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I liked Erik Lamela before it was cool

Re: Official - Lamela

F10 said:
New signing doesnt work out first season? Offload him before he gets the chance to adapt to the tempo and fit in.

Excellent plan...

We should ****ing stick by both Soldado and Lamela imo. Give them plenty of matches and theyll come good
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We're playing in the most competitive league in the world, you can't give under-performing players 'plenty of games' hoping that they'll come good.

They both have to prove they are good enough to be in the first 11, so far neither has.
I think currently Lamela is in the side because of his price tag, rather than what he's done on the pitch. We can't afford passengers for very long.
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Hully said:
We're playing in the most competitive league in the world, you can't give under-performing players 'plenty of games' hoping that they'll come good.

They both have to prove they are good enough to be in the first 11, so far neither has.
I think currently Lamela is in the side because of his price tag, rather than what he's done on the pitch. We can't afford passengers for very long.
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Lamela has started 4 Premier League games and struggled with injuries most of last season. He is undoubtedly talented and undoubtedly struggled to adapt both on and off the pitch last season. He was good in preseason and showed both good and bad on Saturday.

I would argue that unless he becomes a liability in the coming games or Poch thinks that playing him would be detrimental to his long term development, we should give him a run of games and see how he develops.
 
Re: Official - Lamela

there's also the point on unfairness to other players. To me Kane or Townsend deserve to start in front of Lamela, they're homegrown lads, we got for free. In one sense it's the local lads we should be supporting, not expensive imports. Then again, protecting our investment, etc, etc.
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Shelfie said:
there's also the point on unfairness to other players. To me Kane or Townsend deserve to start in front of Lamela, they're homegrown lads, we got for free. In one sense it's the local lads we should be supporting, not expensive imports. Then again, protecting our investment, etc, etc.
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Fair point, but I dont think Poch is afraid of playing youngsters ahead of big names, I think its more likely he's shown his capabilities in training and its just about getting him to translate that onto the pitch. For me he like all signings has a clean slate from the start of this season and cant be judged on first game, especially after going down to ten men....
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Shelfie said:
there's also the point on unfairness to other players. To me Kane or Townsend deserve to start in front of Lamela, they're homegrown lads, we got for free. In one sense it's the local lads we should be supporting, not expensive imports. Then again, protecting our investment, etc, etc.
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If i was manager, my selection decisions at this stage of the season would be based on where I want players to be in the run in.

I think that Lamela playing at the top of his game will be a better player than Townsend or Kane would be at the top of theirs. I also do not think that Townsend or Kane are in need to game time to find their form.

There will come a time in the season when injuries and fixture congestion mean that we do not have the same choices with selection as we do now and we will not have the luxury of attempting to play players into form. I think that we should grasp that opportunity whilst it is there.
 
Re: Official - Lamela

So if he shows nothing against QPR, do you continue to 'play him into form' against Liverpool?
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Fair comments from Milo and Harr in reply to me. I'm not trying multi-quote :)

Poch will have a call to make on Lamela on Sunday. good luck to him in getting it right. I think it will be a very tough game, and if we have any passengers we could easily drop points. The joys of management, still it's very well-paid.
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Hully said:
So if he shows nothing against QPR, do you continue to 'play him into form' against Liverpool?
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I don't believe that he showed nothing against West Ham but there are clearly areas of his game that he needs to improve.

Given how tight it is likely to be at the top of the table come the end of the year and games between teams competing for positions 4 to 7 could be decisive, I would play my strongest 11 against Liverpool regardless. Lamela could force himself into that 11 with a good performance this weekend.
 
Re: Official - Lamela

How long do we give this guy?

If he hasn't got into the team by January then I guess we need to loan him back out to Italy.

Has he even travelled out for tonight's match?
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Andyandy said:
How long do we give this guy?

If he hasn't got into the team by January then I guess we need to loan him back out to Italy.

Has he even travelled out for tonight's match?
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It seems a strange time to be asking this question to me. He had a good preseason, it seems like he is settled and over his injury problems.

He is a very highly rated player who has barely kicked a ball for us for a variety of reasons.

If he gets his act together and plays to his full potential, he could be our stand out player. What say we give him some time, not demand too much, too soon and see where we are later in the season?
 
Re: Official - Lamela

milo said:
If i was manager, my selection decisions at this stage of the season would be based on where I want players to be in the run in.

