‘My word’: Pundit claims Tottenham player hasn’t put in anywhere near effort since his arrival

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Stan Collymore has insisted that Richarlison now needs to step up for Tottenham Hotspur as he has not shown anywhere near enough effort.

Collymore was writing for Caught Offside after the Brazilian got the chance to start up front for Spurs in their opening Premier League game of the campaign.

Richarlison got his chance after it was confirmed that Harry Kane was leaving for Bayern Munich. Of course, the 26-year-old went into this season off the back of a really underwhelming first year in North London.

There were some flashes of quality from Richarlison on Sunday at Brentford. But clearly, he has an awful lot of work to do if he is going to be able to fill the void left by Kane.

Collymore urges Richarlison to step up his game for Tottenham

Certainly, Collymore believes that he needs to improve dramatically if he is going to be the player to really lead Tottenham in the post-Kane era.

“He needs to let his football do the talking because up until this point, he hasn’t put in anywhere near enough effort or shown anywhere near enough desire to really master his craft,” he told Caught Offside. “He’s a senior Brazil international and came from Everton with all the hype behind him so he should be standing there and shouting from the rooftops about how he’s ready to lead Spurs’ line and to be Ange Postecoglou’s main man.

“If I was his manager, I would put my arm around him and tell him how good he is, I would say everything he wants to hear and then watch to see what he does to discover whether or not he can score those 20 goals a season. Richarlison needs to grow up, stop being a big baby and really embrace the challenge that awaits him because my word, it’s a big one!”

It is a massive few games for Richarlison. As yet, Tottenham have not signed a new striker to replace Kane in this window. So it seems that he is going to get the chance to impress Ange Postecoglou and stamp his authority on the position.

The speculation concerning Kane cannot have been helpful for the former Everton star either. He would presumably not have known for sure what role he was going to play until late last week.

Of course, he has featured in pre-season. And he is someone who leads the line for Brazil. So it is not like he is playing in a completely new role.

Clearly, Collymore’s comments highlight that some really doubt whether he will be able to step up. But there is absolutely no question that he has the talent to do so.