Richarlison: Growing into One of the League’s Best Wingers

Few can argue that Richarlison doesn’t have the right environment around him to become world class. Throughout his managerial career, Ancelotti has coached and developed some of football's biggest stars, and there’s no reason that he can’t do the same with the Brazilian

Gary McCarty 04/11/2020 80comments  |  Jump to last

In July 2018, the Toffees completed the signing of Richarlison from Watford in a deal that could rise to £50 million. Should the conditions of the transfer be met, then the Brazilian will surpass Gylfi Sigurdsson as Everton’s record signing. For much of his professional career, expectations have been lofty for the 23-year-old attacker. Under Carlo Ancelotti, Richarlison’s stock has risen further following a string of impressive top-flight displays. As a result, he’s slowly establishing himself as one of the Premier League’s most dangerous wingers. So, let’s take a look at whether the Brazilian will soon fulfil his world-class potential. 

His Stats Speak Volumes About his Progression 

After the Toffees defeated Crystal Palace 3-1 at Goodison Park back in February 2020, Ancelotti laid down the gauntlet for Richarlison by declaring that it “depends on him” if he’s to become a top-drawer player, as per the Liverpool Echo. Although the improvements are slight, the 23-year-old's statistics from his opening two campaigns at Goodison reflect his progression as a winger. 

In both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, Richarlison found the back of the net on 13 occasions. However, his development comes in the form of his all-round contributions. Following his move from Watford, the Brazilian registered one assist and created 2 big chances over the course of the 2018-19 season. By comparison, the 2019-20 campaign saw him record three assists and create 13 clear-cut opportunities, according to his profile at the official Premier League website. 

Article continues below video content


Compared to some of the league's other wingers in 2019-20, Understat’s comparison matrix indicates that Richarlison enjoyed a higher G90, xG90, and Sh90 than Wolves’ Adama Traore and Newcastle’s Allan Saint-Maximin. Not only that, but his xA90 was also fractionally more productive than Anthony Martial’s. 

Deadly Forward Link-Up Play Under Ancelotti 

Given that Ancelotti himself believes that Richarlison has the potential to become a world-class player, it’s fitting that the three-time Champions League-winning manager has added James Rodriquez to his squad. Once regarded as an elite creative midfielder, the Colombian has revitalised his career following his switch to Merseyside. Offensively, this has added a cutting edge to the Toffees attack that had long been missing. 

Costacurta fa cascare Ancelotti alla guida della nazionale

Furthermore, the likes of Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure aid in taking the pressure off of the attacking players in relation to their defensive duties, thus allowing Richarlison to take more risks in the attacking third of the pitch. This new-found stability has enabled the Toffees’ attack-minded players to fire on all cylinders in the early stages of the 2020-21 campaign. As a result, Everton are now 11/4 with Premier League betting to achieve a top-four finish come the end of the season, as of October 28th.  

Perhaps the most pivotal aspect of Richarlison’s career path concerns the Brazilian’s mentality and determination to succeed. Shortly after the Italian's appointment as manager, the 23-year-old voiced his belief that Ancelotti would coach him into becoming world class.   

Heading in the Right Direction  

At the time of writing, few can argue that Richarlison doesn’t have the right environment around him to become world class. Throughout his managerial career, Ancelotti has coached and developed some of football's biggest stars, and there’s no reason that he can’t do the same with the Brazilian. The next step for the 23-year-old is registering double figures for both top-flight goals and assists, which he’s more than capable of doing in 2020-21.

Share article:

Reader Comments (80)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Fran Mitchell
1 Posted 11/11/2020 at 11:46:33
It is important to remember that he is only 23, so there is much room for development. Hopefully playing with James can help take him up a level.

He is not quite at the best in the league, what he lacks I feel is ruthlessness in front of goal. I just think of Salah's goal in the derby, or some of Kane's, Son's, Fernandes' goals. Just the hint of a chance and they punish teams. Richarlison (and DCL) are not quite there.

I think he also has a tendency to get frustrated when things aren't going his way, this can lead him to either falling to the fringes of games, or like in the derby, making rash decisions.

Once he eradicates these elements of his game, he'll be amongst the best in his position.

Hopefully that will be with Everton.

Stan Schofield
2 Posted 11/11/2020 at 11:55:26
He's a very good player, potentially a very top one. But he needs more discipline. His sending off in the derby was ridiculous and costly, and he's done it before.

If the ultimate cost of this kind of lack of discipline is us not qualifying for Europe, and he buggers off to another club because he wants to play in the Champions League, I will be pissed off with Everton big time, because it will simply represent us going nowhere with a continuation of midtable mediocrity.

