Spurs struck gold selling 4/10 flop who's been even worse than Kyle Walker

Submitted by daniel on
Picture
Remote Image

It's been a bizarre season for Tottenham Hotspur so far this year.

Ange Postecoglou's side have looked hopeless at times, such as in their losses to Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town, but simply electric in others, like the wins over Manchester United and Aston Villa.

However, the North Londoners' 4-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday was so emphatic and so incredibly impressive that it could just be the catalyst for them to now go on a genuine run of good form.

That said, for all the brilliant displays on the side of the Lilywhites, there were plenty of abject ones on the side of the hosts, including former Spurs ace Kyle Walker, although as bad as he's been this season, there is a former Tottenham defender who has been even worse.

Kyle Walker's dreadful season

Walker left for Spurs in the summer of 2017 to join City for a whopping £53m, which was a record for a full-back at the time, and while there was an adaptation time for the Englishman, it would be fair to say it's been a move that's since worked out.

For example, in the seven and a half years since, the 34-year-old has made 311 appearances, in which he's won six league titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups, two Community Shields, the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and, of course, the Champions League.

However, time catches up with us all, and to say the former Spurs ace has deteriorated this season would be a massive understatement.

His decline was on full show against his old club on Saturday when he looked miles off the pace and was comfortably beaten by Timo Werner for the Lilywhites' fourth goal.

Moreover, former professional Tony Cascarino described the Englishman's performance as being similar to when Gareth Bale ran "Maicon, the great Brazilian full-back ragged," and that it was a similar situation against Brighton & Hove Albion's Kaoru Mitoma earlier this month.

In all, it's hard to look at Walker's performances this season and not come to the conclusion that his career at the top level is coming to an end. Yet, there is another former Spurs defender who is younger and is having an even worse season than him this year.

The former Spurs player who's been worse than Walker

So, to cut straight to the point, the player in question is fellow full-back Emerson Royal.

The 25-year-old, who was described as a "liability" during his time with Spurs by Jamie O'Hara, joined Italian giants AC Milan in the summer for around £13m, in a transfer that Italian football writer Kaustubh Pandey described as "a deal for the ages," but not for the right reasons.

Instead, he was shocked at how much the Italian giants were willing to pay for the Brazilian defender, as aside from very few glimpses here and there, he's been dreadful since leaving N17.

For example, in the club's game against Juventus over the weekend, Football Italia gave him a paltry 4/10 match rating, while he didn't do much better in the clash with Cagliari either, with Gazzetta dello Sport giving him a 5.5/10.

In all, the São Paulo-born ace has made 14 appearances for Milan, 12 of which have been starts, of which six have ended with victories, three have ended in draws, and five have been defeats.

Ultimately, it's hard to look at Emerson's time at the San Siro as anything other than a complete disaster, especially when experts like James Horncastle write that his transfer to Milan 'looks like the biggest donation in the history of Fondazione Milan as the club charitably tries to make his wish to become a footballer come true.'

Therefore, while Walker is having an undeniably poor season, another former Spurs full-back is having an even worse one.