I liked Erik Lamela before it was cool

[Pirate55]

I'd be livid .. and I actually would not be totally against selling both players you mentioned

Barkley is an absolute brainless donkey and everything that is wrong with the English game, overhyped, unintelligent footballer who has stagnated and will eventually fade to a lower level club. If he isn't good enough for Everton, how the fudge does he play for Spurs?
Zaha is a squad option for us, nothing more.

If we sell Lamela and Sissoko, we have to be looking to buy a player than can walk on to and improve the first team immediately.

And who exactly would you realistically get who would immediately improve on Kane, Dele and Eriksen?

The one area where we do not have a good replacement option is Eriksen as principal playmaker. I think Barkley has good technique, excellent delivery and has improved his work rate this season and is playing well. Isco would be my first choice but he isn't Premiership proven and it is doubtful he would come. Siggi is also a possibility.

Sissoko has been a disappointment. Zaha has had an excellent season, is very fast and tricky and is just the sort of game changer we need off the bench.

 

[Raziel]

And who exactly would you realistically get who would immediately improve on Kane, Dele and Eriksen?

The one area where we do not have a good replacement option is Eriksen as principal playmaker. I think Barkley has good technique, excellent delivery and has improved his work rate this season and is playing well. Isco would be my first choice but he isn't Premiership proven and it is doubtful he would come. Siggi is also a possibility.

Sissoko has been a disappointment. Zaha has had an excellent season, is very fast and tricky and is just the sort of game changer we need off the bench.

that is the crux of our problem, our first 11 is extremely hard to improve based on the budget/size of club we are.

- Siggy failed with us, would not go there again.
- Barkley at best is squad material, my opinion is you don't take a risk on squad type players (we did with Sissoko)
- Zaha I can see as a bench option, up to him if he wants to be that.

My original point is, if you sold Lamela & Sissoko, you would be talking about a significant amount of revenue and wages if directed to one player. Yes its difficult, but we should be focusing that on an Isco type signing (I'm not convinced, but its the right direction), the club need another VDV, a match winner.

 

[Pirate55]

that is the crux of our problem, our first 11 is extremely hard to improve based on the budget/size of club we are.

- Siggy failed with us, would not go there again.
- Barkley at best is squad material, my opinion is you don't take a risk on squad type players (we did with Sissoko)
- Zaha I can see as a bench option, up to him if he wants to be that.

My original point is, if you sold Lamela & Sissoko, you would be talking about a significant amount of revenue and wages if directed to one player. Yes its difficult, but we should be focusing that on an Isco type signing (I'm not convinced, but its the right direction), the club need another VDV, a match winner.

We are not going to breach our wage structure - and certainly won't be paying any new recruit(s) more than Kane, Dele and Lloris are earning. As you say that severely hampers us on improving on the players we already have. Consequently, our best option is to focus on better squad players than we already have so the drop off in quality isn't great if one of our first team is missing. I think most urgently we need a backup playmaker as Eriksen is the only player without a realistic understudy.

 

[awesome dawson]

We won't be selling him because the injury means any club thinking of meeting Levy's price will be too nervous about parting with that sort of cash for a guy who hasn't played in the best part of a year. You don't get into the Argentinian squad (Di Maria, Higuain, Messi, Tevez etc) and play decent amount of minutes unless you're an extremely gifted player.

His performances for us have been on an upward trajectory since he signed (when admittedly he took a season to adapt to the Premier League) and I personally have been annoyed that he's not been able to feature since October.

To read some of the guff on here, about one of our key players, is disheartening because in the end he may well be putting on a Spurs shirt at the start of next season. Poch has worked wonders on him and I believe Lamela's under-performing first season was part of the reason Levy went for Poch, and it worked we saw a rejuvenated player who works well in our system.

Maybe one of our resident experts like @johnola could offer his insight into why he thinks any or all the above is misguided.

 

[indospurs]

I like Lamela. After his first season where he was a disappointment due to his price tag, he came on leaps and bounds and adapted so well to the premier league - his pressing from the front, space making runs and skills to take goals. We desperately need him as an alternative to scoring goals, especially when Kane is out.

I do hope whatever it is up with him, does get sorted out. But, I am beginning to wonder

 

[greatwhitenorf]

Right on, Awesome Dawson. You summed stuff up well.

I'm pretty relaxed about this whole deal right now. Yes, it could be the lovely Bierzo * I'm sipping or the funky Vulfpeck** I'm digging on the headphones, but mostly it's the fact that a masterfully-managed Spurs side are prospering without Lamela playing right now. And the stadium is looking like a sexy beast.