Stephen Brown
3 Posted 11/11/2020 at 12:44:16
Whether we sell Richarlison in the summer is the biggest most defining moment in the club’s recent history.
Kevin Prytherch
4 Posted 11/11/2020 at 14:11:42
Fran. Spot on about the ruthlessness. In the first game against Spurs, he rounds the keeper then seems to panic at scoring the opening goal. That situation would be lapped up by the likes of Salah. The difference is, the likes of Salah are used to beating the so called bigger teams, Everton still have that nervous mentality. I hope the signings of Rodriguez and Allan will help rectify this. So far we are 1-1-1 against the so called big 6 this season.
Robert Tressell
5 Posted 11/11/2020 at 14:12:05
Richarlison is outstanding. Simple as that. Put him in, say, the Bayern side and he'd be getting monstrous goal figures. He'd slot in at any of the great sides.

He's easily a £100m player. But I'd rather keep him than have £100m to spend.

Incidentally, Kean is not doing a bad job. Leanardo, the PSG sporting director has just admitted they have no option to buy.

Osimhem, similar ish player, scored lots for Lille last season and joined Napoli for £63m.

If Kean gets 25 goals then he's in the same bracket. And there's no reason why he won't. So if he wants to leave they'll be takers - and the fee could be hefty.

Eddie Dunn
6 Posted 11/11/2020 at 14:30:00
Unless we turn the proverbial corner and finish at least top six, then I can see him going just like Lukaku(who gave Martinez one extra season).
He could play for any of the top teams.
They do get ridiculous wages but their careers are quite short and an injury can be just round the corner.
Better enjoy him while we can.
Rob Hooton
7 Posted 11/11/2020 at 14:40:15
Agreed Robert, I’d much rather keep him than get £100m as we would only waste it on a load of slow plodders!
Patrick McFarlane
8 Posted 11/11/2020 at 14:42:46
Duncan Ferguson is hailed as a legend by some on here, yet our modern players who make far fewer errors in judgement from a disciplinary point of view are castigated and constantly reminded about their duty to the club etc.

If I had one Xmas wish it would be to swap the entire squads of our neighbours with ours and to see how many of the former reds would get it in the neck for being useless, erratic, lacking in moral fibre, only play for the dosh, go down too easily, make us a laughing stock etc whilst the new bunch over the park would be lauded for their professionalism, ability, commitment to the cause, etc

I do think that Richarlison will go on to bigger and better things and if he remains as committed and as hard-working as he is now, he will forge a glittering career away from Goodison.

Unfortunately, he will probably leave us in the summer, at a time when we can ill afford to lose his talent. Ancellotti and Brands if it is to be they, will have a very difficult task in finding Everton a suitable replacement for the Brazilian.


Dave Lynch
9 Posted 11/11/2020 at 14:43:17
We haven't won a league game that Richalison hasn't started in since he arrived.

I may have my facts wrong but I'm sure I'm correct in that one.

Paul Hewitt
10 Posted 11/11/2020 at 14:49:50
Richarlison WILL be gone in the summer. Because there isn't a chance we will finish in the top 4.
Michael Lynch
11 Posted 11/11/2020 at 15:29:01
I hope Richarlison has a fantastic season. If he does, we'll probably finish top 6 and he might stay. If he doesn't, there'll be no takers anyway.

When you think how poor we look when Iwobi plays compared to when Richarlison plays, and you think that Iwobi cost us around £35m, you realise how hard it would be to replace the Brazilian - no matter how much we get for him.

Joe McMahon
12 Posted 11/11/2020 at 15:32:16
As age is still on his side, I wouldn't want him to leave for 120 million. Unfortunately way too many CL teams would he very interested in England and Europe. He could go to any of them. Unfortunately as already stated at season end we will he nowhere near top 4. Shit really isn't it!
Stan Schofield
13 Posted 11/11/2020 at 15:35:43
Patrick@8: Some on here rate Ferguson a legend, but not all, including me.

Your Christmas wish and scenario are of course purely theoretical.

More pragmatically, we have appeared to lack discipline for some time, and Richarlison in particular has been guilty of it. He needs to improve in this respect, because he DOES have a duty to the team to do so. It's that simple.

Rob Halligan
14 Posted 11/11/2020 at 15:56:39
Richardson's contract is up in June 2024, so come next summer, and likely the one after that, the club call all the shots. Have I read somewhere that the club value him at £100M+, if so I'd be adding another £30M+ on to that valuation, come next summer.

I'm getting seriously pissed off with people saying he's more than likely, or certainly going next summer. It was the same with Lukaku and other players. The player(s) may well move on, it's a foregone conclusion anyway, (all players move on) either come next summer or when their contract is down to its final year, but try saying I hope he stays, or we need him to stay, instead of all these negative assumptions. Try thinking positive for once, though I know that's difficult for many of you.

(Cue all the sarcastic posts coming up saying "I hope he stays" or "We need him to stay").

