Although Richarlison did score his fourth goal of the 2025/26 Premier League season for Tottenham Hotspur in an eventual 2-2 draw with Manchester United, the Brazilian international's deflection off his back was far from representative of the torrid afternoon he had against the Red Devils.
Richarlison was chasing shadows, missing easy opportunities, and not getting into the box while leaving the left flank a vapid void of creative activity. It was another lackadaisical and outright sloppy performance from a veteran player who has looked no closer to justifying his price tag as he was last year at this time when struggling through injury.
Tottenham manager Thomas Frank came into the season hoping that he'd coax the best out of Richarlison, who was once one of the biggest stars in the Premier League as the savior of Everton. Now, he's the chief reason for Spurs attack not meeting expectations, and when he is able to get into the box, he misses so many clear cut chances that he is skewing the actual extent of Spurs attacking troubles.
While Richarlison is far from the only player on Tottenham, attacking or otherwise, who isn't playing well enough, he's certainly been the most disappointing over the last few weeks, again, given the fact that you'd expect him to be playing well vs. players like Djed Spence or even Brennan Johnson.
Richarlison is hurting his own rep
As Tottenham enter the November international break, Richarlison is doing damage to his reputation internationally, too, as Carlo Ancelotti and the Brazil national team can't be looking at his performances in Lilywhite and thinking that this is the kind of player who should be representating the Selecao attack at the World Cup when he's busy falling over himself.
The harsh reality for Richarlison is that he doesn't give Spurs a better chance of winning than a healthy Randal Kolo Muani or Dominic Solanke. And as Mathys Tel showed the world against Leeds and Man United in one smooth motion, Richarlison isn't better than the young Frenchman right now either. Funnily enough, he may not be better than Dane Scarlett.
Even when Tottenham play well as an attack, such as in their 4-0 win over Copenhagen, Richarlison isn't able to distinguish himself positively. That tells you all you need to know about how far his stock has fallen, and with a pause in club play, Richarlison has to sit there and face the reality that he has played himself to the very bottom of the Tottenham depth chart, in a position so irredeemably low that even the optimistic Frank may be on the precipice of giving up on him for good.