I liked Erik Lamela before it was cool

[milo]

I think he's been assessing the players since he's been here and Townsend and Chadlii have had injuries, now everyone is fit and he's seen what they're all about, we'll see... but the jersey was there to be won by Lamela but he hasn't, in my opinion, made it his own and it's up to Townsend to stake a claim now.

The way I read it that he has tended to prefer playing a pacey wide player against the top teams as it gives us an outlet to hit them on the break. Obviously, Lamela was injured for the Chelsea game but I would not have expected him to start anyway for this reason. If he is fit, I would expect to see Lamela back in the side now we have an easier run of fixtures.

 

[the dza]

I think he's been assessing the players since he's been here and Townsend and Chadlii have had injuries, now everyone is fit and he's seen what they're all about, we'll see... but the jersey was there to be won by Lamela but he hasn't, in my opinion, made it his own and it's up to Townsend to stake a claim now.

I sort of agree. Poch has given pretty much all the players (even Adebayor, Capoue, Kaboul etc.) a decent chance to show what they can do. Those that have let him down have been left out and those that have performed well have kept a place. If Townsend performs well, I think he may keep Lamela out of the side because I don't think Lamela has the spot locked down in the way that, say, Eriksen has his. That doesn't mean Lamela is out in the cold, rather it's a similar situation to the one we have at left-back.

 

[mudshark]

I agree with AS to the extent that I think we need to keep matching him carefully, giving him starts predominantly in the less pressured fixtures (why I think he is a cert to start tomorrow evening) but I don't think that's the whole story. He isn't suddenly going to be ready to shine in the league after a run in games like that; he needs to be dipped in and out as well, if we're going to keep him. Otherwise, he will keep getting away with all the flash stuff against inferior opposition and won't grow out of it.

 

[thejazzman]

Lamela has the classic school-boy mentality of wanting to be on the ball as much as possible. So rather than making runs off the ball - he's more likely to move towards the ball

tickle my balls with a feather IMO. As someone else explored, it could be that Pochettino prefers a wonky attack, with one of the wide players being "creative" and the other "direct" but Lamela seems to force this through his own desire. He comes inside when he decides that he wants the ball, rather than when it is the best time for him to have it.

I keep hoping that he will improve as the team does; as the front 4 get even more fluid he'll get in better positions to utilise the best features of his game. It's still just hope for the moment though.

I think the difference between he and Eriksen is often overstated. Eriksen tends to either dictate or disappear. Lamela isn't that sort of player, or character for that matter. He constantly tries to involve himself and "make things happen" - the issue is that many of these things are very difficult to do, so his success rate in wholehearted challenges, eye-of-the needle passes and mazy dribbles isn't very good. If he can smarten up a bit and settle down (i.e. stop trying to impress with every touch) we will have a very good performer.

 

[braineclipse]

I think he's been assessing the players since he's been here and Townsend and Chadlii have had injuries, now everyone is fit and he's seen what they're all about, we'll see... but the jersey was there to be won by Lamela but he hasn't, in my opinion, made it his own and it's up to Townsend to stake a claim now.

k:

I'm sorry I asked.

 

[milo]

tickle my balls with a feather IMO. As someone else explored, it could be that Pochettino prefers a wonky attack, with one of the wide players being "creative" and the other "direct" but Lamela seems to force this through his own desire. He comes inside when he decides that he wants the ball, rather than when it is the best time for him to have it.

I keep hoping that he will improve as the team does; as the front 4 get even more fluid he'll get in better positions to utilise the best features of his game. It's still just hope for the moment though.

I think the difference between he and Eriksen is often overstated. Eriksen tends to either dictate or disappear. Lamela isn't that sort of player, or character for that matter. He constantly tries to involve himself and "make things happen" - the issue is that many of these things are very difficult to do, so his success rate in wholehearted challenges, eye-of-the needle passes and mazy dribbles isn't very good. If he can smarten up a bit and settle down (i.e. stop trying to impress with every touch) we will have a very good performer.

I agree. His biggest problem at the moment is trying too hard.

 

[braineclipse]

tickle my balls with a feather IMO. As someone else explored, it could be that Pochettino prefers a wonky attack, with one of the wide players being "creative" and the other "direct" but Lamela seems to force this through his own desire. He comes inside when he decides that he wants the ball, rather than when it is the best time for him to have it.

