The new Richarlison: De Zerbi must drop Spurs star who made 4 passes all game

Tottenham Hotspur laboured to yet another Premier League defeat on Sunday, Roberto De Zerbi unable to inspire confidence and conviction on his first match in the dugout.

There is a startling lack of fundamentals about this Spurs side. Passion and energy and and enterprise. When it rains, it pours, but they can only blame themselves for failing to bring an umbrella to this relegation storm that threatens them more dangerously each week.

This was supposed to be a shift to a brighter and more purposeful project. A daring approach under a manager who acknowledges Tottenham’s mantra – that to dare is to do.

The Stadium of Light is a tough ground for any team, but with just six Premier League games remaining, 18th-place Spurs cannot afford to pay attention to formbooks.

However, they must pay close attention to their abject attacking form, with the likes of Richarlison flattering to deceive on Wearside.

Richarlison’s blunt effort at Sunderland

Richarlison has probably been Tottenham’s most effective and sharpest forward this season. Maybe that’s an illustration of where it’s all gone wrong, Heung-min Son leaving last summer and Harry Kane two years before that.

The Brazilian has scored nine goals in the Premier League this term, playing 27 times and starting only 16 of those games. But he didn’t come close to finding the net this weekend, save for a tame effort at the start of the match against Sunderland.

Regis Le Bris’s Black Cats are intense and they are physical, and Richarlison’s performance didn’t come together out on the left wing. It is clear that he is at his best when positioned centrally, making a nuisance of himself and pouncing on pockets of space in the danger area.

It is also clear that Richarlison is not the only one who is currently struggling to make anything of his talents, with another surely at risk of being dropped after their poor performance up north.

Worse than Richarlison: Spurs flop must be dropped

It’s not Dominic Solanke‘s fault that he cost Tottenham £65m to bring over from Bournemouth in 2023, but there’s no denying that the Londoners have failed to receive bang for their buck.

Injuries have been unkind to the English striker, but he has also struggled to maintain consistent form in the final third when on the pitch. At which point do we have to face the fact that it was a bad buy and that Tottenham will need to invest in a new marksman come summer, should they survive this relegation battle?

The 28-year-old may well have been described as a “pressing monster” by journalist George Sessions in the past, but that player is absent right now.

In fact, journalist Zach Lowy has said that the Englishman “isn’t better than Richarlison“, joining the Brazilian in failing to live up to the lofty price tag and fill the Harry Kane-shaped hole.

Scoring goals has been a problem for Spurs this season. Creating chances has probably been a bigger one, and for that, Solanke will have the sympathies of some, but the defeat at Sunderland informed De Zerbi that his centre-forward needs to do much more, work much harder.

For that, Solanke should be dropped from the starting line-up, especially when considering Richarlison is the most prolific player in this squad and is wasted out wide.

Solanke has quality in his locker, and no mistake. However, he is not applying it properly, and he must be dropped.

While it is not a striker’s job to take so many touches, Solanke didn’t work hard enough or find the right moments in dangerous positions. 17 touches and just four passes across the afternoon yielded little success, four shots all failing to find the net. Solanke actually saw less football than the impressive Antonin Kinsky between the sticks.

It wasn’t enough, and Spurs cannot afford to make any more mistakes over the business weeks of the campaign. Solanke needs to return to the bench, maybe better utilised as a Super Sub.

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