CM: Jury remains out on Emerson Royal – strategy of the management questioned | OneFootball

The signing of Emerson Royal from Spurs in the summer transfer window was one that divided fans, and that theme has continued after his first two starts of the season.

As Calciomercato.com write, winning is always good and doing so by a four-goal margin and with a clean sheet is even better. The positives after the Venezia game were obvious: Christian Pulisic got a goal and an assist, Tammy Abraham scored on his debut, while the centre-back pairing looked more solid.

The good notes don’t stop there: Rafael Leao got an assist and drew a penalty, Theo Hernandez netted after a great move down the left side and Youssouf Fofana showed that he become a central element of the team as a balancer in the midfield.

However, the jury is still out on Emerson Royal. After having a very tough night against Nuno Tavares of Lazio before the break, his performance against the Venetians left some positive ideas, albeit faint. The former Spurs man applied himself in both phases, which is what Paulo Fonseca asks.

Indeed, the Portuguese coach is central in this first phase of building chemistry and settling in because the trust is total. It already seems obvious – despite the fact he missed Saturday’s game due to injury – that Fonseca trusts him more than the captain Davide Calabria.

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At the moment it is a ‘glass half empty’ situation for Emerson because he must also overcome the skepticism of a part of the fans and the media, who were expecting a right-back like Tiago Santos of Lille who perhaps has a higher ceiling.

Supporters also question the strategy of Geoffrey Moncada and co.: why spend €15m on the Brazilian instead of allocating them to a midfielder like Manu Koné? The current Roma player was probably more useful to this Milan than Emerson, in the eyes of many.