The man who outshone Harry Kane at Anfield

Our brave performance at Anfield last night wasn’t rewarded, as Mario Balotelli’s winner consigned us to our eighth Premier League defeat of the season. However, in a not-so-Spursy manner, we come out of this loss paying more attention to the positives in our play, rather than our frequent outlook of doom and gloom.

Despite the below-par showings from one or two players, we can be impressed with the grit and determination displayed by the boys in white – who twice fought back from going behind. Apart from Kane – who has been our pin-up boy in recent weeks, and rightly so – the other player who I viewed as being extremely impressive, was Erik Lamela.

The obsession

Whether it’s in our nature, or part of a process in which we play dumb so that we can be proved wrong in the long run – we can’t wait to write players off if they get off to a poor start in Lilywhite colours. Our most famous example was obviously Gareth Bale, but now this stigma is solely placed upon Erik Lamela.

It still angers me when commentators and pundits refer to Lamela’s debut season as ‘poor’ or that he did ‘little to convince people he’s worth the money Spurs paid for him’. In his first season, Lamela only made 17 appearances (out of a possible 54) – ten of which were starts, with seven coming on from the bench. To put that into perspective, Lamela played a starting role in only 18% of our games in the turbulent 2013-14 season.

Considering he was either injured, or playing with an injury for the majority of the season – of course Erik’s first campaign wasn’t a success, but how can we judge a player’s Premier League potential on the basis of 10 starts? But still, we have seen the Argentine been cast a host of names, mainly from our very own, who have dubbed him: ‘Coco the Clown’, ‘Baldini’s love-child’, ‘what a waste of money’ to the extent where Alan Sugar’s inflated ego uses Twitter and football chat-shows to slate the player.

Building blocks

In face of the relentless criticism – there is a sense of light being at the end of the tunnel. On Saturday nights episode of Match of The Day, now-pundit and former Spur Jermaine Jenas said of our number 11 : “Lamela, who I didn’t think had the greatest game, but look at his reaction straight away – lost the ball, but wants to work for the team – wants to work even though he’s not playing well.”

After the win over Arsenal, our main objective and emphasis was to ‘build’ on the result and performance coming into yesterday’s fixture – and this was something Lamela accomplished. Last night, the winger ran the furthest distance out of any player (7.5 miles), made the most tackles (6) of either team, whilst he created 3 chances and had one assist.

Minus getting himself on the score-sheet, you could argue that this was close to a complete performance from the player. As well as the stats above, last night Lamela made three interceptions and made a total of 12 passes in the final third. It is also worth noting that with his assist for Kane yesterday, Lamela takes his assist tally up to six – which is not only the highest of any Spurs player this season, but is more than Eriksen, Dembele and Mason combined.

Erik’s ethic and effort under appreciated?

The general consensus that filters out of the Spurs squad at present is that Pochettino picks his side based on player-performance in training, as well as matches. Our Head Coach confirmed this by stating: "We are a club. And when you sign a contract as a player, you need to understand that you don’t sign to play, you sign to train." As a result, when we are either bemused of bewildered by Pochettino’s pick come match-day – we must remember that he has seen and analysed these players on the training ground throughout the week.

This emphasis on player-development and performance in training is something Erik himself comprehends, as in a recent interview with IBTimes UK, he said: “The sessions are helping me a lot and obviously [there is] the continuity of the games too. The hard training sessions eventually make the difference in the long term.

“I think I can give much more. I always have to learn but with the training sessions and the games, I am sure I will reach it [peak] again. I am just one more member of the squad. I am here to add something to the squad, playing or not playing. This year I'm happy but I want to score more goals, provide more assists. I have to be ambitious. Obviously, I can give much more.”

If Lamela’s quotes, followed by his performance at Anfield, had come from an English, academy graduate – how proud would we be feeling right now? Of course, a sense of finesse and world-class quality is lacking from the player’s game, but his effort, attitude and mentality is everything you’d want from a young player at our club.

We need to let Lamela free by letting go...

The argument that the former-Roma man is not worth the money we paid for him is a fair one, but apart from Christian Eriksen and maybe Nacer Chadli – are the remaining four of Vlad Chiriches, Roberto Soldado, Paulinho and Etienne Capoue worth the fees we parted with for them also? Definitely not!

Despite paying mega-bucks for his services, at least (in Lamela) we have bought a young player who is hungry, determined and is slowly, but surely improving. If we discount his debut season at the club, there is no doubt that the 22-year-old has improved as this season has gone on. It’s also worth pointing out that Lamela, on the basis of his performance last night, is highly suited to the system employed by our current boss – pressing from the front, making tackles and creating chances.

Considering many of us show such little concern for Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis’ cash (and rightly so) – with a high-number of us wanting them to fork out for fresh meat in the January window, we should also show little concern for the price paid for Erik Lamela.

I have argued that Erik is improving, but at 22 - he is still under development! So with the right attitude and continued support from his manager, teammates and fans – maybe our very own ‘Coco the Clown’ can have the very last laugh, proving the doubters and critics wrong - the same doubters and critics who had mocked our last number 11.

 

Fair point. He is working harder... he just needs to work harder AND relax into his game. Hopefully this will come in time.

 

Brilliant piece. I would argue that he still is our best winger, even though the competition is tough. His workrate and passion are not qualities that should be overlooked, especially since he seems to have a cool head on his shoulders (not talking about his ridiculous hairstyles). We all know he has magic in that left foot of his, and with just a little more consistency to his touch and overall offensive game we'll have a real gem of a player on our hands.

 

Excellent read.