Paul Richardson
15 Posted 11/11/2020 at 16:10:20
Is he a winger (as per Everton) or a centre forward (as per Brazil)?
Stan Schofield
16 Posted 11/11/2020 at 16:13:37
Rob, spot on. Every time we get a player who's at or progressing to top notch, there are loads on here who jump to saying he'll fetch a few bob to a 'bigger' club. How the hell are Everton supposed to reach top notch if our best players are too readily sold in their prime? Small club mentality strikes again, underlined by comments such as the season is finished or we wn't get to top-4. No, we won't get to top-4 with that attitude.

Paul, he's both.

John Pierce
17 Posted 11/11/2020 at 16:22:28
The incremental improvements are there for all to see. He, for my money, is still really rough around the edges, as Fran earlier points out it leaves so much room for improvement. And yet he’s still pretty amazing!
One thing I cannot deny is the lads hunger, them across the park have it too, utterly ravenous for success. That what actually lifts his game and affects others. If half our team had his voracious attitude we’d be miles better off.
The petulance and rashness has to stop, he simply has to channel it some other way. The red card, if observers are honest, is perhaps one he should have gotten before now, frequently he skirts the edges of two yellows or a wild lunge in games when he’s nuzzled in or when he feels unprotected by the officials.
I’m very excited to have him back, and he owes his team mates big time for his stupidity.
A very very good player who will be at the top table eventually, question is can Everton keep pace with him?

Jay Harris
18 Posted 11/11/2020 at 16:33:52
Stan and Rob,
Agree with you both totally. Weve lost a few games and instead of backing the players and the manager who were still top of the league after 6 or 7 games have all of a sudden decided we are not good enough for the top six let alone top 4.

The season is a marathon not a sprint.

Man City, Man U, Arsenal and Wolves are still below us despite that poor run of form so we have got plenty of time to regroup and recharge.

Adversity is always a turning point and can be for the better or for worse but if we all get behind the manager and the players despite their shortcomings we will do better.

David Greenwood
19 Posted 11/11/2020 at 16:43:32
All players eventually move on and if he goes next summer it will be for at least 100 million plus.

Personally I don’t think he will move next summer, I think we will be in Europe (based on the first few games of the season, clearly not the last three).

We need a positive, determined mindset and not the utter shitebaggery some of them show when the going gets tough.

Tom Bowers
20 Posted 11/11/2020 at 16:45:13
He has shown the qualities of a top striker and with proper guidance can be a big asset at Everton but he has to rein in some of those challenges as he is not much of a tackler. (having said that quite a few Everton players can't tackle well)


Yes he is Brazilian and like all top South American players have to make those arduous trips to play for their countries which can affect the next league game but I suppose it affects many other players in the Prem. too.


The biggest problem at Everton is having someone else similar who can come on as sub. when needed and still push the opposition. Speed is a definite asset as City and RS have proven but Everton don't have an abundance of it so they have to take a different approach.


When Seamus and Bainsey were in their prime the had great skill down the flanks. Walcott had speed but lacked confidence and in Richie, Gordon and James they have more trickery than speed.

Tosun may be alright for the last ten minutes but isn't really Prem. class.


Hopefully the recent malaise has passed and the return of Richie will produce results again.

Mike Gaynes
21 Posted 11/11/2020 at 16:53:45
Dave #9, that's a startling statistic if accurate, and I don't doubt it. We certainly haven't played a decent minute on the pitch since the ref pulled red on him in the derby.

Rob #14, I'll go ya one better and predict he will stay through next season at least. He's expressed no desire to go elsewhere, and assuming all is still going well for him next summer, I think he'll look at his ultimate ambition -- starting for Brazil in the 2022 World Cup -- and decline any chance to go to a Bayern or Barca where he's not certain to start and could endanger his national team position.

After Qatar, however, all bets are off -- especially if we're not in the CL by then.

Patrick McFarlane
22 Posted 11/11/2020 at 17:20:50
Richarlison sharing his beginnings in football and his concerns about the planet.

It's the fighers who make it

Dave Abrahams
23 Posted 11/11/2020 at 17:37:37
Dave (9), yes we haven't won a game that Richarlison didn't start in, an amazing SEVEN times since he was signed from Watford, SIX of those games because he was suspended through his own stupidity.

We will get £100M or more when we sell, which is even more amazing... Good player no doubt, on his day, he has many off days as well, as we have all seen.

Ron Marr
24 Posted 11/11/2020 at 18:16:59
I believe it's 8 games without Richarlison 0-4-4 (W-D-L).
Dale Self
25 Posted 11/11/2020 at 18:26:30
Richarlison is Everton through and through. I hope we figure out a way to keep him here because this is the best stage for a performer like him. Exactly the kind of player that can restore some pride and get results we may not fully deserve.

Yes, he will make mistakes and get some unnecessary cards but he and Doucouré have a swagger that Everton badly needs. Without him, the pressing is turned up and lanes close. With him, there is always some fear of him getting one-on-one on the wing which opens up space we otherwise rarely create.

Fran Mitchell
26 Posted 11/11/2020 at 18:32:01
Hopefully Richarlison's absence can lead to some long term improvements. Our reliance is clear, and has become even more stark. So hopefully, this will mean Ancelotti and Brands will bring someone in who can support/back him up.

