Tottenham acting head coach Ryan Mason has challenged Richarlison to finish the campaign strongly and give supporters a glimpse of what could be in store next season.
The Brazil international has endured a difficult first year at Spurs, scoring only three goals in 33 appearances following a £60million move from Everton last July.
Richarlison himself described his season as ‘s***’ in March and even when he got off the mark for Tottenham in the Premier League at Anfield last month his celebrations were cut short after Diogo Jota netted a stoppage-time winner.
It saw West Ham forward Michail Antonio and Newcastle striker Callum Wilson make fun of Richarlison on The Footballer’s Football podcast after previous occasions where he took his top off only to be denied by the offside flag.
Interim boss Mason made his feelings known on the behaviour of Antonio and Wilson while backing his player to shine ahead of Saturday’s last home game of the season against Brentford
“As a coach, I wouldn’t do it and as a player, I’ve never done it as well,” former Tottenham and Hull midfielder Mason insisted.
“I don’t really like that type of thing. We’re all trying to do our best, we’re all professionals, we’re working hard.
“We dedicate our lives to get to this level and to compete at this level, so I don’t really like that type of thing personally.
“Richy, I don’t think he’s thinking about other players. I think it is his own pride and his own determination that will probably drive that most of all.
“Maybe he’s heard it, maybe seen it? Maybe. Maybe it might give him a little bit more (motivation). I’m not sure.
“He’s a fighter, who works hard, trains hard and I’ve never seen someone that’s shirked responsibility.
View this post on Instagram“Yes, of course, we would have wanted more goals and he would have wanted more goals from himself, but that’s not happened.
“Hopefully now he can influence the last two games and score goals to help us.
“And then I’m sure come pre-season, he’ll come back full of energy to really show us what he’s really all about.”
Goals for Richarlison will help ensure Spurs bid farewell to their campaign at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on a positive note.
It has been a difficult campaign on and off the pitch, with the club searching for a new head coach and managing director of football while chairman Daniel Levy continues to feel the ire of the fanbase at home and away fixtures.
Mason wants to give the supporters on Saturday plenty to shout about, he added: “It’s part of our job, it’s our duty to go there and show the energy.
“You naturally understand the frustration because it’s been an up-and-down season and we’ve been quite inconsistent.
“So, it’s normal that fans feel that, but ultimately the fans are coming to the stadium, they work hard, they pay their money and they’re coming to support us.
“That’s the first thought in their mind and as a group of players representing the club, we want to show our appreciation and show the energy to try and get a positive result.”
While Richarlison is the future of Tottenham, Lucas Moura will soon be the past, with Saturday set to be his final home outing ahead of his summer departure.
Another forward that Spurs have big hopes for is teenager Dane Scarlett, who is out in Argentina with England for the Under-20 World Cup.
Scarlett recently returned to Hotspur Way after a challenging loan spell at Portsmouth where he scored six goals in 40 appearances.
But Mason said: “I have seen Dane in the last week or so since he came back and he looks different from a physical point of view.
“You can feel that he has played men’s football so from that point of view I am sure he is in a better place than he was 12 months ago.
“But at the same time going into an Under-20 World Cup, it is a great opportunity for him and probably a different style and different type of football he will come up against.
“I am sure he will go into that challenge full of confidence.”
On this day in 2018: Arsene Wenger announces his Arsenal exit
On this day in 2018, Arsene Wenger announced he would step down as Arsenal manager at the end of the season after almost 22 years in the role.
Appointed in September 1996, the Frenchman had presided over a glittering period in the club’s history which yielded three Premier League titles, the last of them famously secured by his “Invincibles”, who went through the 2003-04 league campaign unbeaten.
In addition, former Nancy, Monaco and Grampus Eight boss Wenger guided the club to FA Cup glory on seven occasions and secured 20 successive seasons of Champions League football during a reign spanning 1,235 matches, 828 of them in the top flight.
However, his announcement came amid mounting disquiet over the club’s showing in both the Premier League and Europe, with three FA Cup successes in four years failing to placate his critics.
Wenger said: “After careful consideration and following discussions with the club, I feel it is the right time for me to step down at the end of the season.
“I am grateful for having had the privilege to serve the club for so many memorable years. I managed the club with full commitment and integrity.”
Majority owner Stan Kroenke paid tribute to the man who had gone toe-to-toe with Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson and Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho.
Kroenke said: “This is one of the most difficult days we have ever had in all our years in sport.
“One of the main reasons we got involved with Arsenal was because of what Arsene has brought to the club on and off the pitch.
“His longevity and consistency over such a sustained period at the highest level of the game will never be matched. Arsene has unparalleled class and we will always be grateful to him.”
