Although Richarlison has recently been in the news for having been ruled out by Dorival Júnior for the 2024 Copa América due to an alleged injury, the Brazilian footballer is having a solid season with the Spurs, this being his best year on an individual level.
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Unfortunately, in recent weeks the Brazilian star has gone from strength to strength, but his hard work at Tottenham continues to be highly valued by the English club. Hard work that not only translates into goals, but also defensive sacrifice, an area in which Pombo stands out, according to the latest study by the CIES Football Observatory.
Richarlison, proof that the best attack is a good defense
In a recent study published by this Swiss research entity, the footballers from the five major European leagues with the most and best defensive performance were highlighted.
At the top of the list, with an index of 100, which measures the ground covered without the ball at high speed and the duels won by high pressure, stands out the South Korean Heung-min Son.
🔝 Defensive work index*, big-5⃣ league forwards 🥵
🥇 #HeungMinSon 🇰🇷 (#Spurs)
🥈 #Richarlison 🇧🇷 (#Spurs)
🥉 #MoritzBroschinski 🇩🇪 (#VfLBochum)
* Out-of-possession high speed distance (@SkillCorner) & pressing duels (@Wyscout)
All data & method 👉 https://t.co/ujn3oq4Xjy pic.twitter.com/mrGEpoSbjJ— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) May 8, 2024
The second place in the top-10 goes to his Tottenham teammate, Richarlison. The Brazilian stands out with a score of 88.4, far surpassing Mortiz Broschinski (Bochum), who takes third place on the podium with 86.5 points.
With this index, the CIES highlights the footballers with an offensive profile who make the most defensive sacrifices and those who are most effective in carrying out this recovery or pressure task.
Remembering Zagallo
Sambafoot Series launched a new documentary about the football legend Zagallo. Known as ‘Velho Lobo‘ and as superstitious as it gets, Zagallo helped shape what Brazilian football is nowadays — as a player and as a coach.
Binge the first five episodes available on Sambafoot’s Youtube channel. Stay tuned for upcoming releases as we keep telling this legend’s life story.
