Emerson Royal rules out ‘rubbishes’ of his unliking ex-Tottenham manager Nuno Espírito Santo

According to Sport Witness (h/t Football.London), Emerson Royal has suggested that he didn’t have a poor relationship with former Tottenham manager Nuno Espírito Santo and the journalist misunderstood his interpretation. 

Emerson Royal joined Tottenham in the summer and has become a key player for the squad. He was a starter in Nuno Espírito Santo’s team and currently, he enjoys a regular presence in Antonio Conte’s side as well. The Brazilian has made a total of 16 appearances this season. 

During an interview when Nuno Espírito Santo was still in-charge, The Tottenham full-back suggested that the manager preferred English when giving him orders rather than Portuguese, a language that Emerson understood better. This habit from the now axed Spurs manager made it difficult for him to interpret the whole meaning of the orders during his starting days at the club.

The interview received media attention and projected a poor relationship between the full-back and the ex-Wolves manager. But in a recent press conference, Emerson cleared the air and suggested that the Portuguese manager had good intentions behind the approach. 

“Let me explain this rubbish. When I gave an interview talking about it, it wasn’t that he didn’t translate to annoy me. He used to say this to me: you have to learn English. I’ll go through the training, and you’ll get by to understand the training because that way you’ll learn. So he did it for good.”

Emerson also revealed that the media interpretation of his interview was wrong, and he didn’t mean such a thing. 

“And I spoke in the interview, I spoke relaxed, and people understood that he was messing with me. I wasn’t complaining.”

Emerson has played in the right-back position during Nuno Espírito Santo’s reign. But in Conte’s 3-4-3 formation, he has been starting further up the pitch given the former Juventus and Chelsea manager’s use of his attacking full-backs. In his recent outing against Liverpool, the 22-year-old performed well while playing in his usual Right back role. 

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It remains to be seen how Conte and Emerson get along on the training ground. There is nothing to suggest that their relationship is but it is widely known that Conte gives his interviews in English as well as Italian.

It bodes well for Emerson if he starts to converse in English more often considering he is now plying his trade in London. Santo’s intentions were obviously good and it is a shame how news can be blatantly spun in order to get attention. This matter could have been clarified earlier when Santo was still at the helm, but it is better late than never.