Tim Sherwood has urged Richarlison to step up for Everton and Rafa Benitez while Dominic Calvert-Lewin recovers from injury, speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday (20/11, 12:51).
The ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa manager doubts Richarlison has done enough in recent weeks to fill his teammate’s void.
Everton travel to Manchester City on Sunday without a win since September 25, when they beat Norwich City at home.
The Toffees edged the early relegation-contenders 2-0, but have since lost three of their next five Premier League fixtures.
Richarlison sat out the first two of Everton’s dire run while he continued his recovery from a knee injury. But has only scored once in three outings since, after netting from the bench on his return against Watford.
Sherwood urges Richarlison to fill Everton void
Everton still lost to the Hornets, before defeat at Wolves and holding Tottenham to a 0-0 draw with Richarlison starting. And Sherwood feels Benitez is sorely missing Calvert-Lewin, who has not featured since August due to a quadriceps injury.
“Rafa prides himself on keeping clean sheets, keeping it nice and tight and counter-attacking,” Sherwood said. “But, unfortunately, it’s not what the Everton fans want to see.
“They want to see a team on the front foot, [playing at] 100 miles an hour, loads of tackles flying around, getting the ball wide, putting it in the box, filling up the box with attacking threats, and at the moment they’re not being able to do that.
“Yes, Calvert-Lewin’s out injured. Richarlison has to start stepping up to the mark. We saw Demarai Gray has been brilliant since he come into the club with Andros Townsend. Gives them a threat, but it’s not enough, it’s not what they demand there.”
Calvert-Lewin scored three goals over his three appearances at the start of the season, as Everton claimed seven points.
Despite then missing eight matches, the 24-year-old remains their joint-top Premier League scorer so far this term. Level with Townsend and Gray, who have featured in all 11 games.
Richarlison ‘stepping up’ for Everton would certainly help ease Benitez’s woes until Calvert-Lewin overcomes his injury.
And Benitez will certainly need Richarlison operating at the £90k-a-week forward’s best at Manchester City.
Everton have lost their last eight meetings with the Citizens across all competitions. They have also not won at the Etihad Stadium since December 2010 – 12 visits ago.
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