Lamela

[tototoner]

Lamela interview

Good to see he is settling in off the pitch

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/tottenhams-erik-lamela-left-confused-2315837

Life in London is strange but beautiful says Argentina winger in his first big interview since club-record £30million move from Roma

Erik Lamela still isn’t sure about driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road but is certain Tottenham can win the Europa League this season, writes Tom Hopkinson in the Sunday People.

The Spurs new boy admits motoring on the left is taking some getting used to after pitching up in north London from Argentina via Italy.

But his prowess behind the wheel aside, the former River Plate and Roma star is settling in well, just as his compatriots Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta told him he would.

The White Hart Lane club’s record £30million buy said: “Cars on the opposite side of the street seems strange to me but I am still in a phase where London is new and I am taking it day by day.

“London is a beautiful city with many places of interest, but I am a player and it is not easy to fit in too much tourism.

“I spoke with Aguero and Zabaleta, and they always supported me to make the jump to English football, and now it is down to me to demonstrate that it wasn’t an error.

“I am still adapting to London life, but England was always a country that interested me. That is on a personal level and at Spurs I am working to be one of first the names in the starting XI. That is my big objective.”

Lamela and his new pals beat Tromso 3-0 in their opening Europa League Group K fixture but now face a difficult trip to Moscow to face Anzhi Makhachkala on Thursday.

The Europa League may be a competition that some clubs shun but, like his manager Andre Villas-Boas, Lamela is desperate to win it.

He added: “Tottenham are a big European club so it is normal that we are one of the main candidates for the Europa League title.

“The trips to Russia can be complicated but we are professional players and the minimum requirement is to give your best performance in any game.

“The squad is big and we are able to fight in both the Europa League and Premier League.

“The Europa League is the second-most important trophy for clubs in Europe and many players want to win it in their careers.

“Nobody in Spurs would snub this trophy and our minimum challenge is to reach the final.”

Hugo Lloris is set to keep his place in goal as Andre Villas-Boas opts against rotating his side in Europe.

AVB explained: “This season, we started with Hugo in the league and Europa League. We might rotate later.”

 

[Mr-T]

Lamela will play a big part this season, you can be sure of it. Remember we're only a few games in and he's still to adapt fully to the style of play in the prem.

I thought Townsend was making Ashley Cole look a tit yesterday but I think the decision to bring on Chadli was based on him being a bit more physical than Andros or Lamela, which we needed as at that point Chelski were in the ascendancy.

 

[Legend10]

AVB likes people to fight their way into the team.

And rightly so!

 

[Legend10]

I don't think yesterday was the right game to start Lamela but I'm sure it will be soon. He has more to do I think, against Villa he was ok but didn't push himself forward as a shoe-in for the Chelsea game.

 

[13VanDerBale13]

well im afraid he won't be starting anytime soon as he keeps starting cup games, which are followed by prem games. I think the most likely time he would start would be after the international break, even then he might not as Argentina come back late.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

He's our record signing, so he'll be in the starting line-up soon enough.

AVB is just being cautious, as he has been before with new players.

I'd be surprised if he doesn't start against West Ham.

 

[only1waddle]

There is no rush to chuck him in yet, Townsend played well against Chelsea, let AVB blood the guy as he see's fit..

 

[StartingPrice]

I seem to remember a certain keeper having to wait a while, didn't do him any harm

This

AVB sees and presumably speaks to lamela everyday and so is in a better position to make the decision than any of us could ever be.

Secondly who does he drop?

Finally I also think AVB deserves the benefit of our trust on this one as he carried out the introduction of lloris perfectly last year.

And this.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I would like to see Lamela on the right as an inverted winger and Townsend on the left as an atypical winger. That way Soldado gets the best of both worlds. I think Chadli could become an important player for us but he is a player that needs cup games to settle. Sig is a good player but aside from a good finish he is sometimes culpable of going missing for large parts of games. Essentially Sig is not as good as Lamela or Townsend (in his current form) and we need to look to play our best players across the park in the league.

