Tottenham Hotspur suffered a 4-2 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield yesterday, and Micah Richards has delivered his verdict on one Spurs player.
Ange Postecoglou‘s men have had a rough few weeks, haven’t they?
Spurs have now lost four games in a row in the Premier League. Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea and now Liverpool have all battered them over the last month.
As a result, Tottenham‘s top-four hopes are all but dead now, which is a shame as it looked like they were the favourites to get there at one point.
Spurs got dominated at Anfield yesterday, and one player, in particular, had an evening to forget. Richards has now had his say on his performance.
Micah Richards delivers brutally honest verdict on Tottenham’s Emerson Royal
Emerson Royal has not been a regular under Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham this season.
The Brazilian lost his place at right-back to Pedro Porro very early in the campaign. He has been limited to just 11 starts in the Premier League as a result, and most of them have not been in his natural position.
Emerson has filled in at centre-back as well as left-back. He played in Destiny Udogie‘s position yesterday, and he didn’t have a good game at all.
Mohamed Salah, who returned to Liverpool’s starting lineup with a point to prove, really troubled the 25-year-old at Anfield.
He took advantage of Emerson’s poor defensive awareness to score the opener, and the Tottenham man really struggled to deal with him.
Emerson, who had a terrible evening, was withdrawn by Ange Postecoglou just after the hour mark. He was replaced by Oliver Skipp.
Speaking about Emerson’s performance yesterday, Micah Richards claimed that the Tottenham man had a nightmare at Anfield.
He said on the Rest is Football podcast: “It’s not helped Udogie being out as well. Davies came into the team and got injured last game. Then, Emerson Royal – he had a nightmare this evening (yesterday).
“I’ve been there myself, no matter what you do, things are not coming or going your way.
“I think it’s always hard as well for a right-footer to defend on the left-hand side because your body shape, everything is completely different. And because he’s a more offensive player, he really got caught out defensively.”
Tottenham make decision on Emerson’s future
Tottenham signed Emerson Royal from Barcelona in the summer of 2021.
The Brazilian came in with a lot of hype, and many were of the opinion that he would be a big hit at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, Emerson has made a lot of mistakes in a Spurs shirt over the years, and it was no surprise to see Ange Postecoglou prefer Pedro Porro over him at the start of the campaign.
In the upcoming summer transfer window, Tottenham will surely want to address their defence, and reports have claimed that Postecoglou is open to letting Emerson go.
The defender will enter the final two years of his contract this summer, and it really does seem like a move away is the best thing for all parties involved.
