According to Paul Merson, Tottenham Hotspur defender Emerson Royal is simply not good enough for Antonio Conte’s side.
Spurs paid £25.7m to sign the Brazilian defender from Barcelona last year, but he has not lived up to expectations and has been a disappointment.
The 23-year-old Brazilian has received a barrage of criticism over the past year and after last weekend’s dismissal for the nasty tackle on Gabriel Martinelli, the censure has only increased.
In his column for Sportskeeda, Paul Merson blamed Emerson Royal for Tottenham’s heavy loss to arch-rivals Arsenal in the north London derby and called on Conte to consider replacing the right-back. He wrote:
“I don’t know what Emerson Royal was doing, he’s not good enough and his team was embarrassed by their local rivals because of his red card.
“Emerson Royal isn’t good enough and tends to struggle when he’s offside. I like Ivan Perisic, but he is not getting any younger, so Conte has a couple of things to think about”.
Conte’s system relies heavily on full-backs, and while Spurs have enough quality on the left in Perisic and Sessegnon, the Italian manager may need to strengthen the right-back position in January.
