Ange Postecoglou believes Richarlison has turned a new corner after scoring two goals in Tottenham’s 4-1 win over Newcastle.
Brazilian forward Richarlison, who arrived at Spurs in the summer of 2022, ended a run of eight games without a goal when he notched up a brace in the north Londoner’s win against Newcastle last weekend.
The 26-year-old’s first goal of that match was the first scored with his feet for the club, with his previous five coming with his head.
After missing two matches with a groin injury and struggling for form, Postecoglou believes the Brazilian has turned a corner in his Spurs career:
“He looks a lot freer in training from when I first arrived,” the Australian said. “Everything was a bit of a struggle for him when I first got here.
“You could tell he wasn’t able to play or move as freely as he wanted to and he was kind of labouring through things.
“He was still having effects on games but you could tell and it got progressively worse.
“Whereas since he’s come back, you see him at training and even before the game at the weekend, he feels more like himself in terms of what he can do physically.”
A regular scorer for Brazil as their starting number nine, Richarlison’s time so far at Spurs has been a mixed bag of results, with only seven goals and seven assists in 49 appearances for the Lilywhites.
Postecoglou acknowledged the mental struggle footballers endure in their career, not just his own striker’s struggles, but was adamant the performance against Newcastle shows how quickly things can turn around.
“That’s a big thing for a footballer because for the most part footballers are always battling with something. There’s always a little niggle.
“But if it’s something that’s really debilitating that they don’t deal with straight away and have to carry on with, it has an impact on them physically but also mentally.
“Whereas you remove that from it and they can just play. I think you saw that at the weekend. Not just his goals, but his general work-rate.
“At least two of the goals came from him winning the ball back for us. He’s able to do that stuff and that gives him more confidence.”
