Player Watch: Erik Lamela

[SlotBadger]

Love how people just ignore the fact he holds on to the ball far far too long

Except people don’t ignore that. It’s often mentioned on this very site.

never passes!

You’re right - he has never passed the ball.

 

[Shadydan]

Love how people just ignore the fact he holds on to the ball far far too long and never passes! He is a decent sub for his energy but shouldn’t be starting once bale is fully fit that right sided spot isn’t even a debate tbh

Thrown up a load of straw men there.

 

[E17yid]

Such a stupid criticism of him anyway. Literally every player, at times, will hold onto the ball when they should’ve released it. Likewise, every player, at time’s, will release a ball when they should’ve hung onto it.

We could argue whether Lamela does this slightly more than most but the fact of the matter is, even if you accept he does do it a lot which I’m not sure he does really, it’s called making a mistake and funnily enough, football players are humans and we have a tendency to do things like that.

Anyway, I swear half the time when people are screaming at him to release a pass they don’t appreciate that the pass they’re screaming at him to make isn’t really on in the first place or is a lot harder to execute than it looks thus making it a more risky pass which thus effects his decision making.

 

[Col_M]

Interestingly, I think the reason its evident to people (you know, those of us that ignore it), is that he often takes the ball and dribbles out of our half. It gets noticed because I don't think many others do it as often as he does.

 

[SargeantMeatCurtains]

Lamela’s ability to bring stability to our midfield when we hold slim leads simply by winning the ball deep and carrying it forward far outweighs his often frustrating tendency to hold onto the ball when passes are available.

For me, bringing him on instead of Bale against Burnley was an absolute no brainer and his performance backed that up. It’s all well and good saying it now but had Lamela come on instead of Bale against West Ham, I’m certain we would’ve won 3-0.

I genuinely can’t remember the last time Lamela didn’t come off the bench and make a meaningful impact on the game. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that he deserves his spot on the bench over the likes of Dele and Winks. I’ve never understood the hate Lamela gets from a section of our fan base. The guy loves the club and, as the Amazon doc showed, is willing to risk injury to play for us. He deserves considerably more respect than what he gets.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Lamela’s ability to bring stability to our midfield when we hold slim leads simply by winning the ball deep and carrying it forward far outweighs his often frustrating tendency to hold onto the ball when passes are available.

For me, bringing him on instead of Bale against Burnley was an absolute no brainer and his performance backed that up. It’s all well and good saying it now but had Lamela come on instead of Bale against West Ham, I’m certain we would’ve won 3-0.

I genuinely can’t remember the last time Lamela didn’t come off the bench and make a meaningful impact on the game. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that he deserves his spot on the bench over the likes of Dele and Winks. I’ve never understood the hate Lamela gets from a section of our fan base. The guy loves the club and, as the Amazon doc showed, is willing to risk injury to play for us. He deserves considerably more respect than what he gets.

I actually think he’sa better player off the bench then starting. Is not that his qualities aren’t useful from the off, but when he’s at full strength he really bullies tiring players. Equally, his lack of decisiveness against a fully fit side early in a game is far more likely to have a negative impact than later in a game against a tiring defence who have a pause of concentration in them.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Lamela’s ability to bring stability to our midfield when we hold slim leads simply by winning the ball deep and carrying it forward far outweighs his often frustrating tendency to hold onto the ball when passes are available.

For me, bringing him on instead of Bale against Burnley was an absolute no brainer and his performance backed that up. It’s all well and good saying it now but had Lamela come on instead of Bale against West Ham, I’m certain we would’ve won 3-0.

I genuinely can’t remember the last time Lamela didn’t come off the bench and make a meaningful impact on the game. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that he deserves his spot on the bench over the likes of Dele and Winks. I’ve never understood the hate Lamela gets from a section of our fan base. The guy loves the club and, as the Amazon doc showed, is willing to risk injury to play for us. He deserves considerably more respect than what he gets.

I agree entirely, but it's worth adding that he was subbed on at 0-0 (before we had the slim lead to defend) and took the corner that we scored from. Useful for more than just seeing out a game! 2 goals & 0 assists, but has also assisted several assists (a stat that is overlooked too easily and too regularly). Considering he has only played 380 minutes, he has been involved in a healthy number of goals and promising attacks.

 

[Timberwolf]

Such a stupid criticism of him anyway. Literally every player, at times, will hold onto the ball when they should’ve released it. Likewise, every player, at time’s, will release a ball when they should’ve hung onto it.

We could argue whether Lamela does this slightly more than most but the fact of the matter is, even if you accept he does do it a lot which I’m not sure he does really, it’s called making a mistake and funnily enough, football players are humans and we have a tendency to do things like that.

Anyway, I swear half the time when people are screaming at him to release a pass they don’t appreciate that the pass they’re screaming at him to make isn’t really on in the first place or is a lot harder to execute than it looks thus making it a more risky pass which thus effects his decision making.

I like Lamela for all the reasons people have listed above but I do think it's a legit criticism.

He is quite often infuriating when we're on the break or in good attacking positions as he either dawdles on the ball, misplaces an easy pass or picks the wrong option. Credit where it's due - he does get it right sometimes and has made the odd great through ball over the years - but I don't think half the fan base is imagining that he passes up good opportunities or is annoyingly wasteful.

He's not the only one who is guilty of it: Lucas's passing is also often infuriating and Dele gets plenty of stick for overplaying (although he's usually pretty clinical on the break). That doesn't make it any less annoying when Lamela does it though.

