corner.
But Richarlison pulled one back off the bench when he swept one home during a penalty area scramble moments after coming on for the anonymous Randal Kolo Muani to spark a wild finish, but Romero completed his self-destruction when he was also sent off in nine minutes of added time for kicking out at Ibrahima Konate on the ground.
Xavi Simons progress thrown out the window
Simons’ disappointing start to life at Tottenham was a key complaint through the early months of the season, after Spurs has hijacked Chelsea’s move for him in the summer.
But Simons suddenly looked to have turned a corner in the win over Brentford a fortnight ago, followed up by another decent performance in the Champions League against Slavia Prague.
However, any progress that the former RB Leipzig man had made has now be categorically squandered after his red card opened the door for a struggling Liverpool to take full advantage.
| Touches | 23 |
| Key passes | 1 |
| Passes completed | 16/19 (84%) |
| Long balls | 2/2 (100%) |
| Dribbles completed | 1/1 (100%) |
| Tackles won | 1/1 (100%) |
His challenge on international teammate Van Dijk was mistimed more than malicious, and he may have been slightly unfortunate to have caught him quite so strongly, but it seemed to have ruined this game as a contest and threw away any opportunity for a morale-boosting result for Frank against a similarly embattled manager in Arne Slot.
The huge frustration for Simons was that statistically he wasn’t too bad prior to being dismissed, and while the overall level of quality from both teams was pretty dismal he was at least showing some intent, but that was all thrown away with a major error that will compounded by suspension.
Romero leads Spurs in wrong direction in nightmare half
Simons can at least just about argue that he is a young player – 22 – in a new league, even if he is now months into his Spurs career and proving a major disappointment for his transfer fee.
Romero on the other hand is a 27-year-old World Cup winner in the middle of his fifth Premier League campaign, and the club captain.
| Touches | 61 |
| Errors leading to goals | 1 |
| Tackles won | 1/3 (33%) |
| Clearances | 12 |
| Duels won | 6/9 (66%) |
Romero hauled Tottenham to a point at Newcastle at the start of the month, but the example he led with against Liverpool was a terrible one.
With Spurs just about holding it together a man down he hit a careless pass straight into Alexis Mac Allister and ran out of position attempting to rectify the error, leaving acres of space for Wirtz to assist the opener.
And then was the man beaten by Ekitike to make it two. He scored both at St. James’ Park but was at fault for conceding both here, and his head-loss at the end won’t inspire any teammates positively.
Even then he wasn’t finished, and somehow managed to beat Simon in a race to the bottom on the day, getting himself sent off needlessly in added time just as Richarlison had sparked an unlikely revival. An incredible afternoon where the captain seemed to do everything he could to sabotage his own side.
Richarlison transforms ragged Spurs
Richarlison has been subject to much criticism during Tottenham‘s struggles this season and often that is justified.
But it is a measure of how poor Spurs have been so often under Frank that the Brazilian has probably been unfairly targeted.
He is maddeningly inconsistent at times but numerous other attacking teammates are often equally ineffective, and he has at least now scored seven Premier League goals this season, and transformed the game when he came on here.
| Shots | 2 |
| Shots on target | 1 |
| Passes | 4/5 (80%) |
| Touches | 10 |
| Fouled | 1 |
He was in the right place at the right time to take the one golden opportunity that presented itself, and immediately put Liverpool on the back foot. It was easy to forget Kolo Muani was even on the pitch in the second half but Richarlison made sure you couldn’t miss him.
Running around enraging the visitors and still getting booked by Brooks after the final whistle, he certainly cared about trying to get something from this game where that can’t easily be said for everyone in White. Were it not for Romero’s catastrophic contributions the introduction of Richarlison might have been enough to get at least a point.
Tottenham player ratings vs Liverpool
Guglielmo Vicario – 5
Pedro Porro – 6
Cristian Romero – 1
Micky van de Ven – 6
Djed Spence – 7
Rodrigo Bentancur – 5
Archie Gray (off for Palhinha ’71) – 5
Lucas Bergvall (off for Odobert ’71) – 6
Mohammed Kudus (off for Johnson ’58) – 6
Xavi Simons – 2
Randal Kolo Muani (off for Richarlison ’80) – 5
Substitutions
Brennan Johnson (on for Kudus ’58) – 6
Wilson Odobert (on for Bergvall ’71) – 7
Joao Palhinha (on for Gray ’71) – 6
Richarlison (on for Kolo Muani ’80) – 8 – Man of the Match
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