Paul Merson has let rip at Emerson Royal for his red card challenge in the North London derby, with the former Arsenal man insisting that the Brazilian is simply not good enough.
Emerson struggled to adapt to the demands of the right wing-back role after Antonio Conte arrived last season and many Spurs fans would not have been surprised if the 23-year-old had been sold in the summer.
Instead, not only did the former Real Betis man stay put at the North London club but he has also started all but one game across all competitions so far this season (Trasfermarkt).
The 23-year-old had an afternoon to forget last Saturday as he was sent off for the first time in his Tottenham career on the back of a nasty challenge on his compatriot Gabriel Martinelli after 62 minutes.
Emerson’s sending-off scuppered any hopes Spurs had of coming back into the game, and Merson has now stated that the right-back tends to struggle badly when he is off his game.
The pundit told Sportskeeda: “I don’t know what Emerson Royal was doing, he’s not good enough and his side were embarrassed by their local rivals owing to his red card. Emerson Royal is not good enough and tends to struggle badly when he’s off it.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Emerson certainly has some shortcomings to his game going forward but he has generally been good defensively. I do not think one can be too critical of his challenge on Martinelli as it was a spur-of-the-moment decision and he immediately knew he got it wrong. The 23-year-old did not appear to have any malicious intent to hurt the Arsenal man.
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