Graeme Souness has told ITV’s coverage of Brazil knocking South Korea out of the World Cup that Antonio Conte deserves credit for changing new Tottenham player Richarlison from the player he had become while at Everton.
Richarlison, 25, took his tally at the World Cup to three goals on Monday evening as Brazil wiped the floor with South Korea. Vinicius Jr opened the scoring, Neymar netted a penalty, Richarlison got a third and Lucas Paqueta made it four.
South Korea scored a late consolation and in all honesty, they could have had more late on. But Brazil were excellent and they deserved to go into the quarter-finals, where they will face Croatia. Richarlison is thriving as Brazil’s no.9.
Discussing the summer signing, Souness was full of praise for Richarlison’s manager Conte. He thinks the Italian has completely changed Richarlison – saying that Richarlison beforehand was just a player that liked to dive and win fouls.
“He’s become a different player under Antonio Conte. I remember him at Everton, he was a player that threw himself to the ground for fun. He had the name as a diver. Antonio Conte has sorted that out of him [at Tottenham].
“Now, he is more inclined to do the hard yards. So, fairplay to Conte, that is the demands he puts on players,” Souness said on Monday night, as a pundit on ITV Sport for Richarlison’s 4-1 win over Spurs teammate Son Heung-min.
Souness: Conte deserves credit for changing Tottenham player Richarlison
Richarlison has made a decent enough start for Tottenham. While he has only scored two goals, it is his endeavour and as an option in the squad, he improves Spurs. He takes the heat off Harry Kane somewhat, at least, when he is fit.
But Souness is right to a degree. He has got Richarlison focusing on the right things, his goals, positioning and tactical aspect. That, rather than getting involved in needless spats and trying to win free-kicks by diving. He is a top player.
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