Manager Ange Postecoglou of Tottenham Hotspur watches from the sidelines during an exhibition football match against West Ham at Optus Stadium in Perth on July 18, 2023. (Photo by TREVOR COLLENS / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by TREVOR COLLENS/AFP via Getty Images)
Emerson Royal gave Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou a convincing demonstration on Friday night by playing a strong left-back role in the team’s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
Destiny Udogie’s fitness for Tottenham’s Premier League match against Crystal Palace on Friday was in doubt following his early substitution against Fulham four days prior. The Italy international, a key member of Ange Postecoglou’s squad since his season-opening appearance for the Lilywhites, left the field on minute 56 of the team’s victory over the Cottagers due to some discomfort he was experiencing at halftime.
The head coach announced during his pre-match news conference before the Crystal Palace match that the left-back would be evaluated before the game. The player continued to play for an additional 11 minutes after the restart before being substituted. Ultimately, Udogie was left out of the matchday squad, as Tottenham evidently did not want to take any chances or run the danger of inflicting any further harm.
Ben Davies was given the go-ahead by Postecoglou to return to the matchday squad after missing the first part of the week due to an injury, but Emerson Royal was the one who took the 20-year-old’s spot against Fulham. The 30-year-old, making his second appearance of the season after coming off the bench in the Carabao Cup loss at Fulham, didn’t have the best of outings and was appropriately replaced at the break in south London.
Palace enjoyed plenty of success down Spurs’ left flank as they struggled to contain Jordan Ayew. The Lilywhites occasionally required Micky van de Ven’s quickness to provide support. Everyone could see that Udogie was missing, and Davies was sadly unable to provide the same attributes as his Tottenham colleague.
Emerson was added before halftime and, despite playing on his unnatural side, seemed more solid than Davies. It is perhaps disappointing that he did not make the starting XI following a respectable performance on Monday night.
stepping in defensively to attempt to restrict The Brazil international Ayew, who cost £26 million when he signed with Tottenham two years ago, also tried to move forward and find connections with players in front of him as Tottenham attempted to create opportunities in the closing third. Emerson helped out in the back by winning nine of his twelve duels, winning all three of his tackles, and making contributions with five recoveries and three clearances. His game statistics, as reported by FotMob, were very impressive.
In addition, the player made two of his three long balls, one of his two dribbles, and 29 of his 34 passes were accurate. Overall, the player gave a really strong performance, so it was not surprising that Postecoglou called him “outstanding” at his post-match news conference, according to football.london.
When asked about Brennan Johnson’s influence coming off the bench, he responded, “Yeah, Brennan was great,” recording an assist two minutes after his introduction. He’s obviously had a few hiccups, so we haven’t really seen him in any continuous game or practice time, but over the past two weeks, he has put in a lot of effort in the gym.
“I assumed that every substitute that entered… Pierre, in my opinion, helped us take control of the midfield, and I thought Emerson played a fantastic left-back position. Right now, those types of things—the guys showing up and supporting us during games—are beneficial to us.”
The player’s only option at this point is to seize his opportunity to play off the bench when it presents itself and hope that he will eventually receive more playing time. Unfortunately, he won’t get the minutes he desires this season due to Pedro Porro and Udogie’s dominance on either side. That is just what he accomplished on Friday night at Selhurst Park, and he has not harmed anyone in the process of helping Postecoglou identify his best player to start in Udogie’s place should he ever go missing again.
Even if Emerson isn’t naturally on the left flank, he has shown in his last two cameo appearances that he is more than capable of playing there for Tottenham if needed.