I keep hoping that he will improve as the team does; as the front 4 get even more fluid he'll get in better positions to utilise the best features of his game. It's still just hope for the moment though.

I think the difference between he and Eriksen is often overstated. Eriksen tends to either dictate or disappear. Lamela isn't that sort of player, or character for that matter. He constantly tries to involve himself and "make things happen" - the issue is that many of these things are very difficult to do, so his success rate in wholehearted challenges, eye-of-the needle passes and mazy dribbles isn't very good. If he can smarten up a bit and settle down (i.e. stop trying to impress with every touch) we will have a very good performer.

Disagree that Lamela forces things through his own desire. I think he's changed significantly in his approach as the season has progressed. Most notably how wide he stayed against Burnley before cutting inside later in the attacks, also how quickly he moves the ball on most of the time now compared to earlier.

I agree fully that Poch might want a wonky or wonky-esque attack where the two wide players have different roles and play differently. Fairly common.

 

[DublinSpur]

I said at the start of the season that I felt Lamela should be played regularly for a full season and see if he develops into the player we all hope he can be... a player worth the hefty price tag, and more. And Pochettino has pretty much done exactly that. If I'm honest though, Lamela's progress has been slower than I'd have liked. I was hoping to see him beginning to substantially influence, change and run games by this stage. Not completely - of course - but to see glimpses of that emerging. And I've yet to really see it.

Having said that, there has been some progress, and he is still young. He should still definitely feature prominently in the second half of the season, but I'm not sure he should be an automatic starter right now... hopefully his progress will accelerate and that will change.

 

[Spaceman]

so glad hes out the team atm, we always play better when hes not there getting in chadli and ericksens way.

chadli-eriksen-lamela does not work. we give up too much possesion and we always end up in a scrap. it should be chadli-eriksen-lennon/townsend(for balance and variation) and lamela can come on for one of them

 

[Spaceman]

This, if we can get 15m or so I would move him on and recoup some money I honestly think it's no coincidence that our best performances of the season he has not been in the team.

As many have mentioned we are one away from being a top team with Kane, Chadli, and Eriksen hopefully Townsend can step up as he seems to be finding some decent form

on the money. our 2 best performances of the season have been Everton and Chelsea and lamela was nowhere to be seen. he needs to take a back seat for a while to buck up his ideas or better yet sell him

 

[Jurgen the German]

so glad hes out the team atm, we always play better when hes not there getting in chadli and ericksens way.

chadli-eriksen-lamela does not work. we give up too much possesion and we always end up in a scrap. it should be chadli-eriksen-lennon/townsend(for balance and variation) and lamela can come on for one of them

Agree with this. Going forward, we need a more effective winger than Townsend and Lennon, but they do provide pace and something a bit different to Lamela.

 

[milo]

For me, if we can get Lamela playing to his full potential we have a phenomenal player on our hands. I think that is worth persevering with.

 

[billyiddo]

Lamela provided plenty of width against Burnley which was noted upon quite heavily in various posts after the game - the team played well and so did the player - so i don't think the blanket statement

chadli-eriksen-lamela does not work.

is true.

does that switch in his role for the Burnley game mean that up until recently the manager has been instructing Lamela to come inside as he has been? does that game indicate the manager has cottoned on to the problem and realizes the solution is to have the right sided forward mix things up more? will be interesting to see how we line up in the next run of games and how the players are instructed to play...

 

[Bonsaiboy]

Lamela provided plenty of width against Burnley which was noted upon quite heavily in various posts after the game - the team played well and so did the player - so i don't think the blanket statement is true.

does that switch in his role for the Burnley game mean that up until recently the manager has been instructing Lamela to come inside as he has been? does that game indicate the manager has cottoned on to the problem and realizes the solution is to have the right sided forward mix things up more? will be interesting to see how we line up in the next run of games and how the players are instructed to play...

I respectfully disagree, he cut inside virtually every time, sometimes to good effect and did some good work, but some times the better option was out wide but he clearly avoids putting himself in that situation. The trouble is that managers and defenders will become increasingly wise to this.

