It’s still early in the season, but it would be fair to say that Tottenham Hotspur have not got their Premier League campaign off to the greatest of starts.
Ange Postecoglou’s side kicked things off with a 1-1 draw away to Leicester City, then beat Everton 4-0 before losing 2-1 away at Newcastle United.
Now, there is still plenty of time for the North Londoners to have an excellent year, but they will need their stars like James Maddison to be firing on all cylinders and their squad players like Richarlison fit and ready to contribute when called upon.
Tottenham midfielder James Maddison
However, as talented as those two are, they have actually been shown up by a former Spurs player who left the club last year to little fanfare.
Maddison and Richarlison’s recent form
So, let’s start with Richarlison, who has been in North London for a season longer, and while he’s a talented forward, it would be hard to describe his move as a success at this point in time.
Richarlison in anguish for Tottenham
In his first campaign with the Lilywhites, the former Everton ace could only muster up a paltry return of three goals and four assists in 35 appearances. He did improve last season, netting 12 goals and providing four assists in 31 games, but when looking at both campaigns together, he maintained an underwhelming average – for a centre-forward – of a goal involvement every 2.86 games.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian, this unremarkable rate of return saw the club splash £65m on Dominic Solanke this summer, thus relegating him to a squad role for the foreseeable future.
richarlison-tottenham-premier-league
Now, while the Nova Venécia-born marksman is set to see his minutes limited this season, Maddison certainly isn’t, so long as he can stay fit, that is.
The Englishman joined the North Londoners for £40m last summer, and while he had a slightly mediocre end to the year, which was no doubt in part due to his injury issues, he still scored four goals and provided nine assists in 30 matches for Postecoglou, equating to a goal involvement every 2.30 games.
James Maddison for Tottenham.
However, even though the former Foxes star was able to show his true quality at points last season, he and Richarlison have been shown up for different reasons by a former Spurs ace who left the club last summer.
Lucas Moura’s recent form
Yes, the mystery man is Lucas Moura, who, after spending five and a half seasons with the Lilywhites, moved back home to his first club, São Paulo, on a free transfer last August.
lucas-moura-tottenham-premier-league
The 32-year-old’s final few seasons in North London saw his role in the team reduced to being an option off the bench, as while he played 3173 minutes of football in his first full season with the club, his final campaign saw that number come down to just 394 minutes across 19 appearances.
However, while the Brazilian ace didn’t quite live up to the potential he had at the club, he will always be remembered by the fans for his magical hat-trick against Ajax in May 2019, which booked the club a place in their first-ever Champions League final – the less said about the next game, the better.
Since returning to São Paulo, the 5 foot 8 “superhero”, as dubbed by former manager Mauricio Pochettino, has become an integral part of the club, outperformed Maddison last season, and while his output matches Richarlison’s, he has him beat in another area.
For example, in his 33 appearances last season, the right-footed ace scored nine goals and provided seven assists, comfortably beating out the Englishman’s haul of 13 goal involvements and matching his compatriot’s tally of 16.
