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Player Watch: Erik Lamela

wrd

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2014
13,603
58,005
Fault? Have I ever said it was Lamela´s "fault"?

He was supposed to be more than 1/3 of the player Bale was. That was the context.

Of course things like injuries influences things, but did anyone ever see a top class player in Lamela? He never showed any of that potential in my opinion.

Not that he has been useless. Definitely not. And he will still be useful if he stays.

Well this all started because people were complaining he was meant to replace Bale. If that's not an expectation of top class I don't know what is. I have the same opinion of him as you do. I think he's a useful squad player and now and then he hits a good vein of form that makes him a starter for a period. I'd sell him this summer though.
 

AberdeenYid

Well-Known Member
Oct 18, 2006
450
874
I still like him in the squad. He’s a bastard that tries his arse off and we need a few of them. Plus, with his injury record, we’re going to get next to no money for him. Hopefully a good run without injury will see him perform well.

I’d much rather we got rid of Sissoko if we are trying to shift an expensive foreign signing for a third of what we paid. At least Lamela has the ability to hit the target sometimes.
 

Tucker

Shitehawk
Jul 15, 2013
31,131
146,026
A lot of people talking like he’s already gone in this thread. I will be very surprised if we manage to move him on, Can’t see that anyone will be willing to pay what we are asking for him.

Seems a sensible move to try and freshen things up and move him on, he’s been a good servant to the club over the years despite his injuries. But anyone buying him would be taking a hell of a gamble.
 

daryl hannah

Berry Berry Calm
Sep 1, 2014
2,674
7,717
Well this all started because people were complaining he was meant to replace Bale. If that's not an expectation of top class I don't know what is. I have the same opinion of him as you do. I think he's a useful squad player and now and then he hits a good vein of form that makes him a starter for a period. I'd sell him this summer though.
Agreed.

I like Lamela's tenacity, and the occasional through ball but the inefficiency is what drives people to despair with the player.

2013
Paulinho £17m - broke out transfer record
Soldado £25m - broke out transfer record
Lamela £30m - broke out transfer record by almost double.

I think the disappointment stems from the expectation cause the club don't intentionally buy £30m-pound squad players.

More than that - even if he'd stayed fit, I don't think we'd have seen a whole lot more.
 

PeeEyeEmPee

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
1,925
3,125
We shouldn't be judging players for what we bought them to be, but for what they offer us now. Lamela is now a squad player, in one of our most successful seasons, he wasn't a squad player. He actually started pretty much every match he was fit for. Son only came into the squad through injury to Lamela. Lamela had limitations then, but was a major contributor to our success too, and people are quick to forget that.

I said this before, with no explanation, but I'll say it again. End product is overrated Lamela's isn't that bad (averages to around 15-20 goals and assists per minute played, which is like Willian and much better than the vast majority of players linked in to replace him, like Cantwell, who hasn't registered a single goal or assists since, like, January).

But even if it was bad. End product is a modern obsession, which sees x player needs x goals or they arent good. But by this metric.

Maradona, mediocre, never scored more than 16 goals in the league a season, Okay I guess.

Zidane, shit, never scored more than 10 goals in a league season, he didn't even register that many assists. I mean he scored 24 goals and 15 assists in 151 games for Juve. Complete turd.

Nedved, my god, how did he win a ballon dor? 11 goals was his top haul in the league, and that was in serie B. 51 goals in 247 games, mate what a joke. Assists would be better right? Well he got 1 in serie B, 43 all in all. How on earth is he a club legend?

Bergkamp. OMG, the guy averaged a goal every 4 games, what a fraud

David Ginola, wow. most overrated rated player ever. 103 games for 14 goals and 7 assists. Ouch, what a waste of space.

I could go on and on and on. I know the game has changed, but it's just reached absurd levels, were production is everything some people, ignoring what players do as a team as a whole. I'm not saying Lamela is at those levels. He isn't, but I don't care how many goals he scores or sets up. I care about is he able to help us win, and the answer to that is yes. Lamela has helped us win on countless occasions, on closing games out on changing the games when he comes on.

Since the break, I advise you to look at our goals post break, and just notice how many times Lamela shows up. He doesn't, ever make the final pass in this time, but he was involved in so many goals during that time. Lamela makes a clear contribution when he comes on, often noticeable, but people care way too much about 'goals and assists rather than contributions to winning games.

