Richarlison’s dire display v Brighton shows he can’t lead Everton attack
Everton were abysmal in attack against Brighton and Richarlison failed to impact the match in a bitterly disappointing display.
We were dependent on the Brazilian to lead the line and show a bit of magic up-front, but he was toothless and barely got the ball.
Richarlison likely wants to play centrally as it should help him score goals, but he made a poor case to be our number one striker.
He lacks Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hold-up play and that prevents his teammates from being able to get up the pitch.
That was costly on Monday as Brighton dominated the ball and but for poor finishing would have beaten us quite easily.
The Toffees managed 45% possession but most of our passes came from our backline.
There was a clear difference in the way the two sides used the ball as Brighton had 23 shots to our eight.
And Richarlison did not have a single one of those [SofaScore], which shows how lacklustre he was.
It gets worse, as the 23-year-old completed just 13 out of 23 passes – an awful 54% pass accuracy.
His influence was very limited partly because of that, but also because he did not get involved in play and provide an out ball for his teammates.
To evidence that, Richarlison made just 38 touches. That was just one touch more than goalkeeper Robin Olsen had.
It is clear he is a much better option on the wing, and we desperately need Calvert-Lewin to be fit for the Tottenham match on Sunday.
Carlo Ancelotti was so desperate he brought on youngster Nathan Broadhead for the final five minutes – that says a lot about Richarlison’s performance.
The Italian must take responsibility too.
We have shown on multiple occasions that we lack creativity and ways to open up the opposition, yet he has done little to change things.
Everton cannot rely on a moment on invention from Richarlison or James Rodriguez, the whole team must step up.
If that does not happen against Spurs it is difficult to see how we will end our winless run.
In other Everton news, Jamie Carragher pokes fun at Toffees ace with a joke about Liverpool.
Be sure to follow Goodison News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on Everton and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Campbell.