Jermaine Jenas has reacted to Emerson Royal’s debut performance for Tottenham during their 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace and highlighted one aspect he was impressed with.
It wasn’t the result the Spurs debutant would have liked on his first start for the club, which saw Nuno Espirito Santo’s side picked apart in a relatively flat showing at Selhurst Park.
Spurs headed into the fixture after the international break as the Premier League leaders and the only side to boast a perfect record, but that came crumbling down after a Wilfried Zaha penalty and Odsonne Edouard double.
Summer signing Emerson was thrust into the starting line-up in south London as a result of a handful of absentees for Spurs.
Despite the scoreline, the Brazilian had an intriguing battle with the ever-dangerous Zaha, and matched up well before the game fell away from Nuno’s side.
Former Spurs man Jenas was quick to notice the battle on the right flank during the clash and believed his ‘aggressive’ style of defending against Zaha was the right way to go about it.
Jenas told BT Sport during the all-London affair (11/09/21 – 26 minutes into the match): “He was aggressive, Emerson Royal. You can tell he doesn’t want to give Wilfred Zaha any space to run into – that is how you deal with Wilf.”
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It wouldn’t have been the impression Emerson would have preferred to make on his debut for Spurs since signing for the club over the summer.
He did offer a small insight of what he could offer before the game fell away from Spurs following the red card, but he couldn’t get forward as much as he would have liked. There is definitely another gear as he continues to settle in.
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