RICH AND HAPPY55
Ange banking on fit-again forward I hope there’s a lot more to come from him
ANGE POSTECOGLOU has backed Richarlison to take his game to the next level after finally putting his injury nightmare behind him.
Brazil striker Richarlison has endured a frustrating 18 months at Tottenham since his £60million switch from Everton, in which he has struggled to live up to his price tag.
It has largely been down to injuries, because he was held back by various issues last season and had groin surgery last month.
But Richarlison has shown signs that he is now playing with more freedom, having scored twice in last Sunday’s 4-1 win against Newcastle and will go to Nottingham Forest tonight with renewed confidence.
Tottenham manager Postecoglou said: “He looks a lot freer in training from when I first arrived.
“Everything was a bit of a struggle for him when I first got here.You could tell he wasn’t able to play or move as freely as he wanted. That’s a big thing because, for the most part, footballers are always battling with something.There’s always a little niggle.
“But if it’s something that’s really debilitating that they don’t deal with straight away and have to carry on with, it has an impact on them physically but also mentally. They know that every game they go into, every training session, is going to be a struggle. Whereas you remove that from it and they can just play. I think you saw that at the weekend.
“I hope there’s a lot more to come, hopefully that’s the platform we’ve given him.”
Brennan Johnson, 22, will make his first return to the City Ground since his £47.5m move to Spurs, and Postecoglou said: “We know there’s still loads more to come.”
Postecoglou also praised Forest counterpart Steve Cooper, adding: “I like Coops.
He is a top manager and I’m sure he will work his way through this one as well.”