To be honest I always rated Lamela highly. I knew him from my friend (he is a **** gooner though) from his Roma's days and I was amazed by his talent. Fast forward suddenly we are signing him. I was over the moon at that moment, but it turned out to be one of our bad season imo, not to mention Lamela's injury.

But when I watched him in our pre season I can see him trying very hard to pay the club back. Remember when he scored couple of goals back then? I was very happy for him.

Now I'm pretty sure all of us can actually see that he indeed loves the club very much (just go and check his instagram, twitter, etc) and want to be back at his very best. With Poch as our manager I can't see why not? He's a big talent and at 22 years old he still got quite a long way to go. More importantly, his hunger and desire is what make me love him even more. Remember his rabona goal? Remember his amazing strike that win us againts Burnley? Pretty sure he can gives even more than both of that.

Time will tell, and I believe it will be an amazing story for all of us.

Regards from Malaysia,
@OmniSpurs

COME ON YOU SPURS!

 

Thought he had one of the best performances yesterday, and I agree that he presses the ball best of the bunch. To me, I don't think he works as well with Mousa next to him due to both being so one-footed. I would have preferred Eriksen in the center and Chadli on the left.

 

I agree wholeheartedly - he is improving all the time and delights in the efforts of his team mates!!Good to see!

 

as a liverpool fan and Kop season ticket holder who was at the match last night I would agree that Lamela was Spurs most fluent and energetic performer. He outshone Couthino who had a quiet game and with his awareness and balance he was a threat all night. Your defence is rash and error prone though. Danny Rose could well have seen red on the night and a fully fit Sturridge would have ended the game by half time. Most of our chances were gifts from your defenders and the once excellent Vertonghen looks unfocused and lackadaisical. Great game though played by two teams putting in maximum commitment.

 

Superb article.

Lamela is learning that he needs to work hard to get more game time. When he he is on the ball, he tries to be far too flashy at times and if he can keep up his work rate and start to concentrate on doing the simple things, he can get better and better.
Our work rate and energy levels are as high now as I can remember in the past and although it was disappointing to lose last night, we are still looking to be on the right track.
The league cup, a top four finish and even the Europa league are still there to be won by Spurs this season and what a season that would be.
Coys!!

 

Good points made. He did really well to create the first equaliser, worked really hard for the whole game and could have got the 2nd equaliser himself had it not been for a great save from Mignolet.
I really wanted Townsend to be brought on to run AT them more, but I understand the need to not alter things too much either.

I have faith in Poch's decision making process, and his progress is there for all to see.
Can't wait to see Yedlin and Alli (Summer) come into the squad next!

 

Good read for sure, completely agree too
Must keep on mind he was 1v1 with Sakho, who is to me the worst cb in any team competing for the top four, possibly excluding the Man United defense.

 

The problem WE Spurs have at the moment is inconsistency ! We beat Chelsea well with excellent football fair and square - then lose to a C |Palace who will remain bottom half of table. We beat Arsenal emphatically, and played even better than the Chelsea game. Then what? The same team selection played v Liverpool - we lost again !!
This is NOT top four football. That will be a fight between the Mancs and Soton - NOT US !!! I only saw the goals on SkySpts - and Balotelli of all people scored their winner. Although anyone couldve got between our defenders who werent attentive. Now seems that the Arsenal win was wasted. We swapped places and now have to climb ' Hamburger Hill' all over again .............................

 

All the teams involved in race for top 4 are piss poor at defending ( except Southampton ) .. Our inadequacies in that department are a match for any of the rest thats for sure ..
Individualy and collectivly its really not good ..

 

Great point in this article. Lamela gets scapegoated too many times. We bought a work in progress, with the effort he puts in on the pitch he'll surely bet rewarded once his confidence raises and works on his final finish. Yeah granted sometimes he gives the ball away too easily, I've never seen a winger work so hard on the defensive end. This kid will be a star! Poch will help him develop into a good player and establish some consistency in his performance.

 

I would like to see lemela start in a more central role, running onto the ball more centrally might be the making of him.

 

For 30mil im yet to be convinced. Misses the simple things, overplays the ball alot, not exactly a match winner, goes missing alot.
The liverpool game was probably his best performance but do you pay a record fee for some one that puts in a shift?

 

I was one of many im sure who before lamela had he's part In kanes goal who was moaning about lamela giving the ball away to easy glad that I could eat my words when I watched the effort he put in during the rest of the match. On a side note I heard about ian Wright half time rant on the pitch about spurs fans (v Leicester) if this is true surely tottenham hierarchy should ban this clown from White hart lane

 

I said, back in the summer, that Spurs would finish in the top 6 this season and probably be in that 6th position. We are not any worse than arsenal, Southampton or United and in reapity, we are still in with a chance of finishing in the top four. The problem is that we cannot beat Chelsea and arsenal and then lose the very next game. It feels like one massive stride forward before s step back.
We played well against pool, but made too many mistakes.
Writing us off for the top 4 is a bit early just yet, but our inconsistency will ultimately, in my opinion, cost us that top four spot.
However, I do also strongly believe that with the correct additions in the summer, and the continued work ethic we are seeing now, we will be pushing for the top three and dare I dare to say, the title?

 

The hardest job (as always) - if NOT making 4th - will be keeping hold of Vertonghen, Lloris and Eriksen from the clutches of the Mancs !!!!!!!

 

Yes, we're all Spurs Fans but there are some unbelievable idiots on here who are barely literate and incapable of seeing beyond tabloid hyperbole. Lamela is progressing well for us. Look at his first-touch passing and pressing. He's exactly what we need and I'm pleased - but not surprised - that MP has recognised this. COYS