It has been confirmed that just after he had made a comeback from his previous injury, Richarlison has suffered another setback, with a fresh hamstring injury setting him back for a minimum of another four weeks on the sidelines.
Sod’s law that this injury was suffered when putting the ball on a plate for Dominic Solanke to score his second and Spurs’ third goal of the game in the win over Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon. Even when something good happens, it comes with something bad at the same time.
It has already been covered just how shattered Solanke has looked recently, and this is going to increase his workload even more. Unless Ange feels confident in trusting Will Lankshear under an intense, hostile atmosphere, then Solanke is going to have to start another game away to Galatasaray tomorrow evening, before traveling another 2000 odd miles back home ahead of going again against Ipswich Town on Sunday evening.
Fortunately, it feels unlikely that Solanke will get significant minutes for England over the international break (even if a shame for him, of course) so that could potentially come as a good time for the striker to get rest, especially with an incredibly intense schedule to finish the calendar year on the horizon.
Whilst there is little doubt over Richarlison’s quality, as he showed for the assist against Villa, the best ability is availability. There is no point if you are not available to show it on the pitch. The Brazilian forward would add such good depth, all across the frontline if he was fit. He would be absolutely perfect in games like tomorrow, giving other players some needed rest.
There has been talk amongst the fanbase to cash in on the player and to accept a bid from countries like Saudi Arabia. The reality is, when the player does not want to leave – Spurs are powerless. They can’t just make him walk out of the door. The 27-year old rejected the opportunity to go to Saudi Arabia in the summer, and you would be surprised if a few months had made him change his mind.
Just very, very frustrating news. The international break comes at a good time in this regard, but he is still set to miss a couple of weeks afterwards. In this schedule, a couple of weeks is a long time.
At best, Richarlison will miss the games with Manchester City and Roma. The latter game would have once again been the perfect time to rotate him into the side. The game at home to Fulham on the 1st of December would be four weeks after the Villa game, so we will see if he makes that one. You would have thought Ange will not want him to be involved unless he is absolutely, 100%, ready to go.