As you can see at 1:04, he had the option to whip it in with his right foot to Chadli on the back post to lay on a goal, but he simply didn't trust his ability, so does what he always tends to do, try to get closer to around the six yard box for a stab with either the outside of his left or a toe poke with his right - he can only seem deliver from the right from that sort of range - and as tends to happen the chance was lost and Chadli was left feeling exasperated.

He did manage to get inside the six yard box for the chance to Kane but more often than not that won't come off. This video actually shows the good and bad of Lamela - cuts inside, can do good work. Wide, generally useless.

[video=youtube;3_YceSfNssw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_YceSfNssw[/video]

 

[Bedfordspurs]

He came inside against Burnley as he had walker dragging the full back wide and therefore creating space for Lamella

He needs to show that level of play against and decent side before I'll be convinced and I'd like to see take a frame by the scruff of the neck like Kane did against Chelsea... Alas I don't think that will happen but I'd love to be wrong

 

[billyiddo]

'Providing width' is more than going outside and putting in crosses which im sure you are more than aware of and one specific instance where he chose the wrong option doesn't change or negate the positive performance we saw in that game from the 3 of Chadli Eriksen and Lamela. He started in a wider position and as a result had more space to carry the ball in to and pick out the runs from his team mates. It also allowed Walker to attack the central areas in which Lamela usually congests whilst providing him with an out ball on the wing - this tactical tweak from Poch worked well imo and saw us much more dangerous in attack than previous games with several good opportunities/promising attacks coming from the wide right positions (outside and inside)

 

[thfcsteff]

I often wondered, as an experiment, how he would work as the one up top with Kane in the hold and Eriksen/Chadli? The movement which could occur would be something else...

Worth a gamble in a cup game at some point (I know he's hurt for tomm)?

 

[NWND]

He came inside against Burnley as he had walker dragging the full back wide and therefore creating space for Lamella

He needs to show that level of play against and decent side before I'll be convinced and I'd like to see take a frame by the scruff of the neck like Kane did against Chelsea... Alas I don't think that will happen but I'd love to be wrong

I'm not sure it will happen either, but I think he's shown enough to be a very capable 'role-player' (i.e. that he could have performed like Chadli did in that game, as a foil for Kane to bounce off, to be a goal threat and to carry the ball forwards). It's rare that a team has more than one or two 'game changers'.

Take that ridiculous Barca team, in terms of role Messi is obviously the guy that makes things happen, as Kane is developing into for us (no, i'm not suggesting he's as good as Messi, just down to the role in the team).

In terms of the Barca team, the forwards either side of Messi have tended to be 'role players' that play a supporting role and don't take the game by the scruff of the neck. They're still quality players in their own right - the likes of Pedro, Sanchez etc.

I think Lamela can develop into a quality player in that respect for us and along with Chadli can be two quality foils for Kane and Eriksen to work with.

Yes, at £30m I can see why some have a problem with that, when he ends up playing a supporting role to an academy product and an £11m signing, but hate the game not the player in this case, as it's just the way it all worked out

 

[Bonsaiboy]

'Providing width' is more than going outside and putting in crosses which im sure you are more than aware of and one specific instance where he chose the wrong option doesn't change or negate the positive performance we saw in that game from the 3 of Chadli Eriksen and Lamela. He started in a wider position and as a result had more space to carry the ball in to and pick out the runs from his team mates. It also allowed Walker to attack the central areas in which Lamela usually congests whilst providing him with an out ball on the wing - this tactical tweak from Poch worked well imo and saw us much more dangerous in attack than previous games with several good opportunities/promising attacks coming from the wide right positions (outside and inside)

No, it wasn't that he chose the wrong option, it's that he didn't have the ability to execute the cross. If I can spot this technical weakness, rest assured every scouting report on Lamela will pick it up and reference will be made to it in the opposition team talk: "Show him outside and he won't be able to do us any damage - just keep him away from the 6 yard box - it's only Walker we need to worry about delivering quality crosses from the right".

If Lamela ever whips in a quality cross with his right I will proved to have been wrong.

 

[Bonsaiboy]

Excellent, this is kind of thing we like, top lad:

http://instagram.com/p/xU0X71rgEy/