Date: 19th April 2018 at 5:25pm
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Simon Phillips reveals his admiration for Emerson.

It cannot be taken lightly when a player is mentioned in the same breath of a considered legend, and when that player also plays for the same team where said legend made his legacy, this is even more of a big thing.

Chelsea have never really managed to replace Ashley Cole at left full-back since he left the club in 2014. Not only did he leave a legacy, but he was also considered as one of the leaders, one of the ‘old guard’. A lot of Chelsea’s issues in recent times is not being able to effectively replace such players, leaving gaping holes on the pitch.

There was, of course, Alex Sandro of Juventus, who has been pursued by Chelsea for two years, but their hire-achy refused to pay the high fee demanded by the Serie A club.

But this gives you an example of the type of full-back they were looking to bring in. One with a similar playing style to Cole, one who will dart up and down the line with pace and ability to beat his man, while also being tough at the back with energy to burn. Sandro certainly has similar attributes.

So who else was there if we weren’t to pay out for Sandro? Well, there was the relatively unknown Roma full-back Emerson Palmieri. He was pursued by Juventus as a pro-active measure in case Chelsea did pay up for Sandro.

Emerson was highly rated in Italy, and many Roma supporters I have spoken to have actually stated that he is a better player than Sandro. He was, of course, unfortunate with his long-term ACL injury that kept him out for the season, right off the back of his break-through season when he was fantastic.

But Emerson, the Brazilian-Italian, also possesses many of the attributes that blessed Ashley Cole and once established in the Chelsea side he can emulate Cole’s time at Stamford Bridge to good effect.

Of course, Cole was on another level, and it would be some achievement for Emerson to get anywhere near the level of player that Cole was in his prime, but he certainly has the abilities and time to improve to at least attempt to get near to his level, that’s for sure.

The 23-year old has bags of potential, and all the time in the world to cement his name in Chelsea’s history. He played for Brazil at youth level but has since opted to represent Italy, and has subsequently featured in recent squads for them.

Currently, though, he is considered Chelsea’s hidden gem, purely because he has only featured three times since joining in January and is yet to make a league start. Chelsea supporters have been demanding game time for a player who has shown glimpses of brilliance in the small amount of time he has had so far.

Manager Antonio Conte has been reluctant to select the pacey full back, whether he does not fully trust him yet or whether he believed he had not fully reached his peak physicality level since returning from a long-term injury, who knows.

But tonight, Emerson is set to make his first league start for Chelsea as the blues travel north to face Burnley. Even better news for the former Santos player, he has every chance of playing the next three matches at least, including an FA Cup semi-final against Southampton on Sunday.

This is of course due to the news that Marcos Alonso has been banned for three matches by the FA after a tackle on Shane Long last week.

Many people doubt that Conte will finally put his trust in Emerson, and some believe he will sooner use either Davide Zappacosta or Victor Moses on the left instead. To me, that would simply be absurd, when you have a ready-made left footer available and raring to go.

Emerson will start tonight, that’s basically been confirmed by Conte. And I believe our hidden gem will show the world what he’s capable of and furthermore, will continue to show his ability for the next three matches, and give Conte a welcome selection headache for the run into the end of the season.

Written by Simon Phillips – @SiPhillipsSport

 

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