‘He does not look comfortable’: Sky pundit says £26m Tottenham player doesn’t look right when he’s defending

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Tottenham have a defensive crisis on their hands at the moment.

Spurs don’t have a single fit senior centre-back available for selection right now, and they’re having to use the likes of Ben Davies and Emerson Royal as makeshift centre-halves at the moment.

Speaking on Sky Sports (31/12/23 1:25PM), Clinton Morrison has discussed Spurs’ defensive issues at the moment, and he’s been dissecting Emerson Royal’s recent performances in the heart of the defence.

Morrison says that he’s far from convinced by the Brazilian at centre-back, claiming that he looks really uncomfortable when he’s tasked with defending at times.

Emerson Royal looks uncomfortable defensively

Morrison shared his verdict on the £26m player’s recent performances.

“I agree I think Emerson Royal is a right-back, I’ve watched Emerson Royal at times and he’s struggled. Emerson Royal is not a centre-half, he is a right-back, when you see him sometimes, the way he’s defending, he does not look comfortable at centre-half,”

Can’t blame him

Morrison is right, Emerson doesn’t look quite right when he has to play at centre-back, but can you really blame him?

Let’s not forget, Emerson spent most of last season playing as a wing-back in an Antonio Conte system, playing as a centre-half under Ange Postecoglou is a completely different job in every way imaginable.

Emerson has done a respectable job at centre-half in recent weeks, but he’s nowhere near the level of a player like Cristian Romero or Micky Van de Ven, and the longer this goes on, the more likely Spurs are to drop points.

Tottenham are still in a very good position to push on and potentially even challenge for the Premier League title, but if they are to reach that next level, they need to get their first-choice defensive partnership back on the pitch as soon as possible.