There are some decisions a football manager makes that you can understand, even if you disagree with them.
Then there are decisions that leave you scratching your head.
Roberto De Zerbi’s treatment of Richarlison currently falls into the second category.
Richarlison is hardly the most consistent striker Tottenham have ever employed. His Spurs career has been disrupted by injuries and his form has fluctuated. But there is one thing that cannot be disputed: the Brazilian knows how to score Premier League goals.
He scored 11 of them last season, finishing as Tottenham’s leading league scorer, while contributing 12 goals in all competitions. He also has 54 Brazil caps and 20 international goals.
So why is that experience sitting on the sidelines while Tottenham struggle desperately for goals?
Spurs have failed to score in their opening four Premier League matches this season — the first time that has happened in the club’s history. Richarlison, meanwhile, has been left out of the Premier League squad altogether.
There is, of course, context.
De Zerbi has said that he tried to convince Richarlison to stay but the player wanted to leave. Richarlison had reportedly asked to depart before the transfer deadline, and Tottenham were unable to find a move that worked.
But football managers have to deal with the squad they actually have.
Omar Marmoush is still adapting to a new club and a new league. Dominic Solanke has had his own injury problems. And Tottenham’s attack has looked short of both confidence and cutting edge.
That makes Richarlison’s complete exclusion increasingly difficult to understand.
Nobody is suggesting he should automatically start every week. He doesn’t need to be the focal point of De Zerbi’s attack. But having a proven Premier League goalscorer, a Brazil international and a player with genuine fight and experience available from the bench surely has value.
Richarlison also offers something that some of Tottenham’s newer attacking players simply cannot: familiarity with the Premier League and the pressure of playing for Spurs.
He has been through the battles.
And right now, Tottenham look like a team that could use someone who knows how to fight.
Marmoush deserves time to settle. Solanke deserves time to get fully fit. The new-look attack deserves patience.
But that doesn’t mean Richarlison should be discarded.
De Zerbi may have very good reasons for the stance he has taken. Richarlison clearly wanted to leave, and the manager has explained his side of the situation.
But with Tottenham crying out for goals, keeping a proven goalscorer completely outside the squad looks like a risk Spurs simply don’t need to take.