I really think we missed out on a gem in Eze, who for 16 million in this market looks an absolute steal. He would have been able to cover in the wide positions, as well as play as a central attacking midfielder.

Gordon needs his chance, and should be in the bench.

Sarr at Watford for me could do the job too. He'd be an investment, but as Liverpool have proven with signing Jota, it's worth it.

Rob Halligan
27 Posted 11/11/2020 at 18:34:01
Great attitude, Dale. Well done. Unlike Paul @ # 10.
Joe McMahon
28 Posted 11/11/2020 at 18:36:10
Dave @23, bit harsh that. For a team like Everton who don't eat at the top table, like Lukaku he is irreplaceable. He's 23 and will only get better.
Stephen Brown
29 Posted 11/11/2020 at 18:45:56
We cannot sell Richalison if we really have aspirations of dining at the top table!

It's a never-ending cycle of rebuilding otherwise!

Darren Hind
30 Posted 11/11/2020 at 18:51:08
Have I got this right? We have lost four times when he wasn't playing? ... so does that mean we have lost 25 games when he was?
Stan Schofield
31 Posted 11/11/2020 at 18:56:46
It would be interesting to know the average points per game when he wasn't playing compared with when he was playing.

Rob Halligan
32 Posted 11/11/2020 at 18:58:57
Exactly, Stephen. It's just transition after transition. If the club are serious about challenging for honours and qualifying for Europe every year, then we cannot afford to sell our best players. FFS, people moan about not signing quality players because they are too old, took small, and now the latest, Isco, because he looks overweight!!

If however, the club are happy to meander along in the premier league year in year out, collecting in the TV money, then by all means, sell Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin, Digne etc, and rake in the millions, but don't expect the support to continue as it does, because sooner or later everyone will get well fed up with it.

If they're not already!!

Darren Hind
33 Posted 11/11/2020 at 18:59:36
Why?

We lose with monotonous regularity – whether he plays or not.

Dale Self
34 Posted 11/11/2020 at 19:16:54
Thanks Rob. Reaching deep like most of us.
Eddie Dunn
35 Posted 11/11/2020 at 19:38:30
Darren, good point, which shows that abstract stats can be misleading.

Dale, he is not Everton, he is gracing us with his talent just like he did Watford and soon enough he will be off to a bigger stage.

The reason he does get in trouble is the same thing that makes him hungrier than, for example, Sigurdsson. He gives everything on the pitch, he takes a lot of punishment and he puts his body on the line. He does it because he wants to be a Brazillian great.

But he is here because it's a decent stepping stone to his ambition, which is Champions League football and World Cup success.

Dave Abrahams
36 Posted 11/11/2020 at 20:30:30
Joe (28),

I don't think I was particularly harsh, I said he was a good player on his day, and he has a lot of poor and indifferent games. We've missed him in the three games he's been suspended, but no player is irreplaceable. If we get the fanciful figures plenty of fans think we will get for him, I would sell him pronto.

Dale Self
37 Posted 11/11/2020 at 20:56:44
I'm not convinced, Eddie. Richarlison comes from a humble background and I suspect he gets Everton culture as well as any footballer paid his numbers. With Ancelotti here, I'm sure he's looking at Lukaku and thinking he could make a fairly good run here if things go our way – and they very well could.
Dave Abrahams
38 Posted 11/11/2020 at 21:10:23
Ron (24), yes, he has missed eight games, not seven. You are correct.
Alex Fox
39 Posted 11/11/2020 at 21:22:18
Stan (31) - We average 1.47 points per game when he plays, and 0.5 when he doesn't.

It's interesting to look at the league games he's missed over the last few years too:

Huddersfield (H)
West Ham (H)
Spurs (A)
West Ham (A)
Newcastle (H)
Southampton (A)
Newcastle (A)
Man Utd (H)

Not a particularly difficult group of fixtures by any stretch of the imagination, and yet we took just 4 points from them.

He's hugely important to the team. I don't think it's a coincidence that Rodriguez's sparkling early form has fallen off a cliff over the last three games. Richarlison stretches the pitch and occupies defenders – creating the half-yards of space that Rodriguez needs to work his magic.

Robert Tressell
40 Posted 11/11/2020 at 21:34:03
Alex @39. Those are astonishing stats. Annoyingly, we should of course already have someone on the other wing of similar standard. Instead we bizarrely have Iwobi.

The challenge is to keep Richarlison and find players who offer similar end product. Get that win % up even higher.

