Ange Postecoglou has backed Richarlison to take his game to the next level after finally putting his injury nightmare behind him.
Brazil striker Richarlison has endured a frustrating 18 months at Tottenham since his £60m switch from Everton in which he has struggled to live up his price tag.
It has largely been down to injuries because he was held back by various issues last season and underwent groin surgery last month. But Richarlison has shown signs that he is now playing with more freedom, having scored twice in last Sunday’s 4-1 win over Newcastle and will go to Nottingham Forest with new confidence.
Tottenham boss Postecoglou said: “He looks a lot freer in training from when I first arrived. Everything was a bit of a struggle for him when I first got here. You could tell he wasn’t able to play or move as freely as he wanted to and he was kind of labouring through things.
“That’s a big thing for a footballer because for the most part footballers are always battling with something. There’s always a little niggle.
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“But if it’s something that’s really debilitating that they don’t deal with straight away and have to carry on with, it it has an impact on them physically but also mentally.
“They know that every game they go into, every training session, is going to be a struggle. Whereas you remove that from it and they can just play. I think you saw that at the weekend.
“Not just his goals, but his general work-rate. At least two of the goals came from him winning the ball back for us. He’s able to do that stuff and that gives him more confidence.
“I hope there’s a lot more to come, hopefully that’s the platform we’ve given him. He won’t be starved of opportunities here and it’s up to him to take those and take his football to the kind of level that we believe he can.”
Richarlison celebrates after scoring for Tottenham against Newcastle (Getty Images)Richarlison caused a stir at Nottingham Forest last season when he was accused of taunting the opposition with showboating and it was Brennan Johnson - now at Spurs - who helped calm things down on the pitch.
Johnson will make his first return to the City Ground since his £47.5m move and the 22-year-old has also earned warm praise from Postecoglou.
Postecoglou, who also offered his support for under-pressure Forest boss Steve Cooper, added: “Regardless of how much we say to them: ‘don’t worry about the price tag, don’t worry about the expectation level’, they are human beings so it affects them one way or another.
“Brennan has shown already that he can go up a level. I’ve been really pleased with him and the big thing is that we know there’s still loads more to come.
"I really like Coops. A couple of summers ago, the year they got promoted, we actually stayed at the same hotel in Athens, he with his family and me with mine.
“We are all under pressure, aren't we? You would have been coming for me if we didn't win last week, be honest. But he is a top manager and I'm sure he will work his way through this one as well.”
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