Tottenham Hotspur have got off to the best possible start under Thomas Frank this season.
Indeed, Tottenham have picked up six points from two games, including an impressive win away from home against Manchester City.
A number of Spurs players have seriously stepped up in this time, but the star of the show in recent weeks has been Richarlison.
Richarlison has earned plenty of praise as of late as he’s shone in both the UEFA Super Cup and the Premier League.
Speaking on his podcast, Wayne Rooney has been discussing Richarlison’s recent resurgence, and he says that a recent tactical change at Spurs is really helping the Brazilian.
Thomas Frank has made Richarlison better
Rooney spoke about Richarlison’s recent form and why he has improved.
The pundit reckons that Thomas Frank is at the heart of this improvement, claiming that the manager’s tendency to get more crosses into the box is going to bring the best out of Richarlison going forwards.
“Yeah, and Richarlison is a good player. And if you play to his strengths, then he’s a handful. And it’s similar to what I was saying before about the basics,” Rooney said.
“If Tottenham get the ball out wide, there’s no thought of going in the box. And so for the forwards, the difference that makes in terms of before the ball reaches the wide man or the full-back, you know, you might start pulling off the centre back to get across him.
“So knowing the ball is going to come in the box, so it allows you that little bit more time to adjust your body position or readjust yourself to get that little edge on the defender.
“So it makes it so much easier for the forwards if you know that ball is coming in. And all you’ve got to do is work on your timing and he’s aggressive, he will put himself in there. So yeah, I think the change tactically, which has happened, is certainly going to bring the best out of Richarlison for sure.”
Richarlison’s record under different managers
When you assess Richarlison’s career to date, it is interesting to look at which managers he has performed the best under.
Interestingly, the most prolific period of Richarlison’s career, in England at least, came under Carlo Ancelotti, a manager who did put a lot of emphasis on crossing the ball, hence why Dominic Calvert-Lewin was also solid during that period.
However, the worst period of Richarlison’s career so far was under Antonio Conte, a manager who utilised wing-backs and also tried to get a lot of crosses in, but, for some reason, it just didn’t click with the £60m man.
There’s a lot that goes into getting the best out of a footballer, and, while it’s early days yet, Thomas Frank seems to have cracked the code with Richarlison.