I'm just sick of it to be honest. Lamela isn't a key player for us, and certainly not any more. But he's still useful and has contributed so much to this club. People think Madrid are ungrateful because they are judging Bale unfairly thanks to an inflated fee, but we do the same. Ignoring the fact he has clearly already proved worth his value. The fact he wasn't the player you expected is completely irrelevant in how you judge him as a player.
I’ve seen some reaches in my time, but this one is right up there. All this time I’ve been of the opinion that Erik Lamela has been a very ordinary player for us in his 7 years here, when in actuality he’s underratedly been a club legend.

My bad
 

glacierSpurs

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2013
16,163
25,472
His body looks real fit now. If there is no taker, I'm still willing to see him for another season, a full season under Mourinho. Hopefully he has more luck in fitness then.
 

Japhet

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2010
19,232
57,392
I see a few parallels in Lamela's early time at the club and Ndombele. When Lamela arrived he suffered badly with home sickness for Italy and struggled with injuries. The club cut him plenty of slack (a huge amount actually) and eventually he turned it around and started really getting stuck in. It's like he accepted that he'd get knocks but that was part of the deal. He could be a proper role model for Ndombele, but Ndombele would need to find the will that Lamela did to turn things around.
 

dagraham

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2005
19,115
46,080
He's looked like that for years.

Yeah. There really is a sense of clutching at straws with Lamela.

He’s the same as he’s always been. Fantastic off the ball ( apart from the insatiable need to give away free kicks ), but more often than not disappointing with it.

I get why a lot of fans like him, but they really need to let it go. He’s not going to suddenly improve, even if he never gets an injury again.
 

cider spurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 5, 2016
9,399
23,731
It's great that's he's a hardworking, tenacious sort when fit and called upon.

But considering we only catch fleeting glimpses due to his horrendous injury record, hardworking and tenacious are not enough alone.

We've had far too little bang for our buck with Lamela.

Applaud his passion on the pitch, for overcoming numerous injuries. But how many seasons are we going to rinse and repeat with this lad.

Time for us to sell.
 

stormfly

Well-Known Member
Dec 6, 2006
4,584
11,990
Levy will have a valuation in his head and then we’ll have to be willing to accept around 10m less than that valuation due to Covid-19 etc. I just can’t see this being the time to sell him.
 

Who’s our next manager?

Well-Known Member
Jul 6, 2020
1,231
1,806
Two big worries about Eric.The first one is his fitness.Secondly, he gets booked far too often and therefore that reduces his effectiveness for the rest of the game.
 

p.l.edmonds

Active Member
Jun 16, 2015
22
114
Yeah. There really is a sense of clutching at straws with Lamela.

He’s the same as he’s always been. Fantastic off the ball ( apart from the insatiable need to give away free kicks ), but more often than not disappointing with it.

I get why a lot of fans like him, but they really need to let it go. He’s not going to suddenly improve, even if he never gets an injury again.
The number of times he got the ball in promising situations post-lockdown, only to not see the pass (or not be able to execute it) was crazy. Really infuriating. In a way he'd be perfect for Jose - great at taking up great positions in a counter-attacking system (not so good against packed defences) and receiving the ball on the turn - if only he could then play the pass that puts Kane / Son / Moura / Bergwijn / Alli racing through.

But I suppose that's why he's a £10m player and not a £50m player.
 

dagraham

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2005
19,115
46,080
The number of times he got the ball in promising situations post-lockdown, only to not see the pass (or not be able to execute it) was crazy. Really infuriating. In a way he'd be perfect for Jose - great at taking up great positions in a counter-attacking system (not so good against packed defences) and receiving the ball on the turn - if only he could then play the pass that puts Kane / Son / Moura / Bergwijn / Alli racing through.

But I suppose that's why he's a £10m player and not a £50m player.

Yeah agree, but he’s done that throughout his time here, not just recently.
 

Japhet

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2010
19,232
57,392
I'd be quite happy overall to move Lamela on and bring in Brooks or Eze. It's hard not to be sentimental about stuff like this but a decent fee while he's still worth something has to be considered. Same goes for Sissoko. They can both still contribute but they both take up non HG squad spaces where we're struggling. Wouldn't be upset if they stayed either as option number 2 but we do need a refresh (or a 'painful rebuild' as Poch so accurately described it).
 

joey55

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2005
9,675
3,092
I don't get the impression that Lamela, himself, would be too keen on the idea of leaving. To me he looks like he really loves it here. I know he seemed very attached to Roma, but I think he's well and truly over that. I think we'd have to really force his hand to get him to leave and I'm not sure we'd do that.
 
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