Stan Schofield
41 Posted 11/11/2020 at 22:10:45
Alex @39: Interesting. Compares with 2.6 and 0 so far this season. Pity he got himself sent off.
Paul Hewitt
42 Posted 11/11/2020 at 22:20:08
Alex @39. I think them stats prove the rest of the team are crap.
Stan Schofield
43 Posted 11/11/2020 at 22:22:49
Alex@39: Just to add, 1.47 equates to finishing on about 56 points while he's been playing. We were averaging 58 points before he joined us. If anyone wants to argue that we're crap without him, you could equally argue that we've become more crap since he joined, and have possibly become complacent in relying on him.
Patrick McFarlane
44 Posted 11/11/2020 at 23:51:17
Stan #43,

You make a fair point; however, I don't know which seasons you are counting to arrive at your average points – I would say it's about 54 points if not less for a few years prior to Richarlison joining Everton.

The previous Everton sides were as reliant on Lukaku and his goals and it could be argued that the team that Lukaku played in at Goodison had a lot more about them collectively than this current bunch.

Darren Hind
45 Posted 11/11/2020 at 23:51:53
It's ridiculous to suggest Richarlison's absence is the reason we have lost our last three games.

Yes, Carlo 'fantastico' has shown himself to be Carlo 'not-very-bright-io' by allowing one of three strikers to leave, but we are losing these games because we are conceding goals at an alarming rate. Richarlison could have smashed his personal best and scored a goal a game in the last three and we'd have still lost them.

The contrast in fortunes is not down solely to Richarlison's absence – it is down to Carlo changing a winning formula in his absence. Not one player has not fallen off a cliff in the last three games.

If we include 4 cup defeats, we have lost about 36 games since Richarlison's debut just over 2 years ago. Even if we did lose 4 of them in his absence, we must have lost over 30 when he has played... Some talisman.

Our manager is being taken to school by younger coaches. He has to somehow re-invent himself and rediscover the Midas touch. All the straw clutching in the world won't help us if he can't do that.

Mike Gaynes
46 Posted 12/11/2020 at 01:48:50
Alex #39, great post.

Don't get discouraged just because some here have an aversion to statistics that's so deep it's almost religious.

John Pierce
47 Posted 12/11/2020 at 02:48:42
Alex, your argument is sound, I’d agree with what Richarlison does to change our team dynamic. The manager has gotten much wrong in those games, testament perhaps to what intangibles the Brazilian brings. I think his attitude is just as important, without his hunger we’ve looked like lambs in these three games. Coincidence? Maybe.

Whether 8 games is enough to use as a data set in less sure about!

Danny Broderick
48 Posted 12/11/2020 at 07:36:44
Darren (45),

Have a week off from bashing the manager. The thread is about how good a player Richarlison is becoming. It’s getting very tiresome you slagging off a manager who is the best manager we have had in some while.

Kunal Desai
49 Posted 12/11/2020 at 07:43:34
I don't agree where a transition period doesn't work in favour of a selling club. Everton are great at selling for the best price but sadly they've been shown up when reinvesting it.

The RS have done this well selling the likes of Suarez and Coutinho and building a title-winning side. Likewise with Leicester when they won the league selling Kante and Mahrez and more recently Chilwell and replacing them with Tielmans, Maddison and Castigne.

I get the impression Everton aren't a very proactive club. They are not looking ahead 12-18 months down the line and identifying those replacements to bring in. Should Richarlison leave in the summer, we should already have begun the process of identifying 3 or 4 replacements to add to the first team, but we won't.

The strategy around recruitment really needs questioning in my opinion.

Danny Broderick
50 Posted 12/11/2020 at 07:51:46
I'm pleasantly surprised by Richarlison's development at Everton. I'll be honest, I don't think he's a great all-round player. He doesn't appear to have an outstanding asset, having said that he is decent at most attacking parts of the game. He's got a good engine, decent pace, works hard, is good in the air and his finishing is decent (without being brilliant). He does run with the ball, but again I wouldn't say he is a natural dribbler.

It sounds like I'm slagging him off, but I'm not. He's a player who has made himself a key part of the team. He has maximised his talent and he has a great mentality. He is a good age so I hope he continues to improve further. We need his directness in the team, because he's about the only player we have in midfield who thinks about driving towards goal every time he gets the ball.

I just don't see him being good enough to play for some of the teams mentioned above (Bayern, Barcelona etc). I think we are the best place for him, allowing him to develop and build on his partnership with Calvert-Lewin and Rodriguez. He has to be scoring 20+ goals, or creating more, if he is to be considered worth over £100 million in my opinion.

Brent Stephens
51 Posted 12/11/2020 at 08:10:56
Alex #39 good post. Confirms what I also see with my own eyes.
Jim Bennings
52 Posted 12/11/2020 at 08:34:19
Some say that no player is irreplaceable?

I'm sorry but I beg to differ on that.

Everton have a long history of selling top class performers and replacing them with lesser players.

We did it with the entire title winning squad, look at some of the players we started the 90's with.

We sold Kanchelskis and replaced him with John Oster.

We sold Rooney, replaced him with nobody in the same stratosphere.

We sold Lukaku and replaced him with Tosun and an at the time untried kid in Calvert-Lewin, whilst Dom has come on leaps and bounds as a goal hanger he's still not at Lukaku's level.

