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Lamela tries to kick-start his Spurs career with summer fitness programme in Argentina

Jimmyjimmyo

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2014
179
363
Nah, not really.
I've been fortunate enough to talk to a few strength coaches that train players of this calibre and whilst they are stronger than the every day man most gym rats are stronger. I used to train along side a lot of the Harlequinns rugby team and it amazed me how little raw strength and power most of them had.

There is a massive difference between functional strength and the ability to lift weights
 

slartibartfast

Grunge baby forever
Oct 21, 2012
18,320
33,955
Greed. He looked. Completely lost when he did play in the prem. I'm sure he has the talent, just needs to bulk up, just like Ronaldo had to
My old man made the comparison after Ronaldo took his shirt off at CL final. He'd bloody snap Lamela in half. If for some weird reason they both ended up on Celebrity Deathmatch (n)

Edit- Reading headline on mob it read 'Lamela tries to kick start....'

his moped back to Italy???? lol.
 

JoeT

Well-Known Member
Jun 7, 2005
3,813
935
"Bulking up"is a generalized term used by the public. Nowadays athletes become strong without necessarily becoming extremely 'bulky'. Look at Jermain Defoe as a strong, but a not bulked-up athlete.
As has been pointed out Lamela, lacks upper-body strength and a program of specific upper-body weights and some very specific strength/endurance work either with elastic bands or resistance machines is probably all that is required. Again, as has been said the more specialized the excerise the more functional strength is gained.
Some have mentioned quickness, say in reacting to avoid an opponent, I don't believe this is necessarily dependant on being super-strong. Some athletes are born with fast-twitch muscles which pretty well stays the same no matter what. Increased strength/endurance enables the athlete to move as quick as he/she is capable of many times over.
Lamela may also have to strengthen in the mind as well; he doesn't seem to be much of a fighter; when he is bullied off the ball he allows it to happen too easily i.m.o.
 
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baldinyid

Well-Known Member
Oct 21, 2005
212
397
Yeah, maybe - but if you hit them you'll probably knock them over. The problem is that you can't hit them. Elusive.
I agree with @michaelden - fast, skillful, intelligent is better than brick shithouse.
Why not have both? Ronaldo has both. I know who I would prefer to defend against, and it ain't ronaldo or bale.
 

peter_the_yid

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2003
2,015
353
"Bulking up"is a generalized term used by the public. Nowadays athletes become strong without necessarily becoming extremely 'bulky'. Look at Jermain Defoe as a strong, but a not bulked-up athlete.
As has been pointed out Lamela, lacks upper-body strength and a program of specific upper-body weights and some very specific strength/endurance work either with elastic bands or resistance machines is probably all that is
required.
Some have mentioned quickness, say in reacting to avoid an opponent, I don't believe this is necessarily dependant on being super-strong. Some athletes are born with fast-twitch muscles which pretty well stays the same no matter what. Increased strength/endurance enables the athlete to move fast many times over.
Lamela may also have to strengthen in the mind as well; he doesn't seem to be much of a fighter; when he is bullied off the ball he allows it to happen too easily i.m.o.

I'm afraid that isn't how athletes train for strength at all. Ask any qualified strength coach, including myself, how to prep athletes and bands, resistance machines and prioritising upper body never really come into it. You also never really train for endurance, that's 80's sport science thinking really.
 

bigspurs

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2005
3,193
2,419
They aren't comparable body-types and they don't play the same style of football, so it's an invidious and misleading comparison.

Modric is wiry and very strong and, like Messi, has a low centre of gravity. He doesn't need 'bulk' to be tough. He also rarely embarks on a lengthy dribble - he typically takes a few steps into space as he receives the ball to evade bigger, more powerful tacklers, before releasing the ball - elusive, as others have written, but also very strong for his size.

Messi is actually quite 'bulky' for his size - he has a short, chunky build, unlike Modric, with powerful legs. And I recall reading that he was indeed indeed put on a special diet and given HGH (with permission), as a young player, because his coaches were concerned about a genetic height-restriction issue (the details were left vague).

Lamela is tall and willowy and, unlike Modric and like Messi, his game does involve trying to dribble past multiple opponents. At present, he can't do it, at least not in the Premiership. I watched the same thing happen more than once in every single one of his appearances last season. He'd receive the ball, beat one or two men and then the third one would bully him right off the ball, thus wasting the good work he did in beating the first man or two.

I don't think he needs to 'bulk up', in the sense of lifting heavy weights to build bulky muscle mass. The last thing he needs is to emulate Christian Benteke. What he does need, desperately, is more upper body strength - he's visibly slight and slender above the waist and the result shows on the pitch, as I just described. Pilates will address that, as will high-reps gym work with medium weights or working against springs. When a bigger player barges him, he has to be able to stand his ground, barge back and keep going with the ball under control. He's visibly unable to do that with his current level and type of fitness.

I agree with your analysis of other small players, but I think Lamela does need to get down the gym and bulk up a bit. This is because he has the same physique as a young Rolaldo or Bale. They only become the players they are because they got their skinny arses down the gym! More importantly though is attitude. He needs to toughen up more mentally, so that he isn't so intimidated by the likes of arseholes like Charlie Adam ;)
 

michaelden

Knight of the Fat Fanny
Aug 13, 2004
26,386
21,685
They aren't comparable body-types and they don't play the same style of football, so it's an invidious and misleading comparison.

Modric is wiry and very strong and, like Messi, has a low centre of gravity. He doesn't need 'bulk' to be tough. He also rarely embarks on a lengthy dribble - he typically takes a few steps into space as he receives the ball to evade bigger, more powerful tacklers, before releasing the ball - elusive, as others have written, but also very strong for his size.

