Richarlison vs Kolo Muani: Two ways to play for Thomas Frank at Tottenham – Opinion

The resurgence that we are seeing from Richarlison has to be one of the stories of the season so far, given how his inspired brace against Burnley (including that spectacular scissor kick) was followed with a tireless outing in the win at Manchester City.

SuddenlyWhen you see Richy, you see someone who is sharper and hungrier in those central spaces. This version of the Brazilian centre forward is far closer to the Everton version that Levy thought he was buying.

Having the 28-year-old as the focal point means having someone who is going to thrive on chaos. And we have seen that he is suddenly pressing more aggressively, as he tries to hurry the centre-halves and forces mistakes.

But with Richy, he is someone who is always willing to do the ugly work as well. You’d see him go into scrappy duels and play with his back to the goal. It is also depicted in his endless running into the channels.

And for Tottenham, who are still finding their rhythm under incoming head coach Thomas Frank, this graft has been priceless in the early games of the campaign.

But the problem is that Richarlison during his time at Tottenham has been far from reliable, and given his sketchy injury record, it has ended up disrupting any sense of rhythm that he tries to build at N17.

And that is where a fluid facilitator like Muani comes into the picture…

The French striker gives you a completely different flavour of attacking skillset than Richarlison or Solanke.

We saw how during his days at Frankfurt, he didn’t just used to play in a striker role, but he was given the responsibility to be a creator. You’d see him regularly push out wide and pull defenders out of shape while linking attacks with intelligent movement.

But then from the fast-paced Bundesliga, he went to Ligue 1 as PSG attained his signature. And suddenly he was a different player, a player almost in shackles. He was forced to play in rigid formations where he could barely express himself.

This is where that loan move to Juventus helped his confidence, given how he gave us a reminder of his ability with his eight goals in 16 starts.

Now Muani is not someone who is battering the ram-type striker like Richy, but he is instead someone who is fluid and thrives when playing in systems where the forwards have to rotate and interchange. And this for Thomas Frank is gold dust.

We have seen how the Dane has always had a striker with similar qualities during his time at Brentford, but while he is quite similar, in Muani he has someone who can stretch teams in different ways (be it dropping short or running the channels). He can also end up pushing into that left channel to free up space for runners like Brennan Johnson or Simons.

Richarlison vs Kolo Muani: Two strikers, two systems for Thomas Frank

Now going into the upcoming weeks, the decision will not be about simply opting for Muani or Richarlison, but it will be more about what Thomas Frank wants his side to be doing in specific games. When playing with Richy, Tottenham suddenly will be pressing with more bite, given how the Brazilian sets the tone physically and emotionally. So this gives the North Londoners a sense of directness which has the capacity to unsettle stronger opposition (like we saw against Manchester City).

But then with Kolo Muani, the North Londoners will gain some much-needed fluidity given how the Frenchman gives you more link play and more movement between the lines. So he can end up being that glue to attacking sequences.

Author Opinion

Irrespective of the North Londoners signing Muani, Richarlison has earned the right to keep his spot with his performances in the initial weeks. But then Muani didn’t come here to sit on the bench. This one will end up on how Frank wants to deploy his attacking setup based on opponents, whether he needs a street-fighting #9 or a graceful facilitator.