Richarlison took aim at Antonio Conte last week following Tottenham Hotspur’s exit from the Champions League over the decision to bench him and now, Eric Dier has given his verdict on that interview during a chat with ESPN Brasil.
Richarlison, 25, spoke immediately after the 0-0 draw with Milan in which he came on as a substitute. He could not understand why Conte had benched him after impressing in wins over West Ham and Chelsea in the Premier League.
He was benched against Wolves and then against Milan. On Saturday, he started against Nottingham Forest and really impressed for Spurs – having a goal harshly disallowed before setting up Son Heung-min to score Tottenham’s third.
With Antonio Conte responding to the interview before the win over Forest by saying that the matter was resolved, but accused Richarlison of being selfish – Dier has given his take. He says Richarlison must control emotions off the pitch.
“We solved it between us. That is among us,” Dier told ESPN Brasil when asked about Richarlison. “And I think from there, from the moment we solved, we started saying ‘we will not continue to talk about it, or continue to punish him’.
“It happened, we solved it and that’s it. Now is time to move on. I think he made a great game today. It’s his quality, he plays with the heart, lives with the heart. And sometimes he has to be able to control it in the best way off the field.”
Eric Dier gives verdict on Richarlison interview after Tottenham exit
Of course, emotions were running high and in the heat of the moment, Richarlison probably said more than he should have said. But he will be frustrated. He knows he has had a poor season. The weight of a £60m fee has not helped.
Injuries, neither. Conte suggested that Richarlison was not actually criticising himself, but he certainly was. Whether or not the two have put their issues aside remains to be seen, but Conte did start him against Forest and he was superb.
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