Messi is actually quite 'bulky' for his size - he has a short, chunky build, unlike Modric, with powerful legs. And I recall reading that he was indeed indeed put on a special diet and given HGH (with permission), as a young player, because his coaches were concerned about a genetic height-restriction issue (the details were left vague).

Lamela is tall and willowy and, unlike Modric and like Messi, his game does involve trying to dribble past multiple opponents. At present, he can't do it, at least not in the Premiership. I watched the same thing happen more than once in every single one of his appearances last season. He'd receive the ball, beat one or two men and then the third one would bully him right off the ball, thus wasting the good work he did in beating the first man or two.

I don't think he needs to 'bulk up', in the sense of lifting heavy weights to build bulky muscle mass. The last thing he needs is to emulate Christian Benteke. What he does need, desperately, is more upper body strength - he's visibly slight and slender above the waist and the result shows on the pitch, as I just described. Pilates will address that, as will high-reps gym work with medium weights or working against springs. When a bigger player barges him, he has to be able to stand his ground, barge back and keep going with the ball under control. He's visibly unable to do that with his current level and type of fitness.

You only need to go to youtube to watch countless Messi dribbles. Its Iniesta that's more receive shift & pass. Yes different body types but both play dribble the same, ball close to feet and very close control. Unlike a Michael Owen dribble which was to knock the ball on & run on to it.

I would say a lengthy dribble is anything over 10 yards in todays game.
 

@Bobby__Lucky

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2013
2,933
3,982
Doesn't sound like it should be legal!

I've heard it said many times that Messi would not be able to professionally play or compete in any other sport than football because the drugs he takes are sport wise illegal. It's why I consider Ronaldo the better player, Messi does have kind of an unfair advantage on every other footballer.
 

davidmatzdorf

Front Page Gadfly
Jun 7, 2004
18,106
45,030
You only need to go to youtube to watch countless Messi dribbles. Its Iniesta that's more receive shift & pass. Yes different body types but both play dribble the same, ball close to feet and very close control. Unlike a Michael Owen dribble which was to knock the ball on & run on to it.

I would say a lengthy dribble is anything over 10 yards in todays game.

You may have misunderstood [part of] my post, because I think we broadly agree. I wasn't suggesting that Messi doesn't dribble (!), although I do insist that Modric rarely does. His brief episodes of ball-control are basically his way of being 'elusive' - they are there in his game primarily to evade tacklers so he can pass.

But I do think there is a chasm of difference between Messi's and Lamela's dribbling styles. Messi usually keeps the ball in front of him and uses his pace, his extraordinary balance and his absolutely freakish speed of thought and reaction to race through the opposition, tickling the ball constantly as he goes.

Lamela has a very distinctive, almost spoon-like ball control, where he keeps the ball rather at one side of his body and provokes the opponent with it - his controlling foot is sideways and he isn't trying to race anyone, he's trying to trick the opponent into committing himself, albeit at some speed, and thus slip past him. It's the basis for my continuing contention that, despite his struggles, he's an exceptionally talented player who can adjust and prosper here if he gets the right training and coaching.
 

glenda

Well-Known Member
May 26, 2005
1,254
78
Yes I think he needs to build up his body strength to cope with the physical demands of the Premier League.

Sorry but Lamela has no pace..no close control in tight area's or faceed with beating players one on one. No presence on the pitch and to be honest is a very average player. Bulking up a kid that didn"t even want to come to the prem in the first place will not suddenly make him R7.. If someone can tell me what they have seen to warrant us paying 27 mil for him is beyond me. Gio Do Santos has done more in a Spurs shirt. And he was terrible
 

glenda

Well-Known Member
May 26, 2005
1,254
78
Sorry but Lamela has no pace..no close control in tight area's or faceed with beating players one on one. No presence on the pitch and to be honest is a very average player. Bulking up a kid that didn"t even want to come to the prem in the first place will not suddenly make him R7.. If someone can tell me what they have seen to warrant us paying 27 mil for him is beyond me. Gio Do Santos has done more in a Spurs shirt. And he was terrible

Ahh Mr davidmatzdorf right on time...smh...If u don"t like my comments don"t read them..Your the reason why people don"t come to this site mate.
 

davidmatzdorf

Front Page Gadfly
Jun 7, 2004
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45,030
I've heard it said many times that Messi would not be able to professionally play or compete in any other sport than football because the drugs he takes are sport wise illegal. It's why I consider Ronaldo the better player, Messi does have kind of an unfair advantage on every other footballer.

That's not entirely correct. I read that Messi was given an exemption from rules that normally would have applied to footballers, as well as other sportspeople, because his club and trainers were able to demonstrate that the HGH was to correct a genuine metabolic defect, i.e., a medical problem, as opposed to enhancing the stature and strength of someone with a normal body chemistry.

I mean, FFS, he was on human growth hormone for years and he achieved the towering height of 5'-4". Which rather suggests there was something amiss.

Thre's a fine difference between correcting a disadvantage and obtaining an advantage.
 

Don_Felipe

Well-Known Member
Feb 8, 2004
2,294
3,918
Pointless pedantic comment on title of article: it isn't summer in Argentina

Or are we not getting him back til April?


*gets coat*
 

Japhet

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2010
19,232
57,385
Spot on. Modric played well both here and at RM and he didn't need to "bulk up". Lennon isn't exactly built like a shithouse door either. If you want to go to extremes Best and Pele were hardly muscular in any way of the word.


Pele was hardly skinny. He had legs like tree trunks.
 
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