I'm definitely relaxed about the whole thing.


* - Abad Dom Bueno Bierzo Crianza, 2006
** - My First Car (EP, 2013)

 

[braineclipse]

And who exactly would you realistically get who would immediately improve on Kane, Dele and Eriksen?

The one area where we do not have a good replacement option is Eriksen as principal playmaker. I think Barkley has good technique, excellent delivery and has improved his work rate this season and is playing well. Isco would be my first choice but he isn't Premiership proven and it is doubtful he would come. Siggi is also a possibility.

Sissoko has been a disappointment. Zaha has had an excellent season, is very fast and tricky and is just the sort of game changer we need off the bench.

"Improved work rate" doesn't quite impress me if I'm being honest. Barkley also seems like a player that primarily plays well as a #10 with quite a lot of freedom. When we play with a #10 it's Alli's position. We also have Eriksen who would probably love that role as well as other options. How would Barkley play shifted to the left or right? How would he play in our current "front 3"? Would we even pay what Everton would demand for him for a player not guaranteed to walk into our starting line-up?

Zaha... Another one where I think his work rate has been rightly questioned, also another player who primarily has played well in teams set up to counter attack (both like Sissoko). I think Son would have been ahead of him if he was at Palace and I'm not particularly convinced he's even better than Chadli. The only reason Chadli isn't being mentioned is that we just sold him a year ago.

 

[Kandi1977]

My view is simple: Lamela is a good player. Not world class, but one that fits the team, and compliments it. It would be difficult to replace him with a player that fits in as good as he has done. I certainly hope he'll stay and get back to the level he had last season. It would be very difficult to find a player with the same attributes that would slot into the team seamlessly.

 

[scaramanga]

My view is simple: Lamela is a good player. Not world class, but one that fits the team, and compliments it. It would be difficult to replace him with a player that fits in as good as he has done. I certainly hope he'll stay and get back to the level he had last season. It would be very difficult to find a player with the same attributes that would slot into the team seamlessly.

I think he's better than just a good player. He's not world class, but could be if his development continues the way it has.

What he is though, is a rare kind of footballer - the type that would be difficult to replace at any level of ability. He has excellent technical ability, is intelligent (in a footballing sense), has excellent vision and understanding of timing/movement, has an excellent work ethic, has an edge (stands up for himself and teammates) and fits Poch's style of play very well. There aren't many who can fit those criteria, let alone fit them and be a high level of player. Anyone who does is likely to be very expensive.

 

[Kandi1977]

I think he's better than just a good player. He's not world class, but could be if his development continues the way it has.

What he is though, is a rare kind of footballer - the type that would be difficult to replace at any level of ability. He has excellent technical ability, is intelligent (in a footballing sense), has excellent vision and understanding of timing/movement, has an excellent work ethic, has an edge (stands up for himself and teammates) and fits Poch's style of play very well. There aren't many who can fit those criteria, let alone fit them and be a high level of player. Anyone who does is likely to be very expensive.

That's sort of what I meant. He fits our style, and has attributes that no other player in the team has.

 

[T-C]

He has excellent technical ability, is intelligent (in a footballing sense), has excellent vision and understanding of timing/movement, has an excellent work ethic, has an edge (stands up for himself and teammates) and fits Poch's style of play very well.

Very few players offer the above, and even fewer are able to consistently use those skills effectively while pressing high up the pitch.

I don't think I've seen us linked with anyone who I could confidently say offers what a fit Lamela gives the team.

 

[the dza]

Thinking about how Lamela fits into the team when we play 3 at the back (which is now our first choice system), other than cover for Eriksen/Dele.

We played a back 3 against Hull at home (we won 3-0), earlier in the season, but it was slightly different. No Dembele, we played with one 'holder' in Wanyama, and ahead of him, played Sissoko, Dele and Eriksen (with Kane up top). Replace Sissoko with Lamela and you have a nice variation on our back 3 system to keep the opposition on their toes should they start to work us out with our standard 3421 line-up.

I don't see us changing from the back 3 just to put Lamela back in the side though. I'm pretty sure we haven't lost a game playing this way, infact we've won almost all of them and scored a lot of goals.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

The first and the fastest sets the tone. Sometimes a very influential players later on in the phase can up the tempo but it's rare.

