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Player Watch: Erik Lamela

Ghost Hardware

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
17,997
61,595
I completely understand the thinking behind Lamela as an impact sub but if it was up to me he would be a starter. I really believe he could be integral to our season if he stays fit. He is 100% spurs.
 

jezz

Well-Known Member
Aug 21, 2013
5,650
8,650
I reckon we're looking at 50 to 60 games this season enough games for all the players.
 

doctor stefan Freud

the tired tread of sad biology
Sep 2, 2013
15,170
72,169
I completely understand the thinking behind Lamela as an impact sub but if it was up to me he would be a starter. I really believe he could be integral to our season if he stays fit. He is 100% spurs.
He’s a great alternative to Eriksen in terms of making things happen. That doesn’t mean they can’t be on the pitch at the same time either. He’s got such tenacity and drive, aligned with technical ability and vision. This is the season we could really do with him kicking on
 

Krafty

Well-Known Member
May 26, 2004
4,768
2,099
Very pleased for him, always been pro-Lamela, even though he has t quite lived up to expectations.

What is really pleasing is the extra half yard of pace he showed for the goal, of that is something he now has then it moves him from a good player to a very good player.

I want to see him operating more in central areas as I think he could have a great impact, but we are pretty well stocked for attacking central midfield options
 

SUIYHA

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2017
1,723
8,579
I've often thought that Lamela's best position perhaps wasn't the one he was signed to play. Essentially he was supposed to be a Bale replacement, a fast inverted wide forward who can cut inside and chip in with a few goals. But he's clearly not as good as Bale - hardly any players are. There are a few reasons why I've disputed it being his best position for so long, mostly because as he's pretty one-footed he can be fairly predictable in terms of cutting inside, but as he isn't as good at dribbling as he thinks he is so he gets tackled a lot. You can only really get away with playing like that if you're at Robben levels of ability. We've also tried him on the other wing, in an attacking midfield role, behind the striker...he hasn't really been able to make one of them his own in the side. He does have flashes of brilliance, and is very good at helping to press from the front to hassle defenders off the ball, but I don't think even his biggest fan boys can claim that his end product has been good enough. Yes, he's produced some superb goals and assists in the past, but nowhere near enough to justify starting in an attacking role in a top side.

However, I'm starting to think we now have a solution.

All the talk in the summer was about getting in another CM. Dembele was supposedly off to China and on the decline. We needed someone else who could help provide a bit of creativity from a deeper position, and obviously spent all summer chasing Grealish. But perhaps the answer was right under our noses the whole time? In Lamela you have a player who has never been scared to get stuck in, to cover the ground, to dig deep and do the defensive work. You have a player who, as we saw yesterday, can drive forward from deep and run with the ball at pace. He is a player who is able to play quick, incisive passes and help transition defence to attack quickly. And in a deeper role he will have more time and space on the ball, giving him more time to dictate the play and hopefully meaning he doesn't get tackled so much. Remember that Dembele himself started out as a striker, then became a winger, then an attacking midfielder, before finally becoming the player that was so good for us as a deeper centre mid. I am starting to think it is time for Lamela to do the same.

To fit him in we'll either have to take Eriksen, Alli or Lucas out of the starting XI, or to switch back to a four man defence. But if we did, what would people think about one of these two options:

Four at the back:

--------------------------Dier-------------------Lamela--------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------Lucas------------------Eriksen-------------------------Alli-----------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------Kane--------------------------------------------


Three at the back:

Trippier-------------------------------------------------------------------Davies
------------------------------Dier-------------Lamela----------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------Alli----------------------------Eriksen-----------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------Kane--------------------------------------------


Thoughts?
 

Giovanni

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
2,587
3,614
I think......

1) lamela is incredibly skillful with the ball at his feet, perhaps the best in our squad.
2) His desire and drive to win is incredible, on par with kane.
3) His through balls for other attackers are almost always perfect and perfectly well timed.
4) We need him in big games, he gives us that nasty edge.
5) We need him centrally.
6) He hates arsenal....legend
7) In a cm2 he would be a red card waiting to happen. Would get 2 or 3 per season.
8) In a cm3 part of a 433 with a moblie cdm and a good tecnical player he could be great (wanyam, winks, lamela)(y)
 

Gassin's finest

C'est diabolique
May 12, 2010
37,353
87,819
He's a fucking brilliant player and he plays regardless of system. In a 3 man AM in a 4231, or with Eriksen as a double hook in a 32221.

