Paul Robinson wowed by ‘fantastic’ Emerson Royal after what he did in Tottenham v Bournemouth
It may not have been perfect, but after a difficult evening against Brighton last time out, Tottenham got back to winning ways in the Premier League as they claimed all three points against Bournemouth.
Ange Postecoglou’s side ran out 3-1 winners on Sunday (31 December) as goals from Pape Matar Sarr, Son Heung-min and Richarlison ensured that Spurs moved within one point of the Champions League places as Arsenal lost to Fulham.
The excellent attacking displays of Giovanni Lo Celso, Son and Richarlison stole a majority of the plaudits, but BBC Sport pundit Paul Robinson was particularly impressed by the “fantastic” performance of Emerson Royal at the heart of Tottenham’s defence.
Speaking on Match of the Day Two (31 December, 43:20) he said: “This is the third goal and once again, it’s Max Aarons the fullback. Great ball by Emerson Royal in behind, Brennan Johnson latches on to it and doesn’t even look up and doesn’t even have a touch.
“Max Aarons gets sucked in there the Bournemouth full-back, Emerson Royal plays a fantastic ball in behind him.”
While the long lofted pass to Johnson in particular was what impressed Robinson, the Brazilian in general had an incredibly positive afternoon in possession.
No player completed more than his 56 passes in the contest which he sprayed around the field with a completion rate of 86 per cent. Four of those efforts were into the final third and the 24-year-old even displayed his range of passing, completing 57 per cent of his seven attempted long-range efforts [Fotmob].
When compared to defenders in the Premier League, the Brazilian is one of the best passers in the division, completing more passes per 90 minutes than 98 per cent of his positional peers with an average completion rate of 91.2 per cent [Fbref].
Emerson particularly comes into his own when passing over a greater length, as he did for Richarlison’s goal on Sunday. When compared to other fullbacks in England’s top flight, he places in the 97th percentile for pass completion rate over a long distance.
Out of possession, it was a similarly strong showing for the Tottenham man as he won 100 per cent of the tackles that he entered, not being dribbled past on a single occasion against a rather tough-to-handle Bournemouth frontline.
The Cherries’ forwards kept Emerson incredibly busy, however, and the Spurs centre-back contested a remarkable 15 duels both in the air and on the ground, winning possession on nine occasions in total with a success rate of 60 per cent.
This is a sign of the improvements that the 24-year-old has made under Postecoglou’s management so far this season as typically Emerson has been rather weak without the ball, tackling only 50 per cent of the dribblers he has faced this season.
Spurs’ makeshift centre-back made more tackles than 80 per cent of his peers in the Premier League but loses more challenges per 90 minutes than 91 per cent of defenders. Against Bournemouth, he was much less rash and only entered challenges where he could come away with possession.
Emerson is still far from perfect and is capable of having a lapse in concentration that can harm his team, making an error leading to a goal every 11 games so far this season, but he may well have solved Postecoglou’s biggest headache.
The Tottenham boss isn’t spoilt with choice at centre-back currently, but should Emerson build on his “fantastic” display against Bournemouth, he may have solved the problem single-handedly.
In other Tottenham news, Jamie O’Hara has labelled Brennan Johnson “weak” when discussing the Welshman’s start at Spurs