I liked Erik Lamela before it was cool

[DubaiSpur]

There's a difference between proper news and photos of him in a new jacket/drinking yerba mate on instagram.

Does anyone even know which body part his injury relates to?

Hip injury of some kind, apparently. I hope he comes back at some point this season, although that's growing steadily more unlikely - I miss his dead shark eyes and brilliantly sly Latin American off-the-ball fouling.

If he ends up not returning this season, his earliest competitive return will be in August, meaning this innocuous 'hip injury' will have kept him out for nine to ten months, more or less.

 

[awesome dawson]

Today's instagram update from Erik shows him......






wait for it......








...drinking a cup of mate. (Which for those of you who don't know is a herbal tea which Argentinians are addicted to.)

Thanks for that Erik, now why don't you get yourself down to the local swimming pool and do something that will help recover from whatever injury it is that you've had since time began.

 

[indospurs]

I think the injury is smoke and mirrors, i read he has family issues connected with his brother ?

 

[Hidden]

I have another idea: is it possible Lamela was caught taking any kind of drugs and got an undisclosed ban for this? Smth like Saido Berahino did...

 

[Robbo]

Today's instagram update from Erik shows him......






wait for it......








...drinking a cup of mate. (Which for those of you who don't know is a herbal tea which Argentinians are addicted to.)

Thanks for that Erik, now why don't you get yourself down to the local swimming pool and do something that will help recover from whatever injury it is that you've had since time began.

It could be...although I might be completely wrong...that maybe...all speculation of course...Lamela actually....ok, I know this is far fetched...took that photo...I'm not in any way ITK, so this could very well be bullcrap...in between two training sessions in which he - more speculation, sorry! - worked hard with his physio to make sure he's recovering well from whatever injury he's suffering.

Or not.

 

[SlotBadger]

It could be...although I might be completely wrong...that maybe...all speculation of course...Lamela actually....ok, I know this is far fetched...took that photo...I'm not in any way ITK, so this could very well be bullcrap...in between two training sessions in which he - more speculation, sorry! - worked hard with his physio to make sure he's recovering well from whatever injury he's suffering.

Or not.

Please don't bring rationality to the thread. Hyperbole or out! That apparent freeze frame is actually a 24-hour time lapse.

 

[the dza]

 

[milo]

I have another idea: is it possible Lamela was caught taking any kind of drugs and got an undisclosed ban for this? Smth like Saido Berahino did...

I don't really understand the logic of having a drug testing regime but then not disclosing any punishments.

 

[glorygloryeze]

I don't really understand the logic of having a drug testing regime but then not disclosing any punishments.

Protecting the price of a club asset? Protecting the reputation of a club? Berahino's failed test wasn't disclosed at the time...why do you think that wasn't disclosed at the time?

 

[milo]

Protecting the price of a club asset? Protecting the reputation of a club? Berahino's failed test wasn't disclosed at the time...why do you think that wasn't disclosed at the time?

I don't know. It just seems a very strange way of running a drug testing programme. The FA shouldn't have any concerns about the reputation of clubs or a player's value. If they've screwed that up, it is their look out. Keeping it secret also makes it an ineffective deterrent.

 

[glorygloryeze]

I don't know. It just seems a very strange way of running a drug testing programme. The FA shouldn't have any concerns about the reputation of clubs or a player's value. If they've screwed that up, it is their look out. Keeping it secret also makes it an ineffective deterrent.

I agree with the sentiment overall, but we know money talks and this is a multimilion dollar industry which is the most popular and would stand to lose A LOT if the details of said bans were to come out. The PR and marketing would fall like a pack of cards and club lawyers will put injunctions etc in place to make sure a particular club is not disproportionately affected by it i feel.
There have been several players who for years have had drug-related rumours about them circulating (you know who we mean here..) and only if one or two of those were to be confirmed and publicly punished (instead of "vague ongoing injuries") it would then sort itself out after an initial shock.

P.S. - I'm not stating that Lamela has such an 'affliction' btw, just saying how it is feasible that if he did details of a punishment would not necessarily come out

 

[milo]

I agree with the sentiment overall, but we know money talks and this is a multimilion dollar industry which is the most popular and would stand to lose A LOT if the details of said bans were to come out. The PR and marketing would fall like a pack of cards and club lawyers will put injunctions etc in place to make sure a particular club is not disproportionately affected by it i feel.
There have been several players who for years have had drug-related rumours about them circulating (you know who we mean here..) and only if one or two of those were to be confirmed and publicly punished (instead of "vague ongoing injuries") it would then sort itself out after an initial shock.

P.S. - I'm not stating that Lamela has such an 'affliction' btw, just saying how it is feasible that if he did details of a punishment would not necessarily come out

I think the flipside of that is that if you attempt to keep it secret, at some point it will blow up and do more damage.

The current system also means that you also get the gossip and innuendo that we currently have with any player who is out for a while without an obvious injury.

 

[glorygloryeze]

I think the flipside of that is that if you attempt to keep it secret, at some point it will blow up and do more damage.

The current system also means that you also get the gossip and innuendo that we currently have with any player who is out for a while without an obvious injury.

I agree; but on balance which way do you think the football clubs protecting their assets (along with marketability, PR etc) would want to go?
Do you see the FA or the Premier League truly risking their appeal across the football world and beyond? Especially if such things may be covered up in other leagues?

 

[milo]

I agree; but on balance which way do you think the football clubs protecting their assets (along with marketability, PR etc) would want to go?
Do you see the FA or the Premier League truly risking their appeal across the football world and beyond? Especially if such things may be covered up in other leagues?

You can only keep a lid on things for so long. A scandal is inevitable at some point. I think that you come out of it better if you had appropriate measures in place beforehand.

 

[Whiffler]

Over-shanked

 

[milo]

Over-shanked

I thought that @the dza was telling us he had the horn. Which can only mean that Lamela will be back soon.

 

[Whiffler]

I thought that @the dza was telling us he had the horn. Which can only mean that Lamela will be back soon.

"Sick or ill, take a pill. He'll never go sick no more - the poor bugger is dead"

 

[Robbo]

You can only keep a lid on things for so long. A scandal is inevitable at some point. I think that you come out of it better if you had appropriate measures in place beforehand.

I agree with that sentiment. PR and marketing people rarely think long term though, at least in my experience. They do anything to protect the revenue streams of their companies in the short term, and that's why it's feasible that doping and/or other stuff that reflects negatively on the PL brand are being swept under the carpet, IMO.

Not saying it has happened, but it wouldn't surprise me the slightest if it has.

 

[metalgear]

It's not just assets but young lives and careers too. Perhaps the FA is taking a more benevolent approach to ensuring that they don't destroy but rehabilitate the players, not just for the duration of their short professional careers, but beyond that as well.

Sent from my SM-T819Y using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app

 

[milo]

It's not just assets but young lives and careers too. Perhaps the FA is taking a more benevolent approach to ensuring that they don't destroy but rehabilitate the players, not just for the duration of their short professional careers, but beyond that as well.

Sent from my SM-T819Y using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app

I don't see why that should be any more important in football than other sports, the majority of which have transparent drug testing regimes.