The football world seemed to baulk as one when the news emerged of the £40 million transfer fee Everton Football Club had paid for 21-year-old Brazilian winger Richarlison. The former Fluminense man had an impressive start to life in England 12 months ago having arrived at Watford for a much smaller £12 million and featured prominently in Marco Silva’s overachieving Hornets, although his form dropped off significantly post-Christmas which also coincided with Silva’s departure from Vicarage Road.
Fast-forward to today and Richarlison currently sits top of the Premier League scoring charts alongside Sadio Mane and Sergio Aguero, after 2 games. But Richarlison has scored those 3 goals from only 4 shots compared to Mane’s 6 and Aguero’s 12, making him the league’s deadliest finisher at this early stage of the season. We take a look at what makes Richarlison a perfect fit into Marco Silva’s Everton side and why he’s already looking worth every penny of that contentious transfer fee.
Silva’s Everton
Marco Silva was a wanted man on the blue half of Merseyside for at least 6 months before his arrival and the early signs at Goodison Park are a testament to their belief in the young Portuguese boss. Silva’s stints at Watford and Hull were both short-lived but yet impressive as he quickly introduced an eye-catching style of play and a fearlessness in his teams. Silva is not overly concerned with his side dominating possession, it’s the use of possession that matters. His teams move the ball quickly and players will look pick out the furthest free option, preferably playing the ball on the floor, while supporting runs are made beyond the receiving player to advance the ball up the pitch quickly.
These patterns are reminiscent of Rinus Michel’s Netherlands side of the 1970s, captained by Johan Cruyff. Together the two Dutchmen changed the game of football with their ‘total football’ concept. The system demands that all 11 players be comfortable on the ball, they work hard to win the ball back when it’s lost and that players can comfortably switch positions to maintain shape both in and out of possession. Silva’s Everton have displayed these patterns in their opening 2 Premier League games this season, there is a fluidity of movement in attack with players creating space behind the opposition for teammates to run into. Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds currently play in a similar fashion, the Argentine manager also takes many of his principles from the Dutch ‘total football’ concept.
This system also requires the wingers to sometimes interchange positions with the central striker and therefore possess typical number 9 qualities in attack. Richarlison has more than displayed his varying abilities in the attacking third in his only 2 Everton appearances so far. Just as he did under Marco Silva at Watford, Richarlison typically plays on the left wing and has already formed a good partnership with left-back Leighton Baines. The two are pivotal to Everton’s penetrating attacks down the left where Baines will often either over-lap or under-lap the Brazilian winger while the latter moves inside to support the striker, Cenk Tosun.
