Everton responded well to the challenge on Saturday as they battled back twice from behind to force a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford. However one player who again wasn’t at his best and whose form continues to be a concern is Richarlison.
Many Everton players have been significantly improving their input and consistency under the influence of Carlo Ancelotti over the past year or so.
Players like Micheal Keane, Yerry Mina, Tom Davies, Alex Iwobi and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are all now much more influential and consistent in their perfromances. One player though who seems to have stagnated recently is Richarlison.
The Brazilian has, along with left-back Lucas Digne, been arguably the Toffees best player over the past two seasons.
In both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons he scored thirteen goals in the Premier League, a very respectable total especially given that he was playing in a team struggling to create chances. This term he has so far only managed two goals and we’re just over halfway through the campaign, although he’s also got a career-high three assists.
That lack of goals hasn’t mattered so much as Calvert-Lewin has been in great goal-scoring form, which has largely made up for the absence of goals from his partner up front.
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But when Calvert-Lewin hit a barren patch in December and then spent a few weeks out injured, the Blues were really struggling for goals and Richarlison couldn’t step up.
This season the Brazilian was having to adapt to a slightly different way of playing as Ancelotti generally adopted a 4-3-3 formation. So unlike last term when he was playing alongisde or just off Calvert-Lewin in a 4-4-2, he is now operating in a wider position.
However, that positional change might not be as important as the apparent decline in confidence he seems to have suffered after his suspension for his red card against Liverpool in October.
Ever since coming back from that three-game ban, Richarlison has been a shadow of the player who was so often such a menace to opposing teams over the last two seasons. He’s looked out-of-sorts, struggling for rythym and increasingly frustrated with his own form.
There were signs in the Leeds and Manchester United matches that he might be beginning to return to something like his best. Let’s hope so because Everton need him to come through with some strong performances and goals in the season run-in as they can’t rely soely on Calvert-Lewin and the unknown quantity that is new signing Josh King.
A return to top form for Richarlison could prove a key factor in helping the Blues secure European football and maybe even a Champions League place at the end of the campaign.