Richarlison Takes Aim At Conte Over Insufficient Spurs Playing Time
Richarlison has had a go at Antonio Conte over his lack of game time at Tottenham Hotspurs.
Richarlison only appeared for the final 20 minutes as Spurs exited the UEFA Champions League at the round of 16 stage following a 0-0 draw with AC Milan in North London on Wednesday.
Conte's side lost the first leg 1-0 in Italy.
Richarlison has started sporadically for Spurs since completing a £60m move from Everton last summer.
The 25-year-old has failed to score in 17 Premier League appearances so far, with his only goals coming via a brace against Olympique Marseille in the Champions League group stages.
Richarlison is up against Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-Min for a starting berth in the Spurs attack but he feels he should have had a better involvement in games thus far.
Speaking to Brazilian TV station TNT Sports after Wednesday's match, he said: "I should have played.
"I was playing well, we won against Chelsea and West Ham and suddenly I was on the bench.
"I played five minutes against Wolves, asked the reason and no-one told me why. Yesterday, they asked me to take a fitness test in the gym and told me I was going to start today if I passed it.
"And today I was on the bench. There are things I can't understand. There was no explanation again, let's see what he [Conte] will tell us tomorrow - but I'm not silly, I'm a professional who works hard every day and I want to play."
"There hasn't been enough minutes given to me. I don't have enough minutes, was injured for a bit, but when I'm on the pitch I give my life," he said.
"I played well in two games, especially against Chelsea, so I think I should have played tonight, but I can't go on crying about it now."
"We have 12 games to play now and the focus is that," Richarlison said.
"I'll try to score as many goals as I can because the club has paid a lot of money for me and I haven't given enough back on the pitch yet.
"Fair to say my injuries didn't help and I haven't had enough minutes. But now I'll go home, rest, train tomorrow and see if he'll put me in the first XI next game."