Lamela (when in the team) is the one who starts the timing and the ferocity of the press on each occasion - you can't just ask any player to do that. In order to get it right you need a decent amount of intelligence and a very good understanding of both the shape and the phase of play. There's more to pressing than running at the man with the ball - just like there's more to scoring goals than throwing another striker on the pitch.


There's a filter of fans on this forum (and others). We're the ones that use computers for our day jobs and are senior enough to be managing our own time.

We've got our fair share of halfwits on here, but on the whole, the level of discourse and understanding of the more intricate elements of the game will be more advanced than the crap we all have to hear at WHL.


Just because you don't see it doesn't mean ir didn't happen.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

The first and the fastest sets the tone. Sometimes a very influential players later on in the phase can up the tempo but it's rare.

Lamela (when in the team) is the one who starts the timing and the ferocity of the press on each occasion - you can't just ask any player to do that. In order to get it right you need a decent amount of intelligence and a very good understanding of both the shape and the phase of play. There's more to pressing than running at the man with the ball - just like there's more to scoring goals than throwing another striker on the pitch.


There's a filter of fans on this forum (and others). We're the ones that use computers for our day jobs and are senior enough to be managing our own time.

We've got our fair share of halfwits on here, but on the whole, the level of discourse and understanding of the more intricate elements of the game will be more advanced than the crap we all have to hear at WHL.


Just because you don't see it doesn't mean ir didn't happen.

Yeah I've tried that one with the missus, don't work much.

 

[Spurv]

Lamela surely cannot be engineering a way out? He's seemed pretty happy earlier, may there have been a bust up with Poch?

 

[Gilzeantoscore]

He had a goodish second season, but posters on here get a bit carried away with his goals when many were in the Europa League and cups against some second rate opposition. Towards the end of his time this season he reverted to type, by taking too many touches, slowing our play down and not playing the quick simple ball. I thought he was pretty brick towards the end.

 

[billyiddo]

He had a goodish second season, but posters on here get a bit carried away with his goals when many were in the Europa League and cups against some second rate opposition. Towards the end of his time this season he reverted to type, by taking too many touches, slowing our play down and not playing the quick simple ball. I thought he was pretty brick towards the end.

I'd say even his biggest supporters on here know he didn't have a good enough output goal wise and saw it as somewhere he needed to improve - he's always been talked up as a key component of our pressing game and along with Eriksen our best source of creativity - neither of which can really be denied based on his performances

 

[JerusalemMan]

And who exactly would you realistically get who would immediately improve on Kane, Dele and Eriksen?

The one area where we do not have a good replacement option is Eriksen as principal playmaker. I think Barkley has good technique, excellent delivery and has improved his work rate this season and is playing well. Isco would be my first choice but he isn't Premiership proven and it is doubtful he would come. Siggi is also a possibility.

Sissoko has been a disappointment. Zaha has had an excellent season, is very fast and tricky and is just the sort of game changer we need off the bench.

Wonder if Max Meyer is seriously being considered.

 

[braineclipse]

I think he's better than just a good player. He's not world class, but could be if his development continues the way it has.

What he is though, is a rare kind of footballer - the type that would be difficult to replace at any level of ability. He has excellent technical ability, is intelligent (in a footballing sense), has excellent vision and understanding of timing/movement, has an excellent work ethic, has an edge (stands up for himself and teammates) and fits Poch's style of play very well. There aren't many who can fit those criteria, let alone fit them and be a high level of player. Anyone who does is likely to be very expensive.

And all of that having just turned 25. And missing considerable time with us to injury. He had a good goal scoring record at Roma, particularly in his second season. Not entirely beyond belief that he might develop further given given the chance to.

 

[JPBB]

I think he's better than just a good player. He's not world class, but could be if his development continues the way it has.

What he is though, is a rare kind of footballer - the type that would be difficult to replace at any level of ability. He has excellent technical ability, is intelligent (in a footballing sense), has excellent vision and understanding of timing/movement, has an excellent work ethic, has an edge (stands up for himself and teammates) and fits Poch's style of play very well. There aren't many who can fit those criteria, let alone fit them and be a high level of player. Anyone who does is likely to be very expensive.

It must be over for him now for whatever reason. Perhaps we will never know what happened.

I agree with Scara (?!?!), apart from his obvious talent, the biggest thing we miss will be his ability to change the dynamic of a game with his energy and commitment. A big tackle, getting in someone's face, a great piece of tracking back, he is a leader and we miss that when it is Eriksen and Son along side Dele.