Tottenham Hotspur left it too late as they suffered a morale-sapping 3-2 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
There was huge pressure on both teams going into this match because of what the north London derby is all about and the fact that Arsenal are in a Premier League title race.
Yes, Tottenham are fighting with Aston Villa for Champions League football, but you feel stopping their bitter rivals was the biggest topic on the agenda and not their own top-four aspirations.
Spurs didn’t help themselves because, inside 45 minutes, they were 3-0 down and staring at a heavy defeat.
In terms of the overall play, Ange Postecoglou’s players started brightly and were asking questions, but their ultra-attacking style of play and issues from corners proved to be their downfall once again.
Yes, Ian Wright and Tim Sherwood were raging at the Micky van de Ven incident, but at that stage, the game was still 1-0 and a lot to fight for.
READ MORE: Emmanuel Adebayor wowed by Arsenal star in north London derby, slams Tottenham rival
When Richarlison came on in the second half, he started to ruffle some feathers, including pushing and probing Arsenal’s star centre-back, Gabriel, who is also his fellow countryman.
The 26-year-old has come back from a recent injury, so perhaps that was the reason he didn’t start because he shouldn’t be sitting on the bench, otherwise.
But Wright thinks Richarlison caused Arsenal ‘a lot of problems’ and he also feels he got into the head of the opposition players, as he told Premier League Productions (28/04/24 at 4:00 pm).
In the end, Spurs did pull two goals back, including a Son Heung-min penalty, but it was a little too late and it was another derby defeat for those at Hotspur Way.
Richarlison against Arsenal
“I don’t know what it is with Richarlison,” said Wright.
“if he weren’t fit enough (to start) because he caused them a lot of problems. He was in their heads a little bit and you could see that Arsenal, they kind of dropped back a little and took the pressure. In the end, they have got over the line, which is the most important thing.”
Richarlison needs to start against Chelsea
After spending two weeks resting up, the games are now going to come thick and fast for Tottenham, including another London derby on Thursday night.
Spurs make the short trip to Stamford Bridge to take on their former manager, Mauricio Pochettino and his ninth-placed Chelsea side.
Richarlison has to start this game by playing through the middle with Son playing on the left and Timo Werner dropping out.
Spurs are still in this race for the top four, but if they lose more ground, then Villa will take it and it could be gone by next weekend.
Plus, from Postecoglou’s perspective, you don’t want to have the record of losing to West Ham, Arsenal and Chelsea on numerous occasions in one season.
The post ‘He caused them a lot of problems’: Ian Wright says Tottenham 26-year-old was in 'Arsenal's head' appeared first on TBR Football.
