Why Emerson Royal is not in Tottenham Hotspur squad to face Sheffield United in FA Cup
Emerson Royal is not in Tottenham Hotspur’s matchday squad to face Sheffield United in the fifth round of the FA Cup today at Bramall Lane.
As per Football.London, the Brazilian right-back has been left out of the team due to a knock to his knee. Pedro Porro has started the game at right-back.
He finally arrived in N17 in the January transfer window from Sporting CP as our marquee winter signing. However, Emerson’s form since then has not given manager Antonio Conte and stand-in manager Cristian Stellini any reason to drop him.
The 23-year-old one-cap Spain international’s only other start for us came in the 4-1 loss against Leicester City. He was taken off in the 75th minute after making no tangible impact on the game.
Big opportunity for Porro to impress
One would have imagined that Stellini picked a relatively weaker team for this clash anyway. Even if Emerson was fit, this was the perfect game to give Porro some playing time before putting him in the starting XI on a regular basis in the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.
It’s not that he isn’t good. Of course, he is. He was very good in both of Sporting CP’s games against us earlier this season and against Manchester City last campaign.
He can, however, use some time to get used to English football on a more regular basis. Matt Doherty has been sold to Atletico Madrid while Djed Spence is on loan at Stade Rennais until the summer.
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While we have lost two full-backs (one temporarily), at least we have Emerson, who can play down that side on a regular basis and compete with Porro. He has been a good player on several occasions and on recent form, he is the man to displace from the starting XI.
All eyes on Porro tonight. Surely Conte would be watching this with a keen eye.
