Former Tottenham coach criticises ‘poor’ Spurs player after West Ham loss

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Richarlison’s missed header during Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham United on Thursday summed up the Brazilian’s time at the Premier League giants with Les Ferdinand critical of his finishing. 

After being forced to wait over 20 games for his first Premier League goal in 2022/23, Richarlison needed only four to open his account this term. 

But that strike in September’s dramatic comeback victory over Sheffield United is already starting to feel like a false dawn, Richarlison sprinting out of the blocks before tripping over his own shoelaces clattering into the first hurdle.

The £60 million signing from Everton has not scored since, and missed a glorious opportunity to end his drought as Pedro Porro whipped an inch-perfect cross onto his head against West Ham. 

Richarlison misses huge chance in Tottenham defeat

“Porro was putting in some fantastic balls. As he crossed it and it hit Richarlison’s head, I just thought I want to see the net bugle,” former Tottenham striker and coach Les Ferdinand tells Amazon Prime, the Brazilian squandering the sort of chance he used to gobble up gleefully. 

“Unfortunately, when you’re having a poor time as a centre-forward – which he is having – that’s what happens. You miss the target.

“Whatever you do, (you have to) hit the target. If the goalkeeper makes a save, he makes a save.”

For the fourth time in their last five Premier League games, Tottenham took the lead but ended up without even a single point to show for their efforts. Spurs could have blown West Ham away in the first half – Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson and Gio Lo Celso wreaking havoc – but were once again left to rue the familiar, hangover-inducing cocktail of wasteful finishing and dreadful defending. 

West Ham triumph over Ange Postecoglou

While Heung-Min Son might have done an excellent job stepping in for Harry Kane since the striker’s big-money move to Bayern Munich, this was another game which exposed the lack of lethal finishers in Ange Postecoglou’s squad with Richarlison doing little off the bench to suggest that he could be the solution to Spurs’ problems in the final third.