I liked Erik Lamela before it was cool

[clevelandspur]

It seems like there is two divided sections on Lamela among supporters. Those who think he will come good and those that don't. His performance in which he scored was encouraging but he needs to do it consistently I still think we are better off going with the starting 11 that we have played te last week and Lamela can be an impact sub. It will take some pressure off him

 

[billyiddo]

It seems like there is two divided sections on Lamela among supporters. Those who think he will come good and those that don't. His performance in which he scored was encouraging but he needs to do it consistently I still think we are better off going with the starting 11 that we have played te last week and Lamela can be an impact sub. It will take some pressure off him

Id put myself more in a 'too early to make a call' group - he's shown some potential but is far from a consistent performer, needs to work on a few things but they're the type of things which can be coached in to a player/will come to him with games. Overall a 6 for the season so far, some 7 performances the odd 8 and some 5s and the odd 4.

 

[parklane1]

Id put myself more in a 'too early to make a call' group - he's shown some potential but is far from a consistent performer, needs to work on a few things but they're the type of things which can be coached in to a player/will come to him with games. Overall a 6 for the season so far, some 7 performances the odd 8 and some 5s and the odd 4.

That sums up how I see him as well, he has talent but he needs to be more consistent if he is ever going to live up to the hype that surrounds him.

 

[Bonsaiboy]

I'll admit he can do a job in Eriksen's position and be a back up for him - his assists come from two corners, a good pass to Chadli from a central position and, moving centrally to the left, an excellent cross to Chadli against QPR. But is he gonna be happy being his back up? I can't see him ever replacing him, Eriksen offers so much more.

But on the right, for all the reasons I've said, he's absolutely not a viable option, we ideally want an equivalent to Chadli and he's not that. Townsend is the closest but we should be looking for better.

 

[braineclipse]

This is his second season..irrespective of the well timed injury this is his second year...and even when he played last year he didnt do well overall

this season he has raised his game but still not consistent enough or well enough for people to say that he is doing well tihs year

he is working hard and it shows...so all the more reason to give him time to get there...once he arrives this thread will go in the same way as the "carrick what does he do" thread

What made it a well timed injury?

Yes, it's his second season. People are saying it's essentially his first season because he still has less than 20 league starts for us.

I'll admit he can do a job in Eriksen's position and be a back up for him - his assists come from two corners, a good pass to Chadli from a central position and, moving centrally to the left, an excellent cross to Chadli against QPR. But is he gonna be happy being his back up? I can't see him ever replacing him, Eriksen offers so much more.

But on the right, for all the reasons I've said, he's absolutely not a viable option, we ideally want an equivalent to Chadli and he's not that. Townsend is the closest but we should be looking for better.

Why do you think that's the only good option? Do you think Poch agrees with you?

 

[Joesh]

I'll admit he can do a job in Eriksen's position and be a back up for him - his assists come from two corners, a good pass to Chadli from a central position and, moving centrally to the left, an excellent cross to Chadli against QPR. But is he gonna be happy being his back up? I can't see him ever replacing him, Eriksen offers so much more.

But on the right, for all the reasons I've said, he's absolutely not a viable option, we ideally want an equivalent to Chadli and he's not that. Townsend is the closest but we should be looking for better.

I disagree, we don't need him to be Eriksen or Chadli as you want each player to bring something different. I think Lamela and Townsend give us something different. I think with a striker who is flying now and clever in bringing others into play, we will see an improvement in Lamela especially, not to mention playing in team in a run of form.

As others have said, he justs need to learn to play a more controlled game, give him that right hand spot and I can see him making the next step in the few games.

 

[braineclipse]

I disagree, we don't need him to be Eriksen or Chadli as you want each player to bring something different. I think Lamela and Townsend give us something different. I think with a striker who is flying now and clever in bringing others into play, we will see an improvement in Lamela especially, not to mention playing in team in a run of form.

As others have said, he justs need to learn to play a more controlled game, give him that right hand spot and I can see him making the next step in the few games.

Agreed. His best league game for us so far was his second last before his injury. Not at the same level against Leicester, but not poor either and he made a telling contribution. Would be a very strange time to give up on him after trusting him for this long.

 

[africanspurs]

What made it a well timed injury?

Yes, it's his second season. People are saying it's essentially his first season because he still has less than 20 league starts for us.



Why do you think that's the only good option? Do you think Poch agrees with you?