 

[spurs-r-us]

I'm not sure what Lamela must be thinking.

AVB says he's young and from a foreign league and needs to be acclimatised but Eriksen is only 3 weeks older than him and he gets thrown straight in. Is the fact Eriksen speaks English the only factor? AVB then keeps saying to the press Lamela is immense and going to be one of our most prolific players. He's £30m and AVB is keeping him for the Europa League and Carling Cup. And then leaving him on the bench and bring on the distinctively-average Chadli....

I can't fathom it.

Almost certainly because Eriksen can speak English. He did the right think by Lloris last season, and I think it will be the same for Lamela!

 

[spurs-r-us]

Hate to break it to the Lennon crowd but he isn't even making the bench when he's back at this rate

I was a member of this Lennon crowd, still am in a sense. He makes it over Chadli, easily, but will have to contend with Sigurdsson and Holtby.

 

[spurs-r-us]

Alternatively, some people actually watched him at Roma and have come to the reasonable conclusion that giving him a run out in Kerplackistan every other Thursday doesn't do the player justice.

He's a bigger talent than Eriksen and could be every bit as influential. I can understand easing him in because he's young and is probably making a much bigger adjustment than our other signings, but if this is the situation in a month or so I will be pretty pissed about it.

How he didn't get on the pitch at all against Chelsea is mind-boggling. I actually rate Chadli quite high compared to most people here, but fucking seriously?

Think it through. It's still September, he has been at the club for 31 days now. On the wings right now, we have Townsend who has been sensational, and Sigurdsson who has scored 3 goals in 3. Just give him time to settle in, and he will show you how good he is.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Well...he's dragging me through my Tottenham career on FIFA 14 so he must be good...

 

[Flashspur]

he would have given us an outlet against Chelsea as he holds the ball so well instead we got Chadli who is more direct but doesnt hold up as well

 

[cheeseman]

He's a bigger talent than Eriksen and could be every bit as influential. I can understand easing him in because he's young and is probably making a much bigger adjustment than our other signings, but if this is the situation in a month or so I will be pretty pissed about it.?

What about if we we're still in the top two? Would you still be pissed about it?

 

[faulks]

I'm not sure what Lamela must be thinking.

AVB says he's young and from a foreign league and needs to be acclimatised but Eriksen is only 3 weeks older than him and he gets thrown straight in. Is the fact Eriksen speaks English the only factor? AVB then keeps saying to the press Lamela is immense and going to be one of our most prolific players. He's £30m and AVB is keeping him for the Europa League and Carling Cup. And then leaving him on the bench and bring on the distinctively-average Chadli....

I can't fathom it.

Eriksen despite being 21 has lots of CL and International experience. For example he played against Manchester City twice last year and bossed it. AVB probably feels he's a step ahead of Lamela in that respect.

I agree with the whole Chadli sub thing though

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

the chadli sub made no sense at all for me, it's up there with harry's parker for vdv sub at villa park a couple of seasons ago.

I think Chadli was brought on to add height to defend set peices as we were under the kosh at the time, obviously, Torres getting sent off changed things but AVB could not have foreseen that.

 

[sim0n]

33 mil pound attacking player and Spurs are lacking goals,... the question that answers itself...

 

[JerryGarcia]

AVB knows what he's doing and Lamela will be well aware of his plans to bring him into the side, the West Ham game could be a good one for him to start but I'd be surprised if he didn't play some part in it at all. It depends if he starts in the Europa League I guess.

 

[walworthyid]

Genuinely not sure if this is tongue in cheek ? Because, we often miss him when he is there.

The same Lennon that has been our most consistent attacking player in our most consistently successful era in 30 years? Yeh, hilarious........! Are you saying that Townsend or Lamela have looked better than Lennon at his best? Even close?