Tottenham implored to cut ties with frustrating player who is ‘costing’ Antonio Conte success
A former Tottenham player has urged the club to sell right-back Emerson Royal as he is ‘costing’ the side ‘every week’.
Tottenham spent £25.8million (€30m) to sign Emerson from Barcelona in August 2021. That came after he made 38 appearances for Barca in the previous campaign, helping them to finish third in La Liga and win the Copa del Rey.
Emerson arrived at Tottenham with the hope of becoming their first-choice right-back, ahead of Matt Doherty. Republic of Ireland international Doherty had joined Spurs the previous summer from Wolves but failed to impress.
However, Emerson has proven himself to be an unreliable and costly player for Spurs. He doesn’t have enough quality going forward and is often found lacking when he comes up against top wingers.
The Brazilian was recently sent off for Antonio Conte’s side. He put in a bad challenge on Gabriel Martinelli 62 minutes into the north London derby and this forced the referee to dismiss him.
Conte was dismayed by the sending off. In a post-match interview, he told reporters the red card ‘killed the game’ and that it actually should have been a yellow.
Jamie O’Hara, who made 56 appearances for Spurs between 2007 and 2011, has had enough of the full-back. He has labelled Emerson a ‘liability’ and says he would spend £5m of his own money to get Spurs to sell him.
“I would pay someone to take him off our hands,” O’Hara said while appearing on talkSPORT. “I ain’t got a lot in my bank but I’d give you £5m to get rid of this liability, because he is costing us every week.”
Jamie O’Hara follows Tim Sherwood lead in slamming Emerson
O’Hara isn’t the first man associated with Spurs to slam Emerson. Reacting to the 23-year-old’s red card, former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood said: “When you slow it down, Anthony Taylor hasn’t sent him off, the linesman sent him off.
“I think it’s quick communication and it’s frustration [from Emerson]. The guy will let you down time and time again, I always say it about him.
“He has a rush of blood to his head. It’s just frustration, chasing the ball and not getting a touch of it.
“He’s [Martinelli] so deep, he’s defending, there’s absolutely no need to do it. I thought it was a little bit harsh, I don’t think he’s hurt anyone by doing it. If you’re straight on and going over the top of the ball, you’re going to hurt someone.
“It could have gone either way, but you can’t argue with the decision.”
It is surprising that Emerson gets so much game time given Conte has Djed Spence in his squad. Spurs signed the Englishman from Middlesbrough in July, following his brilliant season on loan at Nottingham Forest.
Spence will have seen himself getting into the starting lineup ahead of Emerson and Doherty, given their struggles. However, Conte says the full-back’s signing was a club choice and not his.
As such, Spence has managed just one minute of Premier League football this term in what is becoming a hugely disappointing time for him.
While Conte doesn’t seem to trust Spence, he must give the 22-year-old a proper opportunity sooner rather than later. Otherwise, he risks stunting Spence’s development.
Meanwhile, a pundit has hit out at those who are complaining about Conte and his tactics.