Can Tottenham Hotspur really improve on Emerson at right wing-back?

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Tottenham Hotspur’s Brazilian defender Emerson Royal runs with the ball during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 26, 2021. – – (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images) /

Seemingly from the moment, he was surprisingly signed from Barcelona in the summer, Tottenham fans have sought an upgrade on Emerson Royal, is that possible?

With the Watford game the most recent in the memory, it is easy to think Spurs need to upgrade on Emerson Royal. The Brazilian wide-man was successful on only 5 of 14 crosses, according to whoscored.com, leading many to believe that an upgrade is needed. However, the question is who would Spurs actually sign to play right wing-back, and are they actually going to be an upgrade on Emerson?

What does Emerson do well for Tottenham?

It is easy to criticize Royal for his crossing after the Watford game, however, there is an awful lot that the lanky does very well. Against Watford, Emerson led the team with 114 touches, of those 1, was a poor touch, 1. Add in the fact that outside of those nine missed crosses, Emerson did not misplay a single pass and one may ask if we are being too harsh.

Could Emerson be better at crossing the ball, yes, but at 22-years-of-age and playing his first season in the Premier League in a new position, Royal does very well.

No longer are Spurs concerned about a stupid foul or a player not hustling to get back defensively. Against Watford, there was a Hornet’s counter where Royal had a decent cross but it was cleared away and the counter-attack was on.

In the middle of the screen, you could see Oliver Skipp busting a gut to get back from the edge of the attacking third to apply some pressure on Watford. What you could not see, until the ball was played, was Emerson tracking back from the penalty box and intercepting the pass to his man deep in Spurs territory.

All of the questions we used to have about when the next dumb foul and poor turnover are seemingly gone with Emerson, who is a stout defender and growing in the attack. The idea that we can somehow upgrade on a player Barcelona once had a €100m buyout clause on seems almost insane, yet this is where we are, so the question remains, can Spurs upgrade on Emerson.