We sold Barkley and brought in Sigurdsson.

So I'm sorry if I can't quite subscribe to the "no player is irreplaceable" club, in our past experience, virtually every star we sell is never replaced.

Dave Abrahams
53 Posted 12/11/2020 at 09:02:12
Danny (50), you see Richarlison very much the way I see him, good, hope he continues to improve, of course the team is better with him in it, same as Dominic.

Mike (46), yes let’s use the stats from the eight games Richie didn’t play in and ignore the many games he played and we lost, I have no interest in both sets of stats they are just information that really prove nothing.

Darren (45), you carry on saying what you see in how Ancelotti is performing with the teams efforts, I think the selection, performance and set up of the team had a big part of how we performed so miserably in those three games, less so the United game, he hasn’t got a great squad to choose from, we all know that, some are next to useless when chosen together, I don’t have to dwell on that but I think he could have done better.

I’m backing Carlo to eventually get it right at Everton but his mistakes should surely be pointed out, he’s not infallible, like every manager, their are no guarantees in football, that he will be a success here is not guaranteed either, and it must be stressed that what Carlo has achieved in the past has gone, it’s what he does at Everton is what we should all be interested in.

Stan Schofield
54 Posted 12/11/2020 at 09:04:55
Patrick@44: Yes, you’re right about the average points, I was lazily working from a faulty memory.

When Lukaku was here, there was arguably too much reliance on him, and now that over-reliance is arguably on Richarlison.

However, I think Darren makes a good point, in that the entire team has underperformed in the last three games, which seems to be a case of lack of effective organisation and consequent lack of fluidity in the play, in contrast to the first few games.

Robert Tressell
55 Posted 12/11/2020 at 09:35:35
Kunal at 49, my view is that if Richarlison is to leave in summer then his replacement should already be on our books. Otherwise we get fleeced in the transfer market. We sell for top dollar, and then spend the lion's share of the proceeds on someone inferior.

It is how we have done business with Stones & Lukaku and results in deterioration.

However, if like Dortmund we hoover up world class youth then the replacement can be groomed to step in when the star leaves.

Fran Mitchell
56 Posted 12/11/2020 at 10:40:59
Easier said than done Robert.

Dortmund can do it because they have the reputation, long built, of developing players. It's why the likes of Haarland choose to go there rather than to Utd. He knows he'll develop. The likes of Bellingham have gone there because they know they will play and develop, and they will play in the Champions League. They know they may be on the bench for a year, but in a year they will be in the first team, challenging at the top of the table, challenging in the Champions League.

The best young players will not come to Everton and be willing to wait for Richarlison to be sold.

Bobby Mallon
57 Posted 12/11/2020 at 11:26:27
Robert @55, we did hoover up a top young talent. But we didn't play him enough, Big Dunc treated him appallingly, and he now plays at PSG. We have Gordon, Nkounkou, Branthwaite, Godfrey. These lads are being overlooked to play the likes of Iwobi, Sigurdsson and Bernard.

As a club, we need an identity: we don't want to be a team that just gets to 40 points. We as fans need to change and get an identity as well. We need a team of youthful energetic decent players that can be developed. That's what we need...

Bobby Mallon
58 Posted 12/11/2020 at 11:28:51
Jim Bennings @ 52,

I agree with all you say.

Eddie Dunn
59 Posted 12/11/2020 at 12:41:34
The problem is: the squad has little depth. Kenny is not good enough to cover our ageing right-back and we have a young lad expected to cover Digne.

We have let a decent striker go out on loan on the presumption that Tosun will morph into a Premier League goal threat. As much as I like him, he is too slow to catch a bus and is only useful if we are well on top and providing plenty of chances. Neither he or Calvert-Lewin are the sort that creates for themselves.

The manager now has paceless peacocks in Gomes and Sigurdsson. Add to this, Delph – who is only fit to understudy Allan – and we have an unbalanced and slow group.

Iwobi and Bernard have some good and bad qualities but neither is good enough to replace Richarlison.

If we had gone in for King, we would have had an alternative to Calvert-Lewin and the option of playing him on the wing. He has pace and a trick or two.

These problems are down to Brands and Ancelotti. This squad is not equipped for a Top 6 finish. We will need a lot of luck with injuries to maintain our place in the top half.

The return of Richarlison coincides with some easier fixtures but I don't think that his return will be quite the revelation that we hope for. Let's just hope he is fit on his return from the International games.

Indeed, if Dominic, Seamus or Lucas get rocked, then we are really fucked.

Andrew Ellams
60 Posted 12/11/2020 at 13:13:37
The stats are not how many games we've lost without Richarlison in the team but that we've never won one when he's been out of the team. And if he has only missed 8 league games out of 84, since he joined that's not a bad effort either.
Dave Abrahams
61 Posted 12/11/2020 at 13:45:18
Andrew (60),

Definitely no disrespect, but you like stats; I don't. Each to their own... but, for the sake of a bit of fun and to please those who like them and absorb them, if you've got time on your hands, tell us what the stats say about his performances in the 76 games Richarlison did play in?