It was a well timed injury in that the injury gave him a complete break from the pressures and disappointments that were surrounding him as a record signing, bought to plug the bale hole as best as possible and who knows maybe match the size of the void..and in the wildest dreams perhaps get bigger than it

His performances fluctuated from REALLY bad to bad in the premier league, sure he played well enough against part time teams in europa but that has got to be the least anyone in a tottenham shirt can do

After the injury which took him out for the rest of the season he can come back fresh and have a new outlook with a coach that actually has supreme faith in him and thats willing to play him through his bad patch

another timely absence is the last two games against two of the league's best teams. I was actually semi glad he was not in those games. If he played badly and we lost then people would jump on his case right when he he showing a certain level of consistency (by that i mean , consistently not completely marginalised from games. He has done well all season to try and get involved and to facilitate)......, him missing the game and the pressure of the opposite wing landing on townsend, someone that is prem ready, was perfect........incidentally even though lamela is a more technical and intelligent player / user of the ball than townsend i cant say i missed him watching over those games...i think as a unit the whole squad came through that crucible with a lot of positives

now lamela can come back and play in games with less pressure where the upside to his growth can benefit more from the scenario / less high profiled or pressured games.

i still dont get the first season thing ....him having 20 starts yes was partially down to his injuries but it was also down to the performances as well. and why are we limiting his exposure to just the league? the Europa is as much a developmental stage as cup games and coming off the bench or starting against bad opposition, those should count as well. Granted he had a big issue with that AVB just wasnt the right guy for him but AVB technically wasnt the right guy for BAle and Bale did some amazing things inspite of that..., the comparison isnt fair but i am just saying that is he was playing THAT good and THAT well then he would have gotten more starts

you can actually play yourself into the starting lineup just through sheer will and good performances.....i personally dont subscribe to the league start thing. certainly i am glad Kane doesnt...dude was mister bench and Europa but sometimes you just have to keep on impressing till people dont ignore you anymore...lloris as well.....and Taarabt when he came on against west ham away...lennon when he replaced an injured first teamer (the name escapes me)...oscar for chelsea ..actually he got thrust into the deep end from the get go...but the boy started swimming straight away

 

[africanspurs]

Chadli right now is doing what i expect lamela to be doing now......and something i am confident he will be doing before season's end

one thing i am confused about is why he doesnt seem to make the same runs and movements as chadli does? Or does he and i just missed it?

 

[uksb]

Chadli right now is doing what i expect lamela to be doing now......and something i am confident he will be doing before season's end

one thing i am confused about is why he doesnt seem to make the same runs and movements as chadli does? Or does he and i just missed it?

Lamela has the classic school-boy mentality of wanting to be on the ball as much as possible. So rather than making runs off the ball - he's more likely to move towards the ball

 

[billyiddo]

How did Poch line his wide men up at Saints? From what i have read one was the goal threat (J.Rod) and one was the provider (Lallana) Is that accurate? If so it makes sense to me that Chadli/Lamela have differing roles for us...

 

[Bonsaiboy]

Why do you think that's the only good option? Do you think Poch agrees with you?

Well, what I'm saying is I want us to buy a 7 Million pound who has all the attributes of a 30 million player rather than the other way around. Rose and Chadli have been a massive attacking threat for us of late, and it's the attributes of Chadli that is the cause of this. His ability to go both ways and use either foot to cross or shoot with is a massive headache for opposing full backs, only increased by the threat of an overlapping Rose. But when Lamela is playing on the right, they only have to worry about him cutting inside and shooting or Walker overlapping and we're very little threat on that flank.

Add his pace and strength and the ability to effectively become a second forward during games then you have one hell of a player who I wouldn't mind cloning. Townsend has been offering something closer to it at least and deserves a run in the side.

I feel like a broken record and just want to say that I fully respect the opinions of the poster who believe it doesn't matter that Lamela can't use his right foot in any way when playing on the right, or those who believe he is perfectly able to deliver balls with his right with the same quality as Chadli does with his left.

 

[braineclipse]

Well, what I'm saying is I want us to buy a 7 Million pound who has all the attributes of a 30 million player rather than the other way around. Rose and Chadli have been a massive attacking threat for us of late, and it's the attributes of Chadli that is the cause of this. His ability to go both ways and use either foot to cross or shoot with is a massive headache for opposing full backs, only increased by the threat of an overlapping Rose. But when Lamela is playing on the right, they only have to worry about him cutting inside and shooting or Walker overlapping and we're very little threat on that flank.

Add his pace and strength and the ability to effectively become a second forward during games then you have one hell of a player who I wouldn't mind cloning. Townsend has been offering something closer to it at least and deserves a run in the side.

