Antonio Conte and all connected with Tottenham will have their fingers crossed that they see the real Richarlison in action once the Champions League resumes on Tuesday evening. Joining the club in a £60million deal from Everton in the summer, the Brazilian has showed glimpses of his quality but a couple of injury issues have unfortunately restricted his playing time.
The hero in their first Champions League game of the season as he struck a late double in the 2-0 win over Marseille, the 25-year-old has yet to find the net for his new club since that September evening at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Offering Conte plenty of options in attack as he can operate from either flank or play a No.9 just as he does on international duty for Brazil, Spurs are still trying to find the best role for the new addition.
Although he mainly operates from the left, Glenn Hoddle would like to see Tottenham switch formation and play Richarlison as the central striker and have Harry Kane operating just behind him. The former Spurs boss also feels that a role on the right flank for the former Watford attacker could actually play into Pedro Porro's hands, as Richarlison's tendency to come inside would allow the Spaniard plenty of room down the right to attack.
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"I think it's difficult. He's a really good asset to the squad when he was bought but I did think where he's going to fit in," outlined Hoddle when speaking to football.london in an exclusive interview. "I think if we are going to do something in Europe and possibly the Premier League then, for me, I would like to see us be a bit flexible where there's times when we have to go to a back four which we don't do.
"Even playing Harry Kane as a No.10 behind Richarlison would be interesting and you can only really get that if you change into a back four. It would really intrigue me to see that system as Harry's then not having to drop in, do his bit and then get into the box. I think he can arrive in the box rather than be the main man in the box who can do both jobs. That would be interesting.
"If we keep playing the back five, I don't see him taking Kulusevski's position out wide or Son's position. They play slightly different when he starts and I think with Porro it might work a bit better as he [Richarlison] likes to be inside a lot more than Kulusevski and plays in there as a centre-forward. The balance might actually help Richarlison when he does play in that wider role as he doesn't stay wide like Kulusevski and come in from there.
"I still think at the moment I like him coming on as a sub, I love him coming on as a sub, and what he did against Marseille was exceptional. He won't like that as he did well in the World Cup and he wants to play so there's a slight bit of a conundrum there they have to sort out."
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