Tottenham striker Richarlison has caused a social media storm with his comments following Spurs' disappointing two-legged Champions League defeat to AC Milan – branding the season "shit" and questioning why he wasn't getting more game time.
The comments will pile the pressure on under-fire manager Antonio Conte, whose contract is up at the end of the season – but who some suspect may be not even last that long.
Spurs were 1-0 down from the first leg in Milan, meaning they needed just one goal at home to push the last-16 tie to extra time.
However, a drab performance saw them crash out after drawing 0-0, recording just two shots on target, and with £60 million signing Richarlison sitting on the substitutes' bench until the 70th minute.
It has been a tough season for the Brazilian forward, who is yet to score a Premier League goal for Tottenham.
And in his post-match interview with Brazilian reporter Fred Caldeira of TNT Sports, he was candid about what he saw as the manager's shortcomings.
Carried out in his native Portuguese, FourFourTwo have used a translation carried out by Reddit user TinoAursnesEnzo and cross-referenced it with a separate translation done by @tbasquesthfc on Twitter.
Here's the full transcript:
"ESSA TEMPORADA ESTÁ SENDO UMA MERDA!" Rapaz, o Richarlison ficou pistola depois da eliminação do Tottenham na Champions. E teve recado pro treinador Antonio Conte também... 👀 Confira! #CasaDaChampions🎙️: @fredcaldeira pic.twitter.com/IJrDt4ekXYMarch 8, 2023
Interviewer: Richarlison, I imagine you're feeling frustrated?
"[Chuckles] of course, we're out of the biggest club competition, but we can't play like this needing a goal, we have to put people forward especially in the second half. Now there's not much to discuss, we can't assign blame, now we have to focus on the premier league, we train early tomorrow and the next match is Nottingham Forest."
So do you feel like he [Conte] should've brought you on earlier or maybe even put you in the starting XI? Do you think you're lacking sequence as a starter in this team?
"I also didn't get that. I was playing well, I was in good form, I had two wins against West Ham and Chelsea and all of a sudden I was dropped to the bench. Against Wolves I played only five minutes, I asked why and they didn't tell me anything.
"Yesterday they asked me to do a test at the training ground, told me if I did well I'd play, and when the match came he benched me. These things are not understandable."
He didn't speak to you, didn't explain why?
"He didn't explain anything. Let's see what he says tomorrow. You don't have an idiot here, I'm a professional, I work every day and I want to play. I need more minutes. If the season is being – sorry for the word – is being shit, why do I not get minutes?
"I got a small injury, but when I'm on the pitch I give my life. I came from two good games, especially against Chelsea where I played the full 90 minutes and we won. There's not much to discuss, I should have played and there's no point crying about it."
And to finish, how do you focus for the end of the season, you said it's been frustrating so far.
"There's about 20 matches left, almost 20 matches, I don't know, 18?
"[Interviewer: Thirteen]. Thirteen, yeah? Focus on those matches, scoring as many goals as I can, because the club paid a lot for me and so far I haven't matched that on the pitch. Of course injuries have set me back a little, I needed to play more minutes too, but now I'm going home, to rest, tomorrow we have training early, and let's see if they put me in the starting 11 for the next match."
