In an interview with Lord Ping (Via Football.London), ex-Spurs man Pascal Chimbonda has stated that Emerson Royal is being treated as “a scapegoat when the team plays badly.”
To most fans surprise, Chimbonda during the interview praised Emerson’s attacking abilities despite the Brazilian only managing two assists in 42 games, since arriving last summer. Chimbonda:
“He has played well at times this season, but I do think that he has been made a bit of a scapegoat when the team plays badly. Football is a team game and people need to remember that. I think he needs to work on the defensive part of his game. When he gets forward, he looks good. He isn’t a proper old-school defender in the sense that he will win everything in the air and dive into tackles – he is more of an attacking player.”
The fact Chimbonda claimed Royal “looks good” going forward, makes me question whether he actually watches Spurs games.
The stats don’t agree with the Frenchman either as Royal has only created a measly two goal creating actions so far this season, with Matt Doherty creating the same amount despite the Irishman playing 834 minutes less than the ex-Barcelona man.
Doherty, according to Chimbonda, should be Conte’s man on the right-hand side:
“I like Doherty. The way that Conte plays, I think he would suit Conte’s team perfectly because it is a very similar role to the one, he performed so well in for Wolves. He understands the role of the wing-back.”.
“Royal has played as an orthodox right-back throughout his career. Matt Doherty is more suited to Conte. He played well under him and then had a bad injury, but if he can come back into the team and play like he was towards the end of last season, then he would be my first choice right-back.”
Djed Spence, who provided an impressive 25-minute cameo against Nottingham Forest midweek, is said to be heading out on loan in January – according to 90minFootball.
Chimbonda has likened Spence’s current situation to the situation Kyle Walker faced, when Walker first joined the Lilywhites back in 2009:
“I understand his frustration. He has Royal and Doherty in front of him. I remember when Spurs signed Kyle Walker from Sheffield United, they let him stay at Sheffield on loan and he was allowed to develop there before joining the club. I feel like they should have done something similar with Spence.”
“I think he should go and play and next season the club will benefit from the experience that he has gained on loan. At the moment, he is on the bench and not playing. Of course, he is training with the team but training and playing are two different things. He needs the game time to get better.”
Aswell as the club being open to loaning out Spence, Spurs are also apparently happy to sell either Doherty or Royal, to raise funds for a new wing-back – according to 90minFootball. With Denzel Dumfries apparently being the club’s number one target at wing-back – according to CalcioMercato (via SportWitness).
Chimbonda gave his verdict on Dumfries:
“I think he would be a good addition to the squad. If he were to join the club that would give us four right-backs, which is far too many,” he said. “Tottenham will need to sell a player or two before he joins and I also think they need to think about Spence’s future too. He will not be happy to see another player come into the team.
“I really like Dumfries as a player. I like what he offers going forward and I think he would be an improvement on Royal and Doherty.”