Mauricio Pochettino: 'Impossible' for Erik Lamela to leave Tottenham
LONDON -- Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has dismissed suggestions that Erik Lamela could leave, saying it is "impossible" for the winger to think of moving clubs while he recovers from injury.
Lamela has been linked with a return to Italy since he joined Spurs from Roma for £30 million in 2014, and the rumours have increased while he has been sidelined with a hip problem since October.
The Argentina international will have surgery in Barcelona on Saturday -- described by Pochettino as a "last resort" to get him fit.
Since he last played, Lamela has spent time in his home city of Buenos Aires on compassionate leave and in Rome, where he was treated for the hip problem at his former club.
A relative lack of information from Spurs and Pochettino, plus Lamela's reluctance to speak publicly, has led to speculation including reports that the 25-year-old has played his last game for the club.
But Pochettino said: "That was so strange to hear. In the media Lamela is linked with different clubs -- it's difficult for me to understand.
"It's a player who has not played since October. And all that he is suffering in the last four or five months -- do you think that he is thinking to move? That he is thinking to go to Italy? He is very happy here.
"The problems he has... he was desperate, and the club was desperate, to find the solution.
"But it made me laugh every time I heard all that in the media. Because it is impossible for him, impossible for the club, impossible for his agent, impossible for his people, to think about moving. Where?
"Now he needs help, and who better than us to help him in the next few months? I think you know better than me that it does not make sense."
Lamela endured a similarly troubled first season at Tottenham, when a back problem meant he finished the campaign with just three league starts.
However, he has since become one of Pochettino's most trusted players, and the manager has backed him to get back to his best again.
"I don't believe it will be tough [to recover]. He is a person who likes to work hard," he said.
"He is very professional. If he starts to feel good and fixes the problem -- the pain he feels in his hip -- the recovery will come quick and he will be on the pitch again training with us.
"He needs our love, our support, to be sure that all is going well. I hope all goes well on Saturday and then he starts to think about recovery as soon as possible."
http://www.espnfc.com/story/3092699...impossible-for-erik-lamela-to-leave-tottenham
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tottenham giving up on Erik Lamela would be Mauricio Pochettino’s one big mistake as manager
Watching Lamela in a Spurs shirt has been a real rollercoaster but he is crucial to way the boss wants his team to play
FAN'S VIEW
By Sean Cook of TalkingTHFC
30th March 2017, 7:04 pm
Updated: 31st March 2017, 11:26 am
THE summer of 2013 is spoken in hushed tones amongst Spurs fans, as star man Gareth Bale went on his way to Spain.
With seven fresh faces to integrate from the £85million received, it presented a brand new challenge to the club.
Skip forward four years and just two players remain.
It’s without a doubt that Christian Eriksen has flourished in North London, earning player of the season in his first campaign.
The Danish international quickly became a popular name amongst fans of the club, probing supporters wrong over his ability to step up in big games.
With a price tag of just £11.5m, Daniel Levy must thank his lucky stars that just one of his seven additions has come good.
There is of course the other remaining survivor of the great splurge of 2013 – that’s right, I haven’t forgotten him.
Watching
Erik Lamela in a Spurs shirt has been a real rollercoaster.
A genuine pleasure and at the same time a constant chore.
His first season was plagued with injury, with the following campaign much the same. But the feeling always remained that this kid has something special about him.
Skip forward a few moments of rabona magic, and Mauricio Pochettino knew he had a talent on his hands.
If you’re a Spurs fan that has given up on the Argentine, you haven’t been watching your club too closely the last two years.
In short, he’s been crucial to the way Pochettino wants his team to play. His determination to fight and win the ball, as well as create some magic when in possession are by far his greatest attributes.
Don’t believe me? Last season Lamela contributed 164 recoveries for Spurs. Eric Dier, their first choice defensive midfielder at the time, made just 151.
A new weapon at his disposal this campaign has been a tenacity that we’d not yet seen. I could recollect six or seven red card offences he made in his 9 appearances in the 2016/17 season.
Something that Spurs fans have always demanded from their players is that they fight for the shirt. Lamela has been a perfect embodiment of this.
The situation regarding his hip injury could not have come at a more terrible time for him. He was finally beginning to alter opinion, something that has been almost four years in the making.
Spurs fans had grown so fond of him off the pitch also. Moving from Italy at the age of 21 was never an easy transition, with his family life bringing further unwanted hardship ever since.
Mauricio Pochettino has turned Erik Lamela into the perfect mercenary.
If his Spurs future is truly over, the club won’t be upset over a wasted gamble, they’ll be disappointed that they let a real talent slip away.
With just 10 league games remaining, Spurs could do with their man more than ever. With surgery this week, and the target of playing again next season, his future at the club lies in doubt.
Tottenham travel to Burnley this weekend hoping that their wider squad deliver the goods, something they’ve had to rely on throughout this season.
Regardless of their prolific home form, Sean Dyche's side should not present a challenge to the Lilywhites.
But should they fail to win, Erik Lamela can have my hips. We need you back my friend, don't let this be the end.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/foot...ricio-pochettinos-one-big-mistake-as-manager/
---------------------------------------------
Nice to see Pochettino coming out to clear the air about Lamela's injury and future. But he should have done this long time ago and not wait until after 5 months to say thise. Pochettino must have looked at all his failures with the new players like Sissoko and janssen and realised it was too risky to let go any of the current key players.