I don't like diamond midfields.
 

Sarsipius

"Show me his legs"
Jan 18, 2005
3,207
5,493
Great little watch

I know we blew our chance of the title by drawing this match but the sheer fight and guts we showed in this game made it by far one of my favourites of all time. For too long we had been a soft touch and often bullied by other more physical sides. But fucking smacked them like a bus.

Incredible there were no reds tbf
 

Clark28

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2016
2,269
13,040
However, I'm starting to think we now have a solution.



Thoughts?
I'd like to see it, like you say he has grit and isn't afraid to get stuck in. Eriksen is a bit more reserved when challenging for the ball.

Either way, having Lamela and Eriksen in the same team and on different lines will improve our speed of passing and creativity a lot.
 

ralvy

AVB my love
Jun 26, 2012
2,505
4,603
I've often thought that Lamela's best position perhaps wasn't the one he was signed to play. Essentially he was supposed to be a Bale replacement, a fast inverted wide forward who can cut inside and chip in with a few goals. But he's clearly not as good as Bale - hardly any players are. There are a few reasons why I've disputed it being his best position for so long, mostly because as he's pretty one-footed he can be fairly predictable in terms of cutting inside, but as he isn't as good at dribbling as he thinks he is so he gets tackled a lot. You can only really get away with playing like that if you're at Robben levels of ability. We've also tried him on the other wing, in an attacking midfield role, behind the striker...he hasn't really been able to make one of them his own in the side. He does have flashes of brilliance, and is very good at helping to press from the front to hassle defenders off the ball, but I don't think even his biggest fan boys can claim that his end product has been good enough. Yes, he's produced some superb goals and assists in the past, but nowhere near enough to justify starting in an attacking role in a top side.

However, I'm starting to think we now have a solution.

All the talk in the summer was about getting in another CM. Dembele was supposedly off to China and on the decline. We needed someone else who could help provide a bit of creativity from a deeper position, and obviously spent all summer chasing Grealish. But perhaps the answer was right under our noses the whole time? In Lamela you have a player who has never been scared to get stuck in, to cover the ground, to dig deep and do the defensive work. You have a player who, as we saw yesterday, can drive forward from deep and run with the ball at pace. He is a player who is able to play quick, incisive passes and help transition defence to attack quickly. And in a deeper role he will have more time and space on the ball, giving him more time to dictate the play and hopefully meaning he doesn't get tackled so much. Remember that Dembele himself started out as a striker, then became a winger, then an attacking midfielder, before finally becoming the player that was so good for us as a deeper centre mid. I am starting to think it is time for Lamela to do the same.

To fit him in we'll either have to take Eriksen, Alli or Lucas out of the starting XI, or to switch back to a four man defence. But if we did, what would people think about one of these two options:

Four at the back:

--------------------------Dier-------------------Lamela--------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------Lucas------------------Eriksen-------------------------Alli-----------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------Kane--------------------------------------------


Three at the back:

Trippier-------------------------------------------------------------------Davies
------------------------------Dier-------------Lamela----------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------Alli----------------------------Eriksen-----------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------Kane--------------------------------------------


Thoughts?

Even though Lamela as a CM could work and be a solution for our lack of CMs, I disagree with your entire post on the simple basis that, when fit, Lamela is usually one of our best players at setting up goals.

He's probably our most creative player after Eriksen, and he clearly belongs in a more offensive position than CM.

And he may not be as good at dribbling as he thinks he is (how would you know that, I don't know), but that little play yesterday to set up our third goal wasn't all that bad, don't you think?
 

dtxspurs

Welcome to the Good Life
Dec 28, 2017
11,234
46,574
Even though Lamela as a CM could work and be a solution for our lack of CMs, I disagree with your entire post on the simple basis that, when fit, Lamela is usually one of our best players at setting up goals.

