The Liverpool Echo’s Adam Jones has recently discussed Richarlison’s performance against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup.
During the fourth round of the competition, the Toffees hosted the Owls at Goodison Park and managed to defeat them 3-0 (as per BBC).
On the scoresheet for Carlo Ancelotti’s side that day was Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Yerry Mina – with the Brazilian forward bagging the second goal.
The goal for the 23-year-old forward broke a duck of four consecutive games in which he had not found the back of the net in all competitions (per Transfermarkt).
During the latest episode of the Liverpool Echo’s Royal Blue: The Everton FC Podcast, Jones discussed the impact scoring that goal will have on Richarlison.
He said: “There were signs, in the first half, I thought, that he was just trying that little bit too hard. He’d pick up the ball and try and run with it [and] he’d just overhit it.
“He’d hit it into a defender or something like that, or he’d just – like with that pass from [James] Rodriguez – he just made that run a little bit too early. He was a little bit too anxious.
“In the first half, he was still playing well. He didn’t give up, he didn’t get too frustrated or down tools or anything like that.
“The biggest thing we can take out of [his goal] is that he’s still got all of those natural instincts and maybe it does show that he needs to be in those central areas.
“We’re heading into two crucial games this week, we want to be winning both of them seeing as they’re at Goodison. So, we’re going to need our best players to be performing in both games.
“Richarlison certainly is one of those, he’s somebody who can produce that one bit of quality that you need sometimes to win those games with a tight margin.”
TIF Thoughts on what Adam Jones said about Richarlison…
As can be seen in what the reporter had to say, he believes that the confidence boost the Brazilian got from the game against the Owls could be important against Leicester City and Newcastle United.
Have you been disappointed in Richarlison this season?
Yes, not quite been his best
No, still been good enough
While Richarlison has only found the back of the net on two occasions over 13 appearances in the Premier League this season, he has still be performing well (per WhoScored).
The 7.17/10 average rating which he has earned in the league has made him the third-best performer in Everton’s squad, so, it is clear that he has still been having an impact if not directly scoring.