I feel like a broken record and just want to say that I fully respect the opinions of the poster who believe it doesn't matter that Lamela can't use his right foot in any way when playing on the right, or those who believe he is perfectly able to deliver balls with his right with the same quality as Chadli does with his left.

So the answer to my first question is that for a wide player in our system to function he must be two footed? Second one: Do you think Poch agrees with you?

You really think Townsend has been better in the couple of games he's gotten now than what Lamela has been in his last couple of games?

You're apparently somewhere in between respecting opinions no one actually holds and just flat out straw-manning.

 

[clevelandspur]

It was a well timed injury in that the injury gave him a complete break from the pressures and disappointments that were surrounding him as a record signing, bought to plug the bale hole as best as possible and who knows maybe match the size of the void..and in the wildest dreams perhaps get bigger than it

His performances fluctuated from REALLY bad to bad in the premier league, sure he played well enough against part time teams in europa but that has got to be the least anyone in a tottenham shirt can do

After the injury which took him out for the rest of the season he can come back fresh and have a new outlook with a coach that actually has supreme faith in him and thats willing to play him through his bad patch

another timely absence is the last two games against two of the league's best teams. I was actually semi glad he was not in those games. If he played badly and we lost then people would jump on his case right when he he showing a certain level of consistency (by that i mean , consistently not completely marginalised from games. He has done well all season to try and get involved and to facilitate)......, him missing the game and the pressure of the opposite wing landing on townsend, someone that is prem ready, was perfect........incidentally even though lamela is a more technical and intelligent player / user of the ball than townsend i cant say i missed him watching over those games...i think as a unit the whole squad came through that crucible with a lot of positives

now lamela can come back and play in games with less pressure where the upside to his growth can benefit more from the scenario / less high profiled or pressured games.

i still dont get the first season thing ....him having 20 starts yes was partially down to his injuries but it was also down to the performances as well. and why are we limiting his exposure to just the league? the Europa is as much a developmental stage as cup games and coming off the bench or starting against bad opposition, those should count as well. Granted he had a big issue with that AVB just wasnt the right guy for him but AVB technically wasnt the right guy for BAle and Bale did some amazing things inspite of that..., the comparison isnt fair but i am just saying that is he was playing THAT good and THAT well then he would have gotten more starts

you can actually play yourself into the starting lineup just through sheer will and good performances.....i personally dont subscribe to the league start thing. certainly i am glad Kane doesnt...dude was mister bench and Europa but sometimes you just have to keep on impressing till people dont ignore you anymore...lloris as well.....and Taarabt when he came on against west ham away...lennon when he replaced an injured first teamer (the name escapes me)...oscar for chelsea ..actually he got thrust into the deep end from the get go...but the boy started swimming straight away

That post is spot on I really do hope Lamela becomes a star for us but I think some people are seriously staring through rose tinted glasses regarding his performances. He has been very good for us in about 5 matches in 2 seasons (qpr, burnley, and some europa minnows) he needs to be delivering a lot more and particularly against strong opposition. Don't think its been any coincidence he has his best perfoances against teams who give him more time on the ball.Price tag and expectations aside that is how I see it.

 

[braineclipse]

It was a well timed injury in that the injury gave him a complete break from the pressures and disappointments that were surrounding him as a record signing, bought to plug the bale hole as best as possible and who knows maybe match the size of the void..and in the wildest dreams perhaps get bigger than it

His performances fluctuated from REALLY bad to bad in the premier league, sure he played well enough against part time teams in europa but that has got to be the least anyone in a tottenham shirt can do

After the injury which took him out for the rest of the season he can come back fresh and have a new outlook with a coach that actually has supreme faith in him and thats willing to play him through his bad patch

another timely absence is the last two games against two of the league's best teams. I was actually semi glad he was not in those games. If he played badly and we lost then people would jump on his case right when he he showing a certain level of consistency (by that i mean , consistently not completely marginalised from games. He has done well all season to try and get involved and to facilitate)......, him missing the game and the pressure of the opposite wing landing on townsend, someone that is prem ready, was perfect........incidentally even though lamela is a more technical and intelligent player / user of the ball than townsend i cant say i missed him watching over those games...i think as a unit the whole squad came through that crucible with a lot of positives

now lamela can come back and play in games with less pressure where the upside to his growth can benefit more from the scenario / less high profiled or pressured games.

