Jamie O’Hara baffled by Emerson Royal decision before Spurs loss

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Jamie O’Hara has told talkSPORT that he was surprised that Emerson Royal did not start for Tottenham Hotspur against Leicester City on Saturday, claiming that the right-back has the right to ask questions of Antonio Conte.

Emerson was lauded after last week. The Brazilian was exceptional as Tottenham beat Manchester City. For many, it was his best performance for Spurs.

Of course, he has not had the best time at Tottenham. And Spurs signed Pedro Porro during the January transfer after a long, drawn-out chase.

O’Hara baffled by Emerson Royal decision

So it was Porro who got the nod at the King Power Stadium. Unfortunately for Tottenham, nothing seemed to go right once they had taken the lead against Brendan Rodgers’ men.

Spurs were thrashed 4-1. And the defence was quite simply a shambles. Neither Hugo Lloris or Cristian Romero were in the side either.

Porro had a difficult debut for his new side. And O’Hara has claimed that he was baffled by the decision to leave Emerson out of the team.

“I was surprised that Royal didn’t play. I’m one who’s dug out Emerson. He was brilliant against Man City. How do you think he feels today? He’s put in his best performance in a Tottenham shirt against Jack Grealish last week and then he’s out the team,” he told talkSPORT.

“That, for me, if you talk about harmony within a squad, if you’re going to drop a player who’s played his best game in the shirt, he’s going to say: ‘hold on a minute, what’s going on here?'”

Decision may have also been unfair on Pedro Porro

Perhaps you could understand Antonio Conte’s decision. Much of the criticism of Emerson is directed at the fact that he is not a threat going forward. And clearly, that is a huge problem in a Conte system.

Against Manchester City, that attacking prowess was not needed. But the game against Leicester should have been different. Many would have expected Spurs to take the game to the Foxes.

Having said that, Spurs had already been forced to replace Lloris and Romero. So perhaps Conte should have realised that making another change at wing-back as well would be asking for trouble.

Certainly, Porro was dealt a tough hand. And Emerson may indeed feel particularly deflated after missing out.