Thomas Frank certainly has some big decisions to make when it comes to his Tottenham team to face Burnley on Saturday. Spurs' 2025/26 campaign officially got underway on Wednesday evening as they took on PSG in the UEFA Super Cup final in Udine, Italy.
Thomas Frank's team produced a very impressive performance against the Parisians but they were to be defeated on penalties following a late rally from the Champions League winners. Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero's goals were cancelled out by Lee Kang-in and Goncalo Ramos in the closing minutes, with Nuno Mendes scoring the decisive kick in the penalty shootout after Van de Ven and Mathys Tel had missed for Tottenham.
Despite the killer blow of losing the game so late on and missing out on another trophy in the process, Frank can take so many positives from the match with his players putting in huge performances that resulted in them taking a deserved 2-0 lead.
"I absolutely agree, very, very proud of the players, the team, the club, the fans," said the Dane in his post-match press conference. "I think the players gave everything, playing against one of the best team in the world, maybe the best, at the moment, and I think we were 75, 80 minutes perfect, almost giving nothing away against, they had four players with unbelievable individual quality on the pitch. So very, very proud of them."
A number of players stood out for Tottenham across the game, with Richarlison certainly one of them. The Brazilian was given the nod over Dominic Solanke as he partnered Mohammed Kudus in a new-look Tottenham attack.
The decision to start with Richarlison instead of Solanke was not a shock as the latter had only just returned to the matchday squad after suffering with an ankle injury over the summer. The ex-Bournemouth man started the team's opening game of pre-season against Reading but failed to feature after that, meaning he had missed out on so much game time to increase his fitness levels ahead of the new season.
Solanke did look like a player who had just returned from injury following his introduction in place of the Brazilian in the 72nd minute. Richarlison was a huge presence up top for Tottenham throughout the game as he gave PSG issues time and time again with his relentless play.
His running, hold-up play and ability to win a free-kick really benefitted Frank's team and his absence was felt dearly in those closing minutes as PSG upped the pressure on Spurs and eventually drew level. Tottenham really did miss Richarlison in those final few minutes as his ability to hold the ball up and win a free-kick would have been invaluable to the team.
However, it perhaps wasn't a surprise to see him make way with 18 minutes to go due to the amount of work he had put in and also his previous injury woes. Injuries have hit the 28-year-old hard in recent seasons and there are a number of Tottenham fans who would like to see him move on so someone who is consistently available over a long-term period can come in and take his place.
Wednesday night did in fact highlight that Richarlison is a huge asset to the team and that he can be a big player for Frank, with his performance reminiscent of the job he did in the Europa League final when he was handed a starting spot over Son Heung-min. Regardless of Solanke's current fitness levels or not, the ex-Everton man has certainly made an extremely strong case to start this weekend against Burnley.
It would be incredibly harsh to drop the player to the bench on Saturday at home to the Clarets when he really does deserve to start again. The question Frank has to answer is whether he goes with the same formation that features a front two or he reverts to 4-2-3-1 and brings in an additional attacking player.
Whatever decision he plumps for in the end, Richarlison should be in his starting XI as Tottenham look to make the best possible start to the new Premier League season.