This is a nuanced response and you raise fair points: for the fact is that no, I don't see him as a game changer offensively- someone who strikes terror into the hearts of the opposition a la a Son (or- hopefully- a Lucas). But I would argue that that's not his job. Stay with me here.
Yes, he's an Attacking Mid- and AM's are supposed to get goals, which he just plain does not. I won't even argue that. BUT- and this is a big "but"- while he doesn't strike fear, he does strike dread. Meaning, when he comes on you know he could if not score than at least contribute to a goal- which he often does. The quintessence of Lamela was that half turn against Juve away- the one that freed up Dele- that led to the foul- that resulted in Eriksen blasting it home. LAMELA made that play- everyone else contributed to it. I'm sorry, but that is not nothing; indeed, that's very much something. A huge, massive, potentially club-altering "something." Had we won that tie, just think of the difference it would've made to our club. And he would've been a major factor in that reality (not to mention- without going too far afield- we did lose back at home in the match in which Lamela didn't start-- but we'll leave that one alone...)
Is Lamela a game-changer off the bench late in the game? Well, for that matter is Christian Eriksen? I mean yeah, maybe more than Lamela, but still, not really: at least not in the way, say, Bale was. Neither Eriksen nor Lamela are straight-up goal scorers (though I'll grant you that Eriksen is terrifying weapon when it comes to us having a free kick from just outside the area). My point is that not every player is a Son or a Bale.
I honestly think that the problem most people who don't care for Lamela have lies in the fact that he COULD BE a Bale or a Son or a Mahrez, but it's almost as if he chooses not to be; as if he's hiding from his own talent. It's weird-- one gets the feeling that he could be a prodigious goal scorer but he's almost "shy" in a way- and so unselfish that he just looks to pass every time when he could- and sometimes should- shoot. That's the issue-- that his offensive potential doesn't jibe with his lack of output. He has "end-product"- if by end-product you count him making goals for others. But as for him banging in goals- well, thus far he never really has- and one wonders if he ever really will. It's as if he's afraid of his own ability.
Lastly, let me say this: who would scare you more to produce a goal in the last twenty minutes of a match: Erik Lamela or Danny Wellbeck? Well, admittedly it'd be Wellbeck. But ask yourself this: who would you rather have on your team: Danny Wellbeck or Erik Lamela? So my point is that- while he's not a terror-inducer in terms of coming on late and bagging a goal- he's a far better player- and does ten times more for us than Danny Wellbeck ever could or would.
To wit: Lamela happens to be a part, one in which the whole itself is better than the sum of his parts, lol.
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