Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank hailed Richarlison after the striker’s double, which included a memorable scissor-kick, got the former Brentford boss off to the perfect start in north London.
Frank succeeded Ange Postecoglou as Spurs head coach in the summer and came within a whisker of winning a trophy in midweek but Paris Saint-Germain‘s late fightback ensured the UEFA Super Cup headed to the French capital.
Richarlison, who struggled with injuries for the majority of last season, impressed as he deputised for Dominic Solanke against the Champions League winners.
His performance led to a starting spot up front in Spurs’ Premier League opener on Saturday and the Brazil international rewarded Frank’s faith with a match-winning brace in the 3-0 triumph.
Frank had warned newly-promoted Burnley would pose a stern test and yet Spurs romped to a first league win since April 6.
Richarlison steered home the opener after 10 minutes before his second goal on the hour mark — Brennan Johnson added another six minutes later on a tough top-flight return for Burnley boss Scott Parker at his old club.
“Perfect start or dream start,” Frank told a news conference. “We all know we need to follow up on it. Today I will just enjoy it and I hope the players, the club and the fans enjoy it because that is important.
“I think overall it was a good performance, not through the roof. A good performance against a difficult opponent.
“It’s never easy in the Premier League — we know that — and after the very short turnaround against PSG.
“Big positive; our medical department and performance department did a top job to make sure the players were ready to go. I think we had eight starters again so that I am happy with.”
Brazil international Richarlison could perhaps have left this summer but remains part of the squad and Frank is excited to get more consistency out of the 28-year-old.
“Fantastic he is scoring. The first one is definitely easier to score without being easy, but I have a striker that takes those two chances and helps us win the game,” Frank said.
“He deserves a lot of praise. He was very good against PSG and today he was exceptional, with his work-rate, driving the team, link-up play, hold-up play, just dominating and then the two finishes.
“So happy on his behalf and again, performance department, medical department did a top job to build him.
“Second goal 17 passes in the team I have been told, every player touched the ball and finished with two top actions.
“First from Mohammed Kudus and then second, an exceptional finish by Richarlison. I’m a little disappointed that so early we have goal of the season — but must be a contender.”
Spurs boss Frank revealed Yves Bissouma, who was dropped for the Super Cup for repeatedly being late for training, missed this fixture due to injury.
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Burnley had created a number of first-half chances, but were punished for a lack of clinical edge in both boxes.
“It’s really fine margins of the Premier League and that’s probably the main thing to come out of it today,” Parker said.
“The clinicalness of the Premier League, they produce an outstanding, world-class finish to see the game away from us, but I saw some real positives.
“We’re disappointed because we came here to try to get a result, but overall there were some really pleasing things.”
