I couldn’t believe it either, but this season, down the right flank, Emerson Royal is the 6th best crosser of the ball in the Premier League. It has to be said that in this particular discipline, in this area of the pitch, that the competition isn’t exactly packed with world-class talent.
I made the point recently that Emerson’s crossing was hit-and-miss, but it was the volume of his attempted crosses that ultimately outweighed the good that he did.
If we look at a bigger picture and look for overall accuracy at crossing (opposed to just down that pesky right-hand side, then Adama Traore’s accuracy is far superior. This comes with a huge caveat, however. Traore is the 16th most accurate crosser of the ball in the division, which puts him way above Royal’s pay grade. Emerson doesn’t even make the top 30 list.
Conclusion
This is, to a large degree, the epitome of two bald men fighting over a comb. Emerson makes lots of attempted crosses, and Traore makes fewer, but with greater success.
Neither of these men are anywhere close to what fans of a side housed in a billion-pound stadium might ideally wish to watch. The Brazilian is 22 and the Spaniard is 25. Without knowing the personalities involved, it is impossible to guess which of the two might be easiest to train and nurture to the required standard.
That said, Traore has improved a little since last season and has in previous seasons nudged his accuracy rate closer to 50% at Wolves. This is extremely speculative at best, but one might argue that this shows a capacity to be better.
For me, I’d always advise bald men to shave it all off and invest in some good hats.