On paper, Richarlison looks like he is having a strong season for Tottenham Hotspur. The former splash signing from Everton has scored 6 goals in 15 appearances in the Premier League this season, and when you factor in that 9 of those 15 appearances have been starts with 6 of his games coming off the bench, a return of 6 goals and 2 assists in 887 league minutes is actually quite good.
The thing is, Tottenham fans who have to deal with neutral accounts mongering engagements with positivity about Richarlison's goal scoring record are quite nauseated by all of this. Because while it is true that Richarlison is scoring goals, his play on the pitch has been quite poor, and the stats mongers have completely missed this.
Richarlison is stacking goals and even plaudits off the hard work that players like Randal Kolo Muani and Wilson Odobert are putting in to give him these wide open goals. Meanwhile, Richy is doing pretty much nothing to create for the team, as his passing and dribbling have been appalling, with a shockingly poor all around game. Juxtapose that with what Randal Kolo Muani has been offering Spurs now that he is healthy, and there are clearly levels between the two main healthy 9's at the N17.
Richarlison is falsely positive
The way Richarlison's goals falsely elevated his impact this season is reminiscent of Brennan Johnson last season. Johnson led Tottenham in Premier League goals, but he was a pretty below average player. And while Spurs will always credit his clutch winning goal in the Europa Legaue Final - a clutch factor Richarlison, of course, has not brought to the table this season whereas Cristian Romero and Mathys Tel, for example, have - he was a big reason why they came 17th in the Premier League, too.
Like Johnson, Richarlison is offering nothing all around. He is not helping the team defensively, he is useless in one on ones, he does not progress the ball, he does not run the channels well, and if he is not scoring tap ins or the rare banger, he is not helping the team.
Yes, goals are very important and win games, but Richarlison could also be creating goals for his teammates for them to finish instead of finishing up the easy goals that the others are working hard to make. As Kolo Muani showed against PSG or even Romero against Newcastle, there are others able and willing to take on the scoring task. And Tottenham fans are quickly realizing that Richy's scoring exploits shroud the fact that he just isn't doing enough to help the team win games.