In his defence, part of the reason it's so infuriating is that he's often done something really good just prior, like get into a great position, beat a man or rob someone of the ball. It sums up why Lamela is so divisive on this site: he's so nearly an excellent player but just lacks that special something.

 

[E17yid]

I like Lamela for all the reasons people have listed above but I do think it's a legit criticism.

He is quite often infuriating when we're on the break or in good attacking positions as he either dawdles on the ball, misplaces an easy pass or picks the wrong option. Credit where it's due - he does get it right sometimes and has made the odd great through ball over the years - but I don't think half the fan base is imagining that he passes up good opportunities or is annoyingly wasteful.

He's not the only one who is guilty of it: Lucas's passing is also often infuriating and Dele gets plenty of stick for overplaying (although he's usually pretty clinical on the break). That doesn't make it any less annoying when Lamela does it though.

In his defence, part of the reason it's so infuriating is that he's often done something really good just prior, like get into a great position, beat a man or rob someone of the ball. It sums up why Lamela is so divisive on this site: he's so nearly an excellent player but just lacks that special something.

Yeah that’s fair, got no problem with that. I wouldn’t say his decision making is a particular strength of his but where I’d disagree with you slightly is that I don’t really think it’s a weakness of his either. As you say it’s no worse than Lucas, Alli or even Son tbh. It’s something he (all of them) can work on though for sure.

 

[Timberwolf]

Yeah that’s fair, got no problem with that. I wouldn’t say his decision making is a particular strength of his but where I’d disagree with you slightly is that I don’t really think it’s a weakness of his either. As you say it’s no worse than Lucas, Alli or even Son tbh. It’s something he (all of them) can work on though for sure.

You're probably not wrong tbh, which does beg the question why do we get more frustrated when certain players do it compared to others?

Maybe it's because Lamela does it in more promising positions or, as someone mentioned, after he's made a good run into attacking areas which highlights the error all the more? If a player doesn't spot an obvious pass while standing stationary with the ball, that's less frustrating than a player making a darting run into space, opening the game up then missing an obvious pass.

Just a theory so could be complete bollocks, mind.

 

[nialsy2005]

Lamela’s ability to bring stability to our midfield when we hold slim leads simply by winning the ball deep and carrying it forward far outweighs his often frustrating tendency to hold onto the ball when passes are available.

For me, bringing him on instead of Bale against Burnley was an absolute no brainer and his performance backed that up. It’s all well and good saying it now but had Lamela come on instead of Bale against West Ham, I’m certain we would’ve won 3-0.

I genuinely can’t remember the last time Lamela didn’t come off the bench and make a meaningful impact on the game. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that he deserves his spot on the bench over the likes of Dele and Winks. I’ve never understood the hate Lamela gets from a section of our fan base. The guy loves the club and, as the Amazon doc showed, is willing to risk injury to play for us. He deserves considerably more respect than what he gets.

I find myself agreeing with everything Meat Curtains says on a very frequent basis, and this is no different. I love coco and hope he sticks around for a long time.

 

[Dirtysanchez6]

Except people don’t ignore that. It’s often mentioned on this very site.


You’re right - he has never passed the ball.

To all the muppets trying to take the piss out of them comments LOL shocking player runs about a lot does nothing else but make fouls and hold onto the ball far too long and that’s a fact

 

[Laboog]

You get the bad with the good for Lamela. The positive about his bad games is he never does enough to really "hurt" us. Yes he gives the ball away at times but he wins it back just as much usually. Unlike a defend who will cost us goals, Lamela's good usually outweighs his bad in performances like today. Hard to rate him when the whole team was terrible.

We can't replace his toughness and physical midfield play.

 

[Dirtysanchez6]

You get the bad with the good for Lamela. The positive about his bad games is he never does enough to really "hurt" us. Yes he gives the ball away at times but he wins it back just as much usually. Unlike a defend who will cost us goals, Lamela's good usually outweighs his bad in performances like today. Hard to rate him when the whole team was terrible.

We can't replace his toughness and physical midfield play.

He is an attacking midfielder mate not a dm ffs

 

[Laboog]

He is an attacking midfielder mate not a dm ffs

Attacking Mf can’t be physical and tough? Where did I say he plays defense? I said the good thing about him is when he makes a mistake it doesn’t cost us as much as if a defender did.

He’s an attacking Mf who can win the ball like a dm

 

[Dirtysanchez6]

Attacking Mf can’t be physical and tough? Where did I say he plays defense? I said the good thing about him is when he makes a mistake it doesn’t cost us as much as if a defender did.

He’s an attacking Mf who can win the ball like a dm

They can but they should be mainly judge on attacking outlay and he has none ! Simple as that

 

[Laboog]

They can but they should be mainly judge on attacking outlay and he has none ! Simple as that

Every player should be judged differently. Lamela does things our other attackers do not do. They all contribute to the same goal of scoring. Lamela drives the ball forward, wins it back in good positions and can make just as many passes as he can’t.

Even if he’s not scoring or assisting, he’s valuable.

 

[fortworthspur]

he wasnt better or worse than Dele at the position - a position neither of them has really played a lot of.

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

Been a bit of a surprise package for me this season, could have had a goal and 2 assists on another day today.

 

[allpaths]

if lo celso isnt fit enough to start id love to see him as the #10. He's got the workrate and a great knack of popping up in the pocket of space between midfield and the backline. He'd give us so much more than sissoko centrally.