Soldado and Lamela, the elephant in the room.

[mrlilywhite]

It's worth mentioning that from the RWF position, Erik Lamela has more assists than anyone bar Chadli, and whilst some point out his lack of goals being a focus point of discussion, I would suggest that his role is not to score goals primarily, but to assist them, and that is what he is doing.

Also worth noting that the fullbacks are there to provide a foil for the inside fwds to create space for them to run into. Erik Lamela might not be getting the right type of support from his full back to allow him to exploit space. Lamela has the ability to dribble through defences, assuming he has space to exploit.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

He was our worst player yesterday pretty much. Wasn't terrible or anything but our weakest link. Let's just forget the money we paid for him. He ain't gonna make it here. Get what we can and get someone who fits the system better and can provide more.

If we want to kick on next year we really should look at replacing him in the squad.

Absolutely agree, he wasn't superb or excellent, or poor, he was average, putting in a shift which is the minimum required.

 

[stemark44]

I think we all can see that the right hand side of our attack is our weakest link at this moment in time.
Lennon is rightly gone,Townsend has been better than Lamela at taking the game to the opposition but Lamela has been way better than him fighting on the field for the team.
Its definitely something that we need to look at in the summer.
I quite like both of them and would be happy enough to give them a bit more time and stay in the squad another season.
Unfortunately for Lamela,he cost too much money to be a squad player and if anyone makes a decent offer for him we probably would take it.
Townsend cost nothing so its easy for us to keep him.
BTW Kevin Mirallas is DEFINITELY NOT the answer to this problem.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

I'm pretty sure it was Lamela's corner that lead to the first goal.......

This may be unpopular, but I think Lamela did more than Eriksen yesterday, but they were both still very good.

 

[Romspur 1962]

Still to be convinced by Lamela and have criticised in the past. I have to say however that I thought he had one of his better games yesterday. Maybe he is getting up to speed with this league.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

He needs to get his boots sorted out though. Maybe some longer studs? He was seeming to slip at such random times yesterday. Needs a big moment

 

[dontsalebale]

Still to be convinced by Lamela and have criticised in the past. I have to say however that I thought he had one of his better games yesterday. Maybe he is getting up to speed with this league.[/QUO
I have also been roundly critisised for saying Eric hasnt got it. He has none of the basic attributes to be a top wide attacker. No amount of blind optimism is going to change this.

 

[ShaunL84]

I just pretend we signed Kane for £60 million and Soldado and Lamela are freebies from the academy.

 

[Mr Pink]

I thought he worked really hard and improved in the second half. Nothing stand out, but was keeping the ball better and laying it off some nice passes in midfield.

There was a moment in the first half that was very frustrating though after some great work by Dembele (who also frustrated at another point in the first half but went on to have a very strong second half) who fed Lamela who lost it more or less immediately.

I think he'll become more influential eventually but he's pretty good for the team dynamic at the moment.

 

[Derp]

I do think he is getting better, but the problem is still that he is just kinda there doing stuff that any average premier league player could do. Lets be honest. If we didn't have Kane and Eriksen, Lamela would get more criticism. They are kinda saving his bacon right now.

 

[stemark44]

I'm pretty sure it was Lamela's corner that lead to the first goal.......

This may be unpopular, but I think Lamela did more than Eriksen yesterday, but they were both still very good.

Seriously?
How easily impressed are you?
He took a corner that was headed on and Kane swept in at the far post to score.

 

[SlickMongoose]

I think we all can see that the right hand side of our attack is our weakest link at this moment in time.
Lennon is rightly gone,Townsend has been better than Lamela at taking the game to the opposition but Lamela has been way better than him fighting on the field for the team.
Its definitely something that we need to look at in the summer.
I quite like both of them and would be happy enough to give them a bit more time and stay in the squad another season.
Unfortunately for Lamela,he cost too much money to be a squad player and if anyone makes a decent offer for him we probably would take it.
Townsend cost nothing so its easy for us to keep him.
BTW Kevin Mirallas is DEFINITELY NOT the answer to this problem.

Alex Pritchard is the answer.

 

[ilikeost]

Lamela is turning into Lennon in that his defensive workrate is outstanding... If he just could stop trying too hard as soon he gets the ball I think he can be a good player for us. He needs to simplify his game.

 

[0-Tibsy-0]

I don't think he was poor yesterday, and also thinking he is getting more to grips with the league-but people are right when they say there is a need for improvement from him.

However with Poch and this new fighting spirit and hi tempo, pressing game it is as much about the dynamic of a group of players as a unit and in their attitude as it is anything else. And to me, Lamelas approach to the game (along with others obvs) is exactly what Poch wants and allows us a team to impart our game plan on a match.

He's not setting the world alight but he is contributing to give our team a platform which some of the other options don't. And I also optimistically believe that he is going to improve a lot more to compliment his fantastic ethic and pressing etc

 

[L-man]

You can't fault Lamelas commitment to the system, pressing and working hard but you watch his attacking play and just nothing seems to come off.

1 assist/goal in his last 15 appearances is pathetic and you can understand why people are unhappy with him and willing to sell. Personally I don't think he's going to be any sort of great player here and he's only in the team at the minute because Townsend barely has half a brain and playing anyone else in the RW position would upset the balance of the team

 

[dontsalebale]

You can't fault Lamelas commitment to the system, pressing and working hard but you watch his attacking play and just nothing seems to come off.

1 assist/goal in his last 15 appearances is pathetic and you can understand why people are unhappy with him and willing to sell. Personally I don't think he's going to be any sort of great player here and he's only in the team at the minute because Townsend barely has half a brain and playing anyone else in the RW position would upset the balance of the team

 

[kaz Hirai]

Whenever lamela gets the ball he is always positive. Always looks to move or pass it forward. Looks to play several killer through balls each game, always works very hard and never hides even if he has a bad game

It's obvious why mo po keeps playing him and it's not his price tag

 

[SteveH]

he does not do much but we miss him when he's not there, good old Erik

 

[CowInAComa]

He slips over alot. For 30m you would have thought we could spend a few extra quid on some nice new studs for his boots.

That said, I think as disappointing as he was in possession yesterday he justified his spot in terms of how well he performed his remit when not in possession. As a system the whole pressure thing relies on 100% from all parties and it seems that is something we can rely on.

 

[DJS]

Think we need to cut our losses with Lamela and look to review our front three attacking options.

Eriksen is only one being consistent at mo, Chadli can be very good but also sometimes can go opposite way and perhaps needs a bit more consistency, although has been more consistent this season.

Dembele is also proving a good option up there although debatable whether should be at Eriksen's expense being pushed wider left in the long-term.

We probably need someone who is able to play wide right effectively (I'd prefer a proper righty personally but Poch seems to go for inverted).