Tottenham Hotspur head into Saturday afternoon’s Premier League clash with AFC Bournemouth in something of a dip in form, with Antonio Conte’s side having lost two and drawn one of their last three fixtures in all competitions.
The latest of these results was a controversial 1-1 draw with Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League, a game which Spurs thought they had won with the last kick of the game after Harry Kane turned home from close range – only for the 29-year-old’s strike to be ruled out for offside by VAR.
However, while Conte and his side undoubtedly felt the decision to chalk their winner off was a harsh one, in truth, it was the performances of a number of the Tottenham team that ultimately cost the north London outfit all three points on the night – and particularly that of second-half substitute Emerson Royal.
Indeed, despite only being introduced to the game in the 81st minute, the Brazilian continued an unwanted trend of wastefulness in the final third, completing just four of his eight attempted passes – a success rate of just 50% – including a now infamous no-look pass in the closing stages of the game that went out for a Sporting goal-kick.
The £34m-rated wing-back also ceded possession a whopping seven times over his limited time on the pitch, with his total of 12 touches meaning he gave away the ball with every 1.7 touches he had on Wednesday evening.
This is something that football.london’s Rob Guest picked up on in his player ratings, with the journalist awarding the £40k-per-week flop a five, as well as stating of the defender’s display: “Wasted some good chances down the right when more quality was needed.”
However, Emerson’s poor showing against the Liga Portugal side was far from his first of the season, with Josh Bunting slamming the 23-year-old in a post on Twitter after his performance in the 2-1 loss to Newcastle United earlier this month:
“Emerson Royal just isn’t good enough at all, he’s not Premier League quality whatsoever. Dreadful performance again today, decision making and just general football intelligence is simply dreadful. Maybe the worst player to play for Tottenham in my lifetime and I mean that.”
As such, should Conte wish to give Spurs the best possible chance of returning to winning ways against Bournemouth this afternoon, it would appear clear that the 53-year-old simply must avoid selecting Emerson in his starting XI at the Vitality Stadium – as a repeat performance of Wednesday from the right-back could well cost Tottenham dearly again today.
from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/P1RXe6k
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