Player Watch: Emerson Royal

[fishhhandaricecake]

I've great respect for Emerson. Every time he's begun to adapt to a new position we've had to ask him to do something else that he's never done. First he had to change from a RB to a WB, then it's in a back three as a RCB, then back to RB but inverted to the extent that he's almost an AM, then injuries have forced him to cover LB (but inverted!) then he's playing straight-up CB against Erling Haarland (accompanied by the also out-of-position Ben Davies).

And now with Romero returning he'll be 'dropped' back to the bench to cover for Porro, or rotating again at LB with Udogie.

I appreciate the commitment, even if he never seems wholly comfortable wherever he's asked to play.

Such a good post mate and he deserves massive respect for his attitude to learn and try and adapt to all of these different positions.

Very very good squad player to have.

 

[WiganSpur]

..and that's what we do when we defend. 4-4-2.
He's done his job in the inverted role also really well. I saw glimpses of that even last season under Conte.

I like Royal and he's fine to rotate but I think our football is a bit too technical for him. He would be good for most direct and physical sides in the Prem.

 

[Tucker]

He’s a hard worker isn’t he, and defensively he’s decent imo. His quality on the ball is lacking though, and he knows it, which is in turn making him very hesitant and ponderous on the ball. It invites pressure, and means we can’t progress the ball quickly. His lack of ability and confidence is an issue.

He gets far too much stick on here, but I’m not going to pretend his limitations aren’t a big problem to the way we play.

 

[Misfit]

He's a good squad option imo and as makeshift CB be did far better than I could have hoped tbh.

Thank goodness Romero is back though.

Seems a lovely fellow and his work ethic and commitment can't be questioned.

 

[JSpurs1]

He’s a mad bastard but he’s our mad bastard

 

[DannyNZ]

Doing his best playing a new position at CB, feel more comfortable with him there than Dier. Needs to work on getting the ball under control quicker, feel he uses his studs to trap and it bounces off and he’s not balanced receiving the ball.

 

[Cornpattbuck]

The guy should get clubman of the year. A fantastic person to have in the squad and he's doing an admirable job in the circumstances too.

 

[Cinemattis]

I have nothing but respect and admiration for the human being, his professionalism and his mental toughness and resilience.

But he shouldn’t be our 2nd choice right CB nor 2nd choice left back. For the football Ange wants us to play, I’m not convinced he should be our (long term) 2nd or 3rd choice anything tbh.

In short: like the person, not a huge fan of the footballer.

 

[HarryKane]

I've great respect for Emerson. Every time he's begun to adapt to a new position we've had to ask him to do something else that he's never done. First he had to change from a RB to a WB, then it's in a back three as a RCB, then back to RB but inverted to the extent that he's almost an AM, then injuries have forced him to cover LB (but inverted!) then he's playing straight-up CB against Erling Haaland (accompanied by the also out-of-position Ben Davies).

And now with Romero returning he'll be 'dropped' back to the bench to cover for Porro, or rotating again at LB with Udogie.

I appreciate the commitment, even if he never seems wholly comfortable wherever he's asked to play.

Exactly what I was thinking. He's a decent if unspectacular player (sometimes unfairly degraded but is very underwhelming going forward compared to Porro and Udogie), he's very versatile who'll do what the manager and team needs, has a great work ethic and I'm sure managers love him in training. He's rarely injured so is reliable, I don't think I've seen him complain once either even when things weren't going well and he seems like a cracking lad off the pitch. That off the pitch feel good factor I think we can all agree is very underrated in terms of how big of a difference it can make comparing the last few seasons and now

He's a valuable squad player and having a few across the pitch as backups can help get you through difficult parts of the season

 

[allatsea]

He is rapidly becoming a crucial squad player. Love his never say die attitude.

 

[tommyt]

He’s a mad bastard but he’s our mad bastard

 

[HildoSpur]

He is the sort of player that all good teams have in their squad. Totally professional and willing to play in different positions to help the team when required. He is like a Brazilian Ben Davies.

 

[TheChosenOne]

He’s a hard worker isn’t he, and defensively he’s decent imo. His quality on the ball is lacking though, and he knows it, which is in turn making him very hesitant and ponderous on the ball. It invites pressure, and means we can’t progress the ball quickly. His lack of ability and confidence is an issue.

He gets far too much stick on here, but I’m not going to pretend his limitations aren’t a big problem to the way we play.

He always seems to take that one extra touch and that’s the bit that scares me.

Other than that it’s a yes from me.

 

[TOLBINY]

I have nothing but respect and admiration for the human being, his professionalism and his mental toughness and resilience.

