Richarlison had no shots against Man Utd – is the problem him or Spurs’ system?

As Tottenham Hotspur rained in the shots on Manchester United’s goal in the second half on Saturday, there were only two players who didn’t join in.

One was centre-back Micky van de Ven, which is fair enough, he’s a centre-back. But the only other Spurs outfield starter who didn’t have a shot was Richarlison, their central striker.

There were other things Richarlison didn’t do, such as win any of his five aerial duels (an exact repeat statistic of the draw at Brentford).

He also didn’t draw any fouls, he made no interceptions and he had the second-lowest pass accuracy on the team (64 per cent, behind Dejan Kulusevski’s 58 per cent).

Which begs the question… what exactly did Richarlison do? And is he playing badly, or is his team just not playing to his strengths?

What you won’t get with Richarlison is a Harry Kane impression, nor is Ange Postecoglou asking for one.

Richarlison enjoys carrying the ball or playing off the last man and using his strength and acceleration to get on the end of service into the box.

Against United, his involvement in link-up play was sporadic — far more sparse than it would have been for the man he has replaced in the side — but occasionally productive.

He held it up OK, he often got half a yard on Raphael Varane, and he played some simple passes.

He almost played in Son Heung-min for what would have been a golden chance towards the end of the first half.

Then, at the start of the second, it was Richarlison who started the move for Spurs’ opening goal.

He held the ball up, then played a nice slipped pass through two defenders for James Maddison, which got Spurs on the move.

Just before he was substituted, there was one more example, controlling the ball with his back to goal and holding off Varane.

He then picks out Pedro Porro in space, launching another Spurs attack.

Richarlison needs to do his share of good link-up play but he’s primarily in the team to lead Spurs’ attack in the opposition penalty area and this is where the examples become pretty much non-existent.

In Spurs’ opener the week before, Richarlison occupied centre-backs in and around the Brentford penalty area and was either a slightly better pass or a marginally quicker run away from getting a one-on-one chance in the box. However, against United, most of Spurs’ attacks came on the transition, particularly in the first hour (Richarlison was subbed on 70 minutes).

There were times Richarlison made a decent run on the break and was ignored, but sometimes his movement lacked imagination or purpose.

Pape Matar Sarr has the ball in a decent position here and if Richarlison is nearer to the last line of defence, he could be an option for a through ball.

The pass is never really on, so Sarr cuts inside and looks elsewhere.

Son has the ball on the break here but has few options. Richarlison could generate one by darting diagonally to his left, stretching United’s defence and creating space for Kulusevski to come in from the right.

Instead, Richarlison sticks with Lisandro Martinez and, as Son slows up, United get defenders back.

Richarlison cut a frustrated figure when he was given the hook by Postecoglou, looking visibly annoyed on the bench before venting his frustration to Emerson Royal.

Playing as the central striker in a Postecoglou system means Richarlison probably isn’t going to touch the ball a huge amount; his role will be to perfect those darting runs into the box and be on the end of through balls and crosses, as was almost the case at Brentford.

It’s a different system for Richarlison to get used to. Throughout his career, he has been impressive running with the ball — last season, according to stats website FBref, his average ‘progressive carrying distance’ (ie, dribbling towards the opponent’s goal) was 70 yards per 90 minutes, but from the first two games this season, that number is down at 17 yards. It’s not his job to run with the ball from deep, he’s the one who needs to be on the end of moves.

Is he doing things badly or is he a symptom of the system? It’s a bit of both and you can also point to neither Son nor Kulusevski being on top form yet, with Spurs’ midfield largely being the standout area of the team during their first two games.

“It was more with myself, because I didn’t get any ball there to shoot,” Richarlison told ESPN Brazil of his muttering after being subbed.

Richarlison looked annoyed when substituted (Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images)

“I have to receive the ball, I have to be close to the goal. I didn’t receive any ball there, so I was more upset about that, it wasn’t for the substitution or anything.

“During training, I have been scoring goals. It is a matter of time for the goals. The fans have to be a little patient, it is not easy to replace an idol like Harry Kane.

“Like it or not, a match in which I don’t score a goal, they are going to miss him, he is a guy who scored more than 200 goals for the club. It is taking that as an example and trying to score as many goals as possible in a Tottenham shirt.

“That is why Tottenham paid dearly for me. That is why they put me here, now it is up to me, I have to do the job, I know my responsibility.”

Richarlison also spoke of his developing relationship with Maddison, a partnership that will be key in getting the best from the Brazilian.

With a little over a week until the transfer window shuts, Spurs are known to be closely monitoring other strikers, so a strong performance or a goal soon could prove decisive to Richarlison’s career.

Only three goals last season and not even a shot at the weekend. The numbers don’t look great and they don’t lie either, whether it’s his fault or not.

(Top photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)