Tag: Richarlison

Richarlison thinks his season’s been ‘s–––’ and Antonio Conte doesn’t disagree

All is not well in north London

Richarlison’s season at Tottenham has not been great. In fact, the Brazilian’s found a way to succinctly describe it in just one word: “s–––.”

After he came off the bench in Tottenham’s 0-0 draw with AC Milan on Wednesday — a match that eliminated Spurs from the Champions League, Richarlison vented his frustration with himself, his club and his coach.

“I was playing well, we won against Chelsea and West Ham and suddenly I was on the bench,” he told TNT Sports.

“I played five minutes against Wolves, asked the reason and no-one told me why. Yesterday, they asked me to take a fitness test in the gym and told me I was going to start today if I passed it.

“And today I was on the bench. There are things I can’t understand. There was no explanation again, let’s see what he [Spurs manager Antonio Conte] will tell us tomorrow – but I’m not silly, I’m a professional who works hard every day and I want to play.”

“There are minutes left, time left. This season, excuse the word, it’s been s–––, because I don’t have minutes, I suffered a little with the injury. But, when I enter the field, I give my life.”

Conte responds

In a press conference on Friday, Conte was given the chance to respond to the Brazilian. The coach agreed with his player’s assessment of his own campaign, insisting that he didn’t take the interview as criticism of his coaching.

“I watched Richarlison’s interview. He didn’t criticize me, he said ‘my season is s–––’ and he’s right, his season is not good,” the Spurs manager said.

“He had a lot of injuries, he went to the World Cup, he had another injury, then back and one month out, then other injuries. He scored zero goals with us, only two in Champions League. I think that the guy was really honest to say that his season is not good. But our season hasn’t finished. He has the time to recover and if he deserves to play I’ll give him the opportunity.”

Conte did, however, admit he wasn’t happy to see his player complain about his own personal situation right after a difficult result for his team.

“I think [the] guy understood he made a mistake because when you speak with I, I and I, not ‘us’, it means you are thinking only about yourself and you are selfish,” the Italian said.

“I repeat to my players, if we want to build something important, fight for something important, fight to be competitive and win a trophy, we have to speak with ‘we’.

“If we speak I, I and I, we are only thinking about himself. The guy understood very well and apologized, which is good because I had an opportunity to clarify for another time the spirit of the team.”

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Richarlison demands action after banana thrown at him during Brazil game

FIFA has opened an investigation into the incident in Paris

Richarlison has called for action against racism after a banana was thrown from the stands following his goal for Brazil on Tuesday.

The Tottenham star scored Brazil’s second goal in a friendly against Tunisia, which ended up as a 5-1 win for the South American powerhouse.

But the game at Parc des Princes in Paris was marred by the incident during Richarlison’s celebration, with Brazil midfielder Fred kicking the banana off the pitch.

In a post on Twitter after the game, Richarlison demanded action, saying: “As long as they stay ‘blah blah blah’ and don’t punish, it will continue like this, happening every day and everywhere. No time bro! #racismonao [racism no].”

The Brazilian federation (CBF) also spoke out against the incident, saying on Twitter: “After Brazil’s second goal, a banana was thrown towards Richarlison. The CBF reinforces its stance against discrimination and vehemently repudiates yet another episode of racism in football.”

FIFA released a statement on Wednesday saying it would investigate the incident.

“First and foremost, FIFA strongly rejects any form of racism and violence and has a very clear zero tolerance stance against such behavior in football,” it read. “FIFA will investigate the incident in yesterday’s game in Paris.”

The incident with Richarlison must have been particularly discouraging for Brazil, which posed with a banner against racism prior to the game in support of Vinícius Jr., another of its players who has recently been subject to racial abuse.

Brazil’s players pose for a group photo prior to the friendly football match between Brazil and Tunisia at the Parc des Princes in Paris on September 27, 2022. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)

“Without our black players, we wouldn’t have stars on our shirts,” the banner read, referring to the five stars representing five World Cup titles.

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Richarlison had a little too much fun vs. Nottingham Forest and paid the price

No opponent will ever take kindly to a mid-game personal juggle session

Richarlison just couldn’t help himself.

The Tottenham forward had just delivered a fantastic assist to Harry Kane, who scored his second of the game to put Spurs up 2-0 late at Nottingham Forest.

With the game all but put to bed, Richarlison got the ball on the sideline and proceeded to do something no opponent was ever going to appreciate.

The Brazilian began a personal game of keepy-uppy, an action much more appropriate for a pre-game warm-up than a live match.

After a few juggles, Richarlison passed the ball away. Forest striker Brennan Johnson wasn’t going to let his opponent get away that easily, however, and clattered into the Brazilian with the ball long gone.

Johnson was shown a yellow card, a price he’ll feel was more than worth it.

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