Emerson was advised to leave Chelsea for rarely playing

DBasia.news – Chelsea left back, Emerson Palmieri was once advised by Roberto Mancini to leave Chelsea because he rarely played there. This was a form of concern for his coach in the Italian national team.

Emerson (26) can be considered ‘lucky’ to be included in the Italian national team squad for Euro 2020, because at his club, Chelsea, he rarely played, either when he was coached by Frank Lampard or now with Thomas Tuchel.

Since joining from Roma in January 2018 Emerson has never been the main choice on the left side of Chelsea’s defense. In the 2020-2021 season Emerson played only 15 times in competitive matches in all competitions, even though at the end of the season Chelsea won the Champions League.

In the Premier League Emerson has only played twice and in the Champions League since the group stage he has played for only two minutes, though Mancini still called him up to the European Cup.

Emerson realized that Mancini cared about him until he was told to leave Chelsea.

“It shows that he cares about me,” Emerson told the Telegraph. “He wanted to see me do well, so he said that maybe it would be better for me if I went to another ambitious team where I can play as much as possible and improve my game again.”

“He expressed this desire, but we know that sometimes in football, it depends on other things, a number of factors.”

“It’s not just up to me. What I can promise, whenever I’m with the national team, is to run and play until the last drop of sweat,” he stressed.

Focusing on the European Cup

Emerson is not alone in playing as a defender or left-back in the Italian national team. There is also Leonardo Spinazzola who can play in that position. Italy, which is in Group A with Turkey, Switzerland and Wales, is one of the favorites to win the 2020 European Cup.

The European Cup is now Emerson’s focus regardless of his fate at the club. Emerson is not thinking too much about the future, because he is still keeping hope of breaking into Chelsea’s first team despite Ben Chilwell and Marcos Alonso in the same position.

“Of course, the European Cup has always been my focus. If you don’t play a lot you naturally have to train more, work harder, so when the opportunity presents itself, you are at your best,” Emerson added.

“That’s what I did because in the national team you have to be at your peak physical condition.”

“I had a season where things didn’t go as planned, but I think you have to find a lesson in the middle of this, it was a season where I learned a lot.”

“It all comes down to happiness, training seriously and then letting the coach make his choices. It worked for me at Roma and after three trophies I’m sure it worked at Chelsea too.”

“I have a clear conscience that I give my best every day to help the team, even if it is difficult to say from the outside,” concluded Emerson.