Tottenham forward Richarlison has criticized his manager Antonio Conte for benching him during their second leg Champions League game against AC Milan. The Brazilian didn’t hold back his short fuse about the recent development, particularly about him sitting on the bench when granted an interview by TNT Sports.
Tottenham hosted AC Milan in their second leg encounter of the round of 16 of the Champions League last night at White Lane Stadium. In the game that ended in a stalemate and dumped Spurs from the Champions League, Richarlison played only 20 minutes after coming from the bench to replace Emerson Royal.
Although, it’s widely known to Tottenham fans and football enthusiasts that Italian manager Antonio Conte prefers a three-man attack of Heung Min Son, Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski who have all had more goals’ contribution than Richarlison.
Richarlison joined Tottenham from Everton last season in a deal worth £60m and has since then struggled to make an impact despite his resplendent form with Brazil in the World Cup. After the World Cup, Richarlison has not played any game to 90 minutes and has only started 3 games for Tottenham in the last 11 he has featured in. In the Premier League, he has featured 17 times and has only started 12 out of his 25 games since joining the North London side.
Richarlison’s availability for Tottenham has been inconsistent due to injury, but the 25 year old said a good sequence of two games streak had begun and suddenly Cristian Stellini who took over when Conte was absent for his surgery, dropped him on the bench for the next game.
“That’s what I didn’t understand, too (being a substitute). It was going well, in a good sequence, two wins against West Ham and Chelsea. Suddenly, he (Cristian Stellini) put me on the bench, against Wolverhampton he put me on for five minutes. I asked why? They didn’t tell me anything. And, yesterday, they asked me to take a test at the gym, that if I was good, I would go to the game and, at the time of the game, they left me on the bench. These are things that it is not possible to understand.
Without looking back in the bald face, Richarlison said he will await the excuses Antonio Conte will give today as to why he was dropped on the bench because he claimed he had asked but no one is saying anything.
“Let’s see what he (Conte) will say tomorrow, but there are no fools here either, I’m a professional, I work every day and I want to play. There are minutes left, time left. This season, excuse the word, it’s been sh*t because I don’t have minutes, I suffered a little with the injury. But, when I enter the field, I give my life. I came from two games well, I think that’s it, I think I should have played, and I don’t have to cry about it.”
Richarlison is yet to score a Premier goal since arriving in Tottenham and has only had two goals in the UEFA Champions League this season.
