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Player Watch: Erik Lamela

jezz

Well-Known Member
Aug 21, 2013
5,650
8,650
With Poch and his intensive training gone this could be a blessing for Lamela.
We might see a different player.
 

Mark_147

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2011
1,807
3,019
He should be back for the 28th.
Mourinho said yesterday that "we need Lamela back as soon as possible, Ndombele is a small problem and should be back for the xmas period" . No return date was given for Lamela.
 

ralvy

AVB my love
Jun 26, 2012
2,505
4,603
Just nice Son will be out for him to take the place. But you are advised to remain pessimistic.

I was reading the official site's Team News ahead of tomorrow's game, and after them stating how Son will be missing three matches, I misread the next bit as: These are good news on Erik Lamela, though, as the attacking midfielder has commenced integration into first team training following a hamstring problem.

But the official site actually said There, not These. Probably my desire of watching Lamela play again was playing tricks on my mind.

Anyway, reading that Erik is about to return is the only Christmas gift I really needed. So I will be cheering for that tonight at midnight! Merry Christmas to all Erik Lamela fans out there... well, if there are still any left. :D
 

ralvy

AVB my love
Jun 26, 2012
2,505
4,603
We should serouisly consider the possibility of selling him. What's the point of having him when we can't rely on him even for half a season.

It obviously will be on Daniel's mind, it will depend on whether Mou also wants to sell and whether they can find any buyers.
 

mano-obe

Well-Known Member
Mar 2, 2005
4,238
7,518
Whenever Lamela leaves us I will always look back in a peculiar way. On his day he is brilliant, the manic pressing and getting stuck in, his skill and odd eye for the goal, but in a blink he's gone for 2-4 months at a time for some injury or another

I always thought he would take it up a notch but it never materialised
 

doctor stefan Freud

the tired tread of sad biology
Sep 2, 2013
15,170
72,169
Whenever Lamela leaves us I will always look back in a peculiar way. On his day he is brilliant, the manic pressing and getting stuck in, his skill and odd eye for the goal, but in a blink he's gone for 2-4 months at a time for some injury or another

I always thought he would take it up a notch but it never materialised
I really like Lamela as a player but he frequently suffers injuries, rarely during games but often in match warm ups and training. I’d move him on as soon as we can
 

SUIYHA

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2017
1,723
8,579
Let's say we had a player who was fit the entire time, and when he played well his best games were as good as Lamela's best games were, with a similar total goals + assists tally over the full season, but in the other games, he was absolutely useless and offered nothing.

Everyone would want this player out of the club. And the reality is, a player who cannot get onto the pitch is no more useful than a crap player that has the odd good game here and there. Gus Poyet was almost 34 years old when he joined a far weaker Spurs side than the one Lamela has spent his time playing in, yet he scored more goals for us over a much shorter period of time than Lamela has. Nacer Chadli who joined in the same window as Lamela has only scored one goal less despite leaving three and a half years ago. Yes I get that Lamela also offers "the press", chips in with some assists and some half-decent set-piece delivery, but you get my point - it's nowhere near enough to justify him taking a place in the senior squad when the Premier League and Champions League limit numbers of how many we can register.

If during the time he was fit, he was absolutely exceptional and transformed us into an entirely different proposition as a team, then it's a different story altogether. Think Ledley King with our defence, Van Persie at Arsenal, or Marco Reus with Dortmund. In those instances, it's worth keeping a star player like that on board for limited numbers of games because you have an ace up your sleeve when he gets fit. But even when he is available, Lamela is far from a guaranteed starter. And given his injury record, that's just unacceptable.

I quite like the guy as a character, but if he can't prove an ability to stay fit then his time here is up - we should be looking for a replacement already.
 
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mark87

Well-Known Member
Nov 29, 2004
36,030
114,051
Mourinho was always going to love Erik, he'll love his never say die attitude and 100% commitment to the club and team.
 

ShayLaB

Well-Known Member
Dec 8, 2006
1,510
1,689
An old cynic might say Erik knows how to play the system; knows how to get on the boss's good side from the start.

Good on him though.
 
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