I don't expect you to do this, you more than likely have better things to do. Thanks for your previous posts.

Robert Tressell
62 Posted 12/11/2020 at 14:05:19
Bobby @ 57, I agree. I was always a big fan of the Kean transfer. More broadly, I think we can and indeed must follow a Dortmund like route.

The key thing is having a development plan that shows the player his route to the first team and then sticking with that plan.

Branthwaite, Lookman, Vlasic, Onyekuru, Kean etc have all shown they will come to Everton from far and wide.

Fran Mitchell
63 Posted 12/11/2020 at 14:26:54
Robert: how can we follow the Dortmund model? Dortmund, for example, their manager is under pressure as he is unable to overthrow the Bayern dominance. But they are still regulars in the Champions League.

We are not.

Dortmund will qualify for the Champions League every year, so young players will look at them as a 'big' club where they can get Champion's League experience, and thus become the sought-out players like Sancho, Garland, Reyna and co are, and those before them.

For me, comparing Everton to Dortmund as a business plan is akin to comparing me taking AFC Weymouth to world dominance on Football Manager. It just isn't viable. We can't guarantee Europe. We can't offer a platform where we'll dominate 80% of teams in the league.

These differences between what Dortmund do and what we viably can do are too great. Dortmund wouldn't function in the Premier League.

What we should look at is Leicester and Tottenham. Not based on selling the best and building buy buying the best young players, but by building a solid team and squad, and sprinkling with a couple of star players that can take it forward.

Our problem is our team remains unbalanced. The star players are there, but the squad depth is paying for years of poor signings.

Bill Gall
64 Posted 12/11/2020 at 15:20:39
We do have a record of selling some of our top players... like, Rooney, Lukaku and Lineker, but at the same time, they did not want to stay.

The problem in selling your top players is being able to replace them with someone else without losing their effect and contribution to the team. Bringing in young players is admirable, but there are no guarantees they will develop into the same standard.

Team-building is not easy and every manager has his own style that takes time to build to his way of playing and that is why David Moyes had time with little money to get a fairly successful team.

Today's managers who have good financial backing with enough time to build a team are at a disadvantage as top players want instant success or they move on. I agree that Richarlison is a good player that will improve, but successful teams have to be able to have the depth in the squad to replace players who are injured or suspended and not be classed as a 1-man team.

Robert Tressell
65 Posted 12/11/2020 at 15:22:53
Fran,

I use Dortmund as an example but plenty of other clubs follow a similar approach. Dortmund will be first pick for the likes of Haaland because though young he was a ChampionsLleague performer before he joined. Sancho possibly too, because he was so highly rated. Others, like Isak (now at Real Sociedad) and Zagadou might well have come to us if they can see a route to the first team. Bellingham too even – if we'd have been prepared to compete of price / wages.

Another point. There are more than a couple of very good young players in the world. Dortmund can't buy all of them.

I'd also say Leicester have done exactly what I'm suggesting. They could see Maguire might leave so, before he did, bought Benkovic and Soyuncu. The former has been loaned out. The latter has been a huge success.

Wolves, you could say, have done the same – buying the young Portuguese striker, forget his name, in case Jiminez gets bought. So we absolutely can follow this approach.

Stan Schofield
66 Posted 12/11/2020 at 16:52:55
Bill @64: I think that Lineker did not want to leave. Similar with Ball in 1971. Everton have a strong track record of selling players in their prime. No wonder we're not very good.
Ray Said
67 Posted 12/11/2020 at 17:01:27
Like a lot of others I think he will develop into a top notch player from the very good one he is now. I do think we are not getting the best from him in his current position and I would like to see him played much closer to DCL and more central with the option of drifting wide left.
Joe McMahon
68 Posted 12/11/2020 at 17:56:47
Bill, Lineker didn't really want to leave at the time.

Rooney and Lukaku and even Lescott may have well stayed if we were Champions League regulars. Therein lies the problem: we never are.

Brian Williams
69 Posted 12/11/2020 at 18:25:53
I wonder whether Richarlison, and Allan for that matter, will have to self-isolate for a period now that one of their international teammates has tested positive for Covid? The player had seemingly been training with our two and a number of other Premier League players.
Tony Everan
70 Posted 12/11/2020 at 18:51:54
Robert @65,

Ancelotti convinced Richarlison to stay this season as we make a push for the top 4. The lad wants to play Champions League football. If we don't qualify, I think he will be off.

I agree we should be proactive here in getting a replacement in for him now, Sarr? Diatta? We need attacking reinforcements anyway. I don't think we will find anyone as good, but we need the best we can get.

Robert Tressell
71 Posted 12/11/2020 at 19:00:04
I think so Tony. Trouble is we've probably missed the boat already really.