He's probably our most creative player after Eriksen, and he clearly belongs in a more offensive position than CM.

And he may not be as good at dribbling as he thinks he is (how would you know that, I don't know), but that little play yesterday to set up our third goal wasn't all that bad, don't you think?
Agree with the bolded for sure, throughout the course of a game he offers so many tricks. He's always trying something whether that be a through ball, chip over the defender, etc. He and Eriksen together are our best bet to break down a bus, which I believe we will be up against next week.
 

doctor stefan Freud

the tired tread of sad biology
Sep 2, 2013
15,170
72,169
I think......

1) lamela is incredibly skillful with the ball at his feet, perhaps the best in our squad.
2) His desire and drive to win is incredible, on par with kane.
3) His through balls for other attackers are almost always perfect and perfectly well timed.
4) We need him in big games, he gives us that nasty edge.
5) We need him centrally.
6) He hates arsenal....legend
7) In a cm2 he would be a red card waiting to happen. Would get 2 or 3 per season.
8) In a cm3 part of a 433 with a moblie cdm and a good tecnical player he could be great (wanyam, winks, lamela)(y)
9) He hates Fabregas
10) He hates Wilshere

We’re talking marriage material here
 
Last edited:

doctor stefan Freud

the tired tread of sad biology
Sep 2, 2013
15,170
72,169
I've often thought that Lamela's best position perhaps wasn't the one he was signed to play. Essentially he was supposed to be a Bale replacement, a fast inverted wide forward who can cut inside and chip in with a few goals. But he's clearly not as good as Bale - hardly any players are. There are a few reasons why I've disputed it being his best position for so long, mostly because as he's pretty one-footed he can be fairly predictable in terms of cutting inside, but as he isn't as good at dribbling as he thinks he is so he gets tackled a lot. You can only really get away with playing like that if you're at Robben levels of ability. We've also tried him on the other wing, in an attacking midfield role, behind the striker...he hasn't really been able to make one of them his own in the side. He does have flashes of brilliance, and is very good at helping to press from the front to hassle defenders off the ball, but I don't think even his biggest fan boys can claim that his end product has been good enough. Yes, he's produced some superb goals and assists in the past, but nowhere near enough to justify starting in an attacking role in a top side.

However, I'm starting to think we now have a solution.

All the talk in the summer was about getting in another CM. Dembele was supposedly off to China and on the decline. We needed someone else who could help provide a bit of creativity from a deeper position, and obviously spent all summer chasing Grealish. But perhaps the answer was right under our noses the whole time? In Lamela you have a player who has never been scared to get stuck in, to cover the ground, to dig deep and do the defensive work. You have a player who, as we saw yesterday, can drive forward from deep and run with the ball at pace. He is a player who is able to play quick, incisive passes and help transition defence to attack quickly. And in a deeper role he will have more time and space on the ball, giving him more time to dictate the play and hopefully meaning he doesn't get tackled so much. Remember that Dembele himself started out as a striker, then became a winger, then an attacking midfielder, before finally becoming the player that was so good for us as a deeper centre mid. I am starting to think it is time for Lamela to do the same.

To fit him in we'll either have to take Eriksen, Alli or Lucas out of the starting XI, or to switch back to a four man defence. But if we did, what would people think about one of these two options:

Four at the back:

--------------------------Dier-------------------Lamela--------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------Lucas------------------Eriksen-------------------------Alli-----------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------Kane--------------------------------------------


Three at the back:

Trippier-------------------------------------------------------------------Davies
------------------------------Dier-------------Lamela----------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------Alli----------------------------Eriksen-----------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------Kane--------------------------------------------


Thoughts?
Cracking post, love it for the thoughts it initiates.
I think one of the reasons he was offered a new contract is his versatility. I agree he could move more centrally, either as a CAM or a CM (especially in a 433). In a season where we have no new recruits, players like Lamela will be incredibly useful. I love his passion too- he genuinely cares about the team winning and that kind of quality can sometimes dig you out of holes
 
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