Wenger, described by Ferguson as “without doubt one of the greatest Premier League managers” and by former Gunners skipper Tony Adams as “the greatest Arsenal manager”, bowed out after a 1-0 final-day victory at Huddersfield on May 13, 2018.
The 68-year-old said afterwards: “I feel that I got a lot of respect not only from our fans, but from England. I would reiterate I loved English football, but I also learned to love England. You do not stay 22 years if you don’t like it.”
Pep Guardiola says Cole Palmer is one of the players of the season
Pep Guardiola admits Chelsea’s former Manchester City starlet Cole Palmer has been one of the players of the season.
The City manager has also revealed the 21-year-old England midfielder had been trying to leave the Etihad Stadium for two years prior to his £42.5million switch to Stamford Bridge last summer.
Palmer, who was considered one of City’s brightest Academy products, has been Chelsea’s most influential performer since he moved south in search of more first-team opportunities.
Palmer has scored 25 goals this season, 11 of which have come in his last six appearances.
He heads into Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final showdown with former club City at Wembley fresh from a four-goal salvo against Everton on Monday.
Guardiola said: “Cole has been the decisive player, maybe of the season, in many aspects.
“He’s an exceptional player. We knew that when he was here.
“We know how he’s proving (himself), but he has had a lot of minutes. I said many times, I didn’t give him the minutes when maybe he deserved it. He wanted the minutes he now has at Chelsea.
“I understand completely. I’m happy for him because he’s a lovely guy, a shy guy. He has an incredible potential, otherwise he would not have been here.
“He’s playing good. He’s an incredible threat. He’s playing fantastically.”
Palmer was a member of the City squad that won the treble last season and he began the current campaign strongly with goals for Guardiola’s side in the Community Shield and European Super Cup.
Yet despite attempts to persuade the Wythenshawe-born player to stay with his hometown club, his mind to move on before the end of the summer transfer window had long been made up.
Guardiola said: “So what can I say? The decision has been made for many reasons. He was asking for two seasons to leave.
“I said, ‘No, stay’. At the end, (he said), ‘No, I want to leave’. What can we do? I said in pre-season, ‘Stay because Riyad (Mahrez) has gone’. He said, ‘No, I want to leave’.
“After two seasons, what can you say? So go there. Playing at that level is exceptional. Everybody knows it.”
City’s hopes of winning a second successive treble were dashed on Wednesday as they suffered an agonising penalty shoot-out defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Their focus is now on defending the domestic double, a feat no side has previously achieved, but Guardiola prefers not to view the targets in those terms.
Guardiola said: “We were close again (to the treble) but it didn’t happen.
“So my advice about trebles or doubles or these things is, why are we not focused on Chelsea? It’s enough of a target to think about.
“When you have one or two games left to the end of the Premier League and you are already in the FA Cup final, I can answer you perfectly.
“We’ve felt, two times, how strong Chelsea are. They are really, really difficult.
“So, win that game and see what happens the next three, four, five games in the Premier League and after we will see.”
Raith Rovers keep unlikely title bid alive with narrow victory at Inverness
Raith Rovers rode their luck to keep alive their slender cinch Championship title hopes with a smash-and-grab 1-0 win at third-bottom Inverness.
Caley Thistle, looking for a third successive win to further boost their survival push, hit the goal frame four times and saw visiting goalkeeper Kevin Dabrowski produce a host of stunning saves.
But in the end it was Lewis Vaughan’s 49th-minute strike that settled the contest as Raith, who could have seen leaders Dundee United win the league on Saturday if they had lost at Caledonian Stadium, close the gap on the pacesetters to three points.
Duncan Ferguson’s Inverness created several good chances to take the lead in a one-sided first half, with Dabrowski keeping out Cammy Harper’s 25-yard free-kick before Alex Samuel was denied by a goalline block.
The hosts came even closer in the 21st minute when Harper fired against the bar and then saw Dabrowski fling up a leg and somehow manage to block his follow-up.
Rovers had done little to prove they were the team at the top end of the able in the first half but four minutes after the restart they took the lead, top scorer Vaughan getting on the end of a flick-on to coolly guide the ball past Mark Ridgers.
That proved to be the game’s decisive moment as the Raith goal continued to lead a charmed life, Samuel seeing a curling shot come back off the far post and the brilliant Dabrowski turned over a shot from the same player.
Inverness then hit the crossbar twice in quick succession, Danny Devine and James Carragher seeing headers come back off the goal frame, before Dabrowski tipped over a stoppage-time effort as Raith somehow held on for the three points.
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