Tottenham paid a transfer fee in the region of £60m to Everton for the 25-year-old centre forward last summer.
Richarlison has made only 14 league appearances for Spurs this season, failing to find the back of the net on each occasion and struggling to impress at his new club.
The Brazilian has started only ten games for Tottenham so far, with one coming on Sunday against West Ham, and Cunningham believes that Richarlison cannot complain about his lack of game time because he has not produced high quality performances.
Cunningham pointed out that Richarlison’s statistics will show that he has failed to perform when given the opportunity to step up.
“He cannot complain”, Cunningham said on Off The Ball.
“If he was coming on scoring goals and his performance was at a high level, then I think you are entitled to go and banging the manager’s door and say, ‘Look, I need to be in this team.
“I am going to meet the performances and justify it on merit.’
“I don’t think that’s been the case here with him this season.
“Yes, it’s been a little bit fragmented, but when he has been in the team, you know the stats do not add up in terms of what you are talking about, goalscoring.
“Generally call it individual performance, I don’t think it’s been at a high level.
“I don’t think he can complain too much.”
Richarlison last scored for Spurs in September in their Champions League game against Marseille.