I think that Lamela playing at the top of his game will be a better player than Townsend or Kane would be at the top of theirs. I also do not think that Townsend or Kane are in need to game time to find their form.
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It seems like that makes a 'special case' out of Lamela. I'm not sold on that precedent as it relates to the other players. You play your way in to the 1st eleven and earn it. If you do, there are no worries. And there are plenty of opportunities to do that. The team at run-in will depend on who has performed best during the season. A case could be made that Paulinho, at the 'top of his game', could be better than the other midfielders. And Paulinho, arguably, has produced more than Lamela has in PL. Paulinho cost a lot of money, too. Not sure we have to handle Lamela with kid gloves at this juncture. He played in Serie A. We bought him, presumably, because we figured he'd perform well in, and adjust to, the PL. He supposedly is with the right coach now. Its a long season, in 4 competitions. There will be plenty of games for Lamella to prove himself. I don't see the structure or system at the club as being that limiting to him, especially now.
 
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Re: Official - Lamela

sc25 said:
It seems like that makes a 'special case' out of Lamela. I'm not sold on that precedent as it relates to the other players. You have to play your way in to the 1st eleven and earn it, and there are plenty of opportunities to do that. The team at run-in will depend on who has performed during the season. A case could be made that Paulinho, at the 'top of his game', could be better than the other midfielders. But will he produce the best in the games? Paulinho, arguably, has produced more than Lamela has in PL. Paulinho cost a lot too. Is Paulinho a special case too? Not sure we have to handle Lamela with kid gloves. He played in Serie A. He supposedly is with the right coach now. Its a long season, in 4 competitions. There will be plenty of games for Lamella to prove himself.
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I think that managers do that all of the time when they opt for youth over experience or when they play a player who is coming back from injury and lacks match fitness.

The question is, does the short term sacrifice in terms of team quality offer the chance of having a stronger team in the long run?

If Lamela does not make the most of the opportunity though and does not show signs of developing and looking comfortable, then I would agree. In those circumstance, I think that it would be right for him to drop down the pecking order and have to fight for his chance off the bench, in the cups or when replacing an injured player like everyone else.
 
Re: Official - Lamela

sc25 said:
It seems like that makes a 'special case' out of Lamela. I'm not sold on that precedent as it relates to the other players. You have to play your way in to the 1st eleven and earn it, and if you do then there are no worries. There are plenty of opportunities to do that. The team at run-in will depend on who has performed during the season. A case could be made that Paulinho, at the 'top of his game', could be better than the other midfielders. But will he produce the best in the games? Paulinho, arguably, has produced more than Lamela has in PL. Paulinho cost a lot too. Is Paulinho a special case too? Not sure we have to handle Lamela with kid gloves. He played in Serie A. He supposedly is with the right coach now. Its a long season, in 4 competitions. There will be plenty of games for Lamella to prove himself.
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To be fair Im not convinced that Poch will make a special case out of Lamella, if hes not performing he knows theres strong enough alternatives who can step up - he saw that against West Ham.

I think its more the fans on here making a 'special case' out of him...
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Bale wasn't given the kid glove treatment. He had to sit on the sidelines for a year or so after his injury and wait for his opportunity. He took his chance when BAE was out injured and the rest is history. I think a player is more likely to prove himself when he knows he has his place to play for. It sends out the wrong message to say to one player, 'You're in the team for x amount of games in order for you to start playing well' (not that I believe Poch has done this)

Lamela clearly wants to do well this season, to repay the fans, the club, and I think most importantly, to prove to himself that he can do it. The risk of being dropped should be seen as an impetus to do well, rather than a sword of Damocles.
 
Re: Official - Lamela

i don't think its as black and white as that, different players need different handling, I remember ferdinand saying that he struggled when he first went pro and tried to hard, it was being told that he would get a run in the qpr side no matter how he performed that gave him the confidence to improve
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Watch Lamela on 15 seconds and 1m10s on this video against Toronto a couple of weeks ago. It is good play

[video=youtube;UEgE7ks425o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEgE7ks425o[/video]
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Bossed it completely when he came on today. Might've been because he played with fresh legs against Limasol's tired legs, of course, but he single handedly picked open that defense more in his last 15 minutes than we did the entire match before he came on. Needs to start against QPR on Sunday.
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Daisuk said:
Bossed it completely when he came on today. Might've been because he played with fresh legs against Limasol's tired legs, of course, but he single handedly picked open that defense more in his last 15 minutes than we did the entire match before he came on. Needs to start against QPR on Sunday.
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Clearly the boy can pass and is happy to do so.

Something that, currently, Townsend either can't or won't do.

A big part of the game is about decision-making and at the moment Lamela has the brains / ability / vision / whatever to do that better than Townsend, IMO.
 
Re: Official - Lamela

Needs to play, thats all. Will be a top top player no doubt. Hes been working hard and it shows.

Sandro------ -------- Dembele

Lamela ----Eriksen -------Townsend

--------------Adebayor
 
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