There is a lot you would want in a Premier League relegation fight that Tottenham Hotspur are missing.
Interim boss Igor Tudor has failed to provide a new manager ‘bounce’ and instead has appeared to cause more division at a time when unity is essential. Captain Cristian Romero’s discipline on the pitch and on social media has also been problematic while there has been major disruption behind the scenes.
What they do have, and what could prove crucial - as Everton supporters will attest - is Richarlison. The forward is once again showing he is willing to fight when the situation is dire, a characteristic that saved the Blues and could now save Spurs.
The 28-year-old (can you believe he is only 28?) led from the front at Anfield on Sunday. His history with Everton makes him a target on the pitch and from the stands at Liverpool and for a long time it looked as though his efforts would go without reward - his seemingly thankless task greeted with jeers at every failed foray forward.
Yet he carried on and dragged a depleted, threadbare side on its worst losing streak in generations to an unlikely point that started to look more and more of a possibility as he kept going.
The warning signs were there for Liverpool - the Brazil international forced a good save from Alisson Becker with a header from a corner and then was agonisingly close to meeting an Archie Gray cross when any touch would have led to an equaliser.
But relegation-fighting Richarlison is a different beast and he got his goal in the 90th minute, earning Tottenham a vital point.
As he celebrated inside a stunned stadium it was hard not to think back to how he pulled Everton from the mire under Frank Lampard four years ago. It was his goal just after half-time - created by him hunting down the ball - that gave the Blues the win over Chelsea that kickstarted the run to survival.
His celebration, in which he picked up a smoking flare, was one of several iconic moments on a day in which Evertonians held their first coach welcome in the tight streets surrounding Goodison Park and when Jordan Pickford made one of the great saves of the Premier League era.
Ten days earlier he had rescued a point at home to Leicester City through sheer force of will and the forward would pop up with six goals in the last nine games of the season that mattered - including the equaliser in the comeback win over Crystal Palace that guaranteed survival and made a final day trip to Arsenal meaningless.
There are several players who deserve immense credit for hauling Everton from the mess that year. Seamus Coleman was an inspiration on and off the pitch and Pickford provided several crucial saves. Richarlison was vital, too. That he did it all while carrying an injury made it even more impressive.
“We were at risk of relegation,” he later said in an interview with the Players’ Tribune. “I was exhausted. I lost weight, and I could barely play an entire game. I had been injured in the Olympics, and I was injured again at the club. My body was asking me to stop. But it was simple: I had to help save the club. Everton do not belong in the Championship. Can you imagine? We had no choice.”
Richarlison said he refused a medical ahead of the Crystal Palace game because he feared he would stopped from playing, something he could not contemplate. He played, he scored, the Blues stayed up.
That summer he moved to Spurs but his connection with Everton has remained strong, as did his love for the club - he spent the second half of that season teasing Arnaut Danjuma, questioning his 11th-hour U-turn away from a move to Merseyside and to north London instead.
He is now tasked with saving Spurs from catastrophe and, as he showed on Sunday evening, there should be little doubt he will be up for the fight.
Joe Thomas is the Everton FC correspondent for the Liverpool ECHO. He follows the Blues home and away, providing match reports, analysis and insight into events at Goodison Park, Finch Farm and beyond. Joe spent more than a decade covering news on Merseyside, working on award-winning investigations and extensively covering matters related to the Hillsborough tragedy - including the recent criminal prosecutions. Always grateful for tips and feedback, he can be contacted at joe.thomas@reachplc.com and on Twitter via @joe_thomas18