i still dont get the first season thing ....him having 20 starts yes was partially down to his injuries but it was also down to the performances as well. and why are we limiting his exposure to just the league? the Europa is as much a developmental stage as cup games and coming off the bench or starting against bad opposition, those should count as well. Granted he had a big issue with that AVB just wasnt the right guy for him but AVB technically wasnt the right guy for BAle and Bale did some amazing things inspite of that..., the comparison isnt fair but i am just saying that is he was playing THAT good and THAT well then he would have gotten more starts

you can actually play yourself into the starting lineup just through sheer will and good performances.....i personally dont subscribe to the league start thing. certainly i am glad Kane doesnt...dude was mister bench and Europa but sometimes you just have to keep on impressing till people dont ignore you anymore...lloris as well.....and Taarabt when he came on against west ham away...lennon when he replaced an injured first teamer (the name escapes me)...oscar for chelsea ..actually he got thrust into the deep end from the get go...but the boy started swimming straight away

I think it was a very unfortunate injury. AVB gave him two league starts iirc, one of them away to Emirates Marketing Project. After Lamela had done well in the EL he was dropped again in the league. Made no sense. Even when

The pressure didn't lessen. The critics were just the same. Those that didn't like what they had seen in the first half of that season didn't all of a sudden become more patient. Quite the opposite, they now had a season to judge him by. Despite him only starting 3 league games. There was no added patience about Lamela this summer, if you don't believe me try to think back to the transfer window. Quite a few people wanted him gone.

Sherwood seemed to rate him much higher than AVB. I think that second half of last season could have been very important for Lamela. And I think he would have been better this season if he had gotten 15-20 games in that second half to continue adjusting rather than spending that most likely not even kicking a football.

That post is spot on I really do hope Lamela becomes a star for us but I think some people are seriously staring through rose tinted glasses regarding his performances. He has been very good for us in about 5 matches in 2 seasons (qpr, burnley, and some europa minnows) he needs to be delivering a lot more and particularly against strong opposition. Don't think its been any coincidence he has his best perfoances against teams who give him more time on the ball.Price tag and expectations aside that is how I see it.

Who is that has rose tinted glasses? Which posters? Who is it that have been claiming that he has been delivering well enough and against strong opposition?

People are claiming that he has potential and that he's shown that potential in some games, and that if given time he's likely to do that much more consistently.

 

[Bonsaiboy]

So the answer to my first question is that for a wide player in our system to function he must be two footed? Second one: Do you think Poch agrees with you?

You really think Townsend has been better in the couple of games he's gotten now than what Lamela has been in his last couple of games?

You're apparently somewhere in between respecting opinions no one actually holds and just flat out straw-manning.

Chadli's left foot is so good he's effectively two footed, which is unusual, but, to answer your question, to play in a wide position in our system, you need to be able to use your weaker foot effectively - as pretty much all of our attacking players bar Lamela can.

Townsend has offered more of a threat on the right than Lamela yes and put in some decent crosses in his last three games. Though he needs a run of games to see if really can be the answer for what's becoming a problem position.

 

[braineclipse]

Chadli's left foot is so good he's effectively two footed, which is unusual, but, to answer your question, to play in a wide position in our system, you need to be able to use your weaker foot effectively - as pretty much all of our attacking players bar Lamela can.

Townsend has offered more of a threat on the right than Lamela yes and put in some decent crosses in his last three games. Though he needs a run of games to see if really can be the answer for what's becoming a problem position.

Do you think Poch agrees with you?

(On Lamela not being able to use his right foot effectively, and that being a requirement for a wide right sided player in our system)

 

[Bonsaiboy]

Do you think Poch agrees with you?

(On Lamela not being able to use his right foot effectively, and that being a requirement for a wide right sided player in our system)

I don't know any more than I know if he watches Coronation Street - it was interesting he picked Townsend for the more difficult game against Man U and Lamela for the easier one though.

 

[braineclipse]

I don't know any more than I know if he watches Coronation Street - it was interesting he picked Townsend for the more difficult game against Man U and Lamela for the easier one though.

Really? So Lamela starting nearly every game he's been fit for under Pochettino doesn't make you think that Pochettino is likely to disagree with you on at least one of your conclusions? And it doesn't at all make you wonder "why"?

But, him picking Townsend for the United game. That you're going to read something into...

 

[Bonsaiboy]

Really? So Lamela starting nearly every game he's been fit for under Pochettino doesn't make you think that Pochettino is likely to disagree with you on at least one of your conclusions? And it doesn't at all make you wonder "why"?

But, him picking Townsend for the United game. That you're going to read something into...

I think he's been assessing the players since he's been here and Townsend and Chadlii have had injuries, now everyone is fit and he's seen what they're all about, we'll see... but the jersey was there to be won by Lamela but he hasn't, in my opinion, made it his own and it's up to Townsend to stake a claim now.