Waddle: Give Lamela more time to settle at Tottenham - next season will be his year

[thinktank]

Former Tottenham winger Chris Waddle believes Erik Lamela will need another season to improve before he is firing on all cylinders in the Premier League.

The Argentine arrived at White Hart Lane for £30million from Roma in August 2013, having scored 15 goals from midfield in Serie A the previous season.

His arrival paved the way for Gareth Bale’s world record departure to Real Madrid and inevitable comparisons were immediately drawn between the pair. But while Bale excelled at the Bernabeu, winning the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, Lamela toiled in north London.

Stifled by the pressure of following in such sizeable footsteps, and battling regular injury, the 22-year-old made just three Premier League starts and scored once – in a Europa League victory over Sheriff.

But Lamela has started to show signs he is settling at White Hart Lane, and Waddle believes he will recapture his best form in the next 12 months after adapting from a comparatively leisurely style with Roma.

“I think the Italian league is very slow it's very open, until you get into the 18-yard box you don't really come into contact with players,” the former England international told Standard Sport.

“You could get to 38-40 and play in Italy, I could play in Italy for a season.

“I think Lamela enjoyed that, it was more possession and you bide your time until you get to the penalty area, but he comes to the Premier League where all of a sudden it's 100 miles per hour,”

“He's adjusting, he's getting better and people forget he's still young, next year - hopefully he'll improve this year - and next year, if he's ever going to do it, it'll be next season.”

Waddle knows of the struggles that come with adapting to a new climate after switching Tottenham for Marseille in 1989. The £4.5million fee boss Gerard Gili paid for his services was the third-highest ever spent on a footballer at the time.

But the three-time French Division 1 winner shrugged off his valuation and has urged Lamela to do the same.

He added: “I never look at the price tag, I didn't say I was worth that money, the club want to pay it, that's up to them.

“But you've got to relax and you’ve got to try and do what you're good at now if it doesn’t work out for Lamela, he can turn round and say listen I'm just not made for the English league.”

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...ll-be-his-year-says-chris-waddle-9794805.html

 

[THFCSPURS19]

How long until every thread on Spurs Chat was created by you?

 

[thfc1989]

Keep it up! Nice seeing articles posted in here again

 

[Black]

He's got until jan to clear the webs