Richarlison details the big request he made of Ancelotti
Richarlison asked Carlo Ancelotti to play him up-front for Everton and he is happy to now be featuring alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The Brazilian has mostly been used on the wing since arriving at Goodison but he felt he was doing too much defending in that role under Ancelotti.
Richarlison is focused on qualifying for the Champions League and feels he and Calvert-Lewin can score the goals to get the team into the top four.
He told ESPN Brasil, “Champions League is a child’s dream. I have already made it very clear that I am crazy to compete. We want to compete for the best championships.
“He [Ancelotti] had a change in my position because I was defending a lot too. I was there with Mina. So I told him that I wanted to be closer to the opposing goal to be scoring goals and that’s where he changed my position.
“Dominic and I, we’ve been playing together for three years, we know each other very well up front.
“So we have a lot of goals this season and I hope that in this remainder of the competition we can maintain our scoring form.”
New lease of life
Richarlison was determined to play in a central role and he deserves credit for making that demand of Ancelotti.
Everton have benefited as a result as the 23-year-old looks a lot more dangerous playing through the middle.
A return of four goals in his last six games as a centre-forward shows the decision is paying off.
It reduces the pressure on Calvert-Lewin to provide the goals too, with the Toffees attack often easily subdued by defenders doubling up on the England international in recent week.
More importantly, it shows Ancelotti that he has multiple systems available and we can switch up our tactics depending on the opposition’s threat.
That is key to remaining unpredictable and getting the points we need to qualify for Europe.
Also, it keeps Richarlison happy, which is always important with a transfer window looming.
In other Everton news, Greg O’Keeffe revealed that a forward could leave in the summer after talking to people at the club.
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