But he shouldn’t be our 2nd choice right CB nor 2nd choice left back. For the football Ange wants us to play, I’m not convinced he should be our (long term) 2nd or 3rd choice anything tbh.

In short: like the person, not a huge fan of the footballer.

This! Great respect for Emerson and his attitude but if we are serious about winning trophies then we have to make sure our back up players provide genuine competiion for places and not a drop off in the quality Ange needs.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I have nothing but respect and admiration for the human being, his professionalism and his mental toughness and resilience.

But he shouldn’t be our 2nd choice right CB nor 2nd choice left back. For the football Ange wants us to play, I’m not convinced he should be our (long term) 2nd or 3rd choice anything tbh.

In short: like the person, not a huge fan of the footballer.

I think he’s perfect as a versatile head down squad player tbh.

You won’t get many if any better 2nd choice RB’s than him. If he’s happy to stay I’d like to keep him, he’s a great character and person too, very professional and hard working, a good character to have around the squad.

 

[SonicSarr]

I think he’s perfect as a versatile head down squad player tbh.

You won’t get many if any better 2nd choice RB’s than him. If he’s happy to stay I’d like to keep him, he’s a great character and person too, very professional and hard working, a good character to have around the squad.

He is what we wanted Tanganga to be. After all Barca saw his talent.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I've great respect for Emerson. Every time he's begun to adapt to a new position we've had to ask him to do something else that he's never done. First he had to change from a RB to a WB, then it's in a back three as a RCB, then back to RB but inverted to the extent that he's almost an AM, then injuries have forced him to cover LB (but inverted!) then he's playing straight-up CB against Erling Haaland (accompanied by the also out-of-position Ben Davies).

And now with Romero returning he'll be 'dropped' back to the bench to cover for Porro, or rotating again at LB with Udogie.

I appreciate the commitment, even if he never seems wholly comfortable wherever he's asked to play.

Yup. If he’s happy to stay as a squad player, so much the better. He’s a useful player

 

[Cinemattis]

I think he’s perfect as a versatile head down squad player tbh.

You won’t get many if any better 2nd choice RB’s than him. If he’s happy to stay I’d like to keep him, he’s a great character and person too, very professional and hard working, a good character to have around the squad.

We can agree to disagree, mate.

We shouldn’t be thinking about 1st and 2nd choices; we should have players competing for a place in the starting 11. I’d be very surprised if Royal is rated among the 40-50 best RBs around. In other words: he’s upgradable.

Given our year long problems with HG quota, we should try to find (or develop ourselves) a just as good or better alternative.

 

[HildoSpur]

We can agree to disagree, mate.

We shouldn’t be thinking about 1st and 2nd choices; we should have players competing for a place in the starting 11. I’d be very surprised if Royal is rated among the 40-50 best RBs around. In other words: he’s upgradable.

Given our year long problems with HG quota, we should try to find (or develop ourselves) a just as good or better alternative.

I dont think it's as simple as that, for one thing that costs a lot of money to have 2 players in every position good enough to be competing to be first choice. Secondly it's not necessarily great to have potentially 11 players in the squad who get upset and frustrated every week if they aren't in the starting 11. Squad building requires there to be some players who understand they are not first choice but are happy to do a job for the team when required and will do it to the best of their ability. Emerson and Davies are both really important squad players as a result and although we could upgrade both for better players, it's hard to find players with that professional mind set to put the team before themselves. By all means look to upgrade our first 11, we clearly need another centre back who can compete for a starting place and maybe one or two other positions also, but we also need guys like Davies and Emerson in the squad to fill in when required and who are happy to do so without rocking the boat.

 

[dontcallme]

I dont think it's as simple as that, for one thing that costs a lot of money to have 2 players in every position good enough to be competing to be first choice. Secondly it's not necessarily great to have potentially 11 players in the squad who get upset and frustrated every week if they aren't in the starting 11. Squad building requires there to be some players who understand they are not first choice but are happy to do a job for the team when required and will do it to the best of their ability. Emerson and Davies are both really important squad players as a result and although we could upgrade both for better players, it's hard to find players with that professional mind set to put the team before themselves. By all means look to upgrade our first 11, we clearly need another centre back who can compete for a starting place and maybe one or two other positions also, but we also need guys like Davies and Emerson in the squad to fill in when required and who are happy to do so without rocking the boat.

Agree.

Madisson has always joined teams to be a first team starter and thrives at being the main man.

Building a high functioning squad is more complex than just buying 22 equally brilliant players.