I'd be amazed if we spend in January.

If Sarr is on form and Watford look like they might go up then they'll be wanting a huge fee. And Sarr is good but is he as good as Richarlison, or are we just spending fortunes to get worse (our general approach since Koeman).

What I really mean is that Richarlison's replacement should have been bought age 19 ish last summer (2019). He'd now be filling in or playing on the right flank sometimes - then age 21 ish he would assume the LW spot.

Darren Hind
72 Posted 12/11/2020 at 19:23:44
"An aversion to Stats so deep it is almost religious"... Oh the irony

I think the religion belongs to the worshipers of stats. We cynics are the non-believers. The infidels.

If ever there was a thread to demonstrate the absolute futility of trying to mask facts with a few carefully selected stats, this is it.

Yes, the selected "stats" will tell you we haven't won one of the eight games played without Richarlison, but you'd have to be blind to the incontestable evidence offered by official records and facts to buy into this suggestion that he is some sort of talisman and that his absence was the reason we have been twatted in our last three.

The fact is Richarlison has played in 71 of the games during his two full seasons here. We have failed to win around 60% of them. Our results have been generally crap... with or without him. Only a fool would allow himself to be blinded to the bigger picture by a carefully selected snapshot.

Those clinging to this latest reason for Ancelotti's failures are simply painting themselves into a corner. Next time we lose with Richarlison in the team, they are going to have to come up with yet another excuse.

Tony Everan
73 Posted 12/11/2020 at 19:25:28
Robert, I think you are right, to an extent we have missed the boat and January is tricky. I am in despair that he is likely to be (reluctantly) sold as it is proven his inclusion takes the club up a level. Also in despair at the prospect of us signing a dud to replace him. But still, as long as we don't buy five no10s instead it we be a plus.

It could lead to heavy summer investment in a top quality young right-back, Aarons maybe, possibly Sarr, Diatta or similar athletic and fast player with goals for Richarlison's role, and a younger mobile dynamic central mid to bring energy and a higher tempo and drive to outer play (I defer to your superior scouting knowledge).

Patrick McFarlane
74 Posted 12/11/2020 at 19:46:41
Whenever Carlo is sacked and if results and performances continue in the same vein as the last few, the call by some fans for that to happen will be heard from Goodison to Genoa and all points in-between.

If I was Moshiri I would appoint a manager on a weekly contract, play poorly and lose, pack your bags, and off you go. Of course, that is not going to happen, but for a manager of Everton to be given less than 12 months, following on from several dysfunctional and ill-suited bosses, is a tad premature. Carlo shouldn't be given a free-pass, far from it, but trying to motivate our lot is like trying to herd cats, especially when none of us can air our views live at the stadium.

If Carlo isn't the answer and I readily admit that he might not be, I do wonder where we are going to find the right boss to lead us forward.

Stan Schofield
75 Posted 12/11/2020 at 19:46:41
Darren@72: You're right. We're generally quite mediocre, with or without Richarlison.
Steve Guy
78 Posted 12/11/2020 at 20:59:23
Can't remember too many posts questioning the team and especially Carlo a few weeks ago.

Carlo is still managing with one hand behind his back. The quality in the squad is still thin and a player of Richarlison's class will always be missed.

My only criticism of the management is why Sigurdsson still gets game time. he brings absolutely zero and it's like playing with 10 men. Couldn't believe the stat last week that as our No 10 he didn't pass to Calvert-Lewin once in 90 mins.

Carlo has been in charge for less than a season and he'll need at least two more windows to have the right level of quality across the team.

Chris Leyland
79 Posted 12/11/2020 at 21:00:44
Darren, no-one has said we don't lose with Richarlison in the team, it's just that we don't win when he isn't in it. That's both a stat and a fact.
Robert Tressell
80 Posted 12/11/2020 at 22:03:24
Agree, Tony @73. It is a pleasure to watch Rodriguez but summer 2021 needs a focus on fast, dynamic, talented players like those you list. With contracts ending, the wage bill down and Kean earning a £70m move to PSG it could be quite an overhaul.
Trevor Peers
81 Posted 13/11/2020 at 08:19:34
If Richarlison doesn't make a difference and add to our goal threat in a massive way at Fulham, we are in a bad place again this season, having one shot in each half isn't good enough to keep us in the top half of the table.

We started the season well but that has subsided into mediocrity, the midfield was ticking over nicely so how have things been allowed to slip so badly?

The obvious lack of attacking options seems to be the problem again and needs to be addressed in the next window, or this season will be another waste of time devoid of entertainment.

Dave Abrahams
82 Posted 13/11/2020 at 09:40:51
Just a brief word about Jay Wood from Brazil, I hope he is okay because he usually has something to say after each match and also Brazilian players, he has had no import this week at all.

Jay, I hope you and your family are okay, drop a line please. It would be nice to know everything is okay with you and all your family. Best wishes.


Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


About these ads


, placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix' });