Player Watch: Erik Lamela

[SlotBadger]

So now it's everyone else's fault he didn't shine in PL? Come on I love the bloke gave us some superb moments and some ridiculous goals but overall he was below the required standard for us and never consistently performed in 7 years I get you all love him because he called Wilshere a pussy but I'm being honest about his ability in PL

Not blaming anyone. Just highlighting how the style of Spanish football should suit him more. Not many of our players being quick-thinking, one-touch types doesn’t take anything away from their ability in other areas, which better suit our style of play.

 

[the yid]

Yeah that's right. Spursy yeah? Maybe he's just in a weaker league.

This! Less aggressive, slower pace, less physical well suited to Lamela.

 

[the yid]

Not blaming anyone. Just highlighting how the style of Spanish football should suit him more. Not many of our players being quick-thinking, one-touch types doesn’t take anything away from their ability in other areas, which better suit our style of play.

Ok I misunderstood what you said. His ability is very well suited to La Liga and struggled in PL a lot of good players do.

 

[dtxspurs]

Check the one-touch passing to create this goal. We only had a couple of players who’d regularly play such passes without taking an extra (needless) touch.

Ironic because he was often the one who was taking too many touches before making a pass here.

 

[nedley]

Ahhh Lopi.

If only...

 

[stuffies]

Thanks coco.....glad you moved now

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

What a signing!

 

[h2005]

Loved him, wish him only the best!

 

[nickspurs]

Love Lamela!

Also hope we got them to agree to the right footed goal add-ons for £2m each…

 

[0-Tibsy-0]

BRING HIM BACK

 

[sausage]

joint top La Liga scorer.

3 goals
3 goals per 90
3 shots
100% shot accuracy
100% goal conversion rate.

 

[chrissivad]

Glad he is doing well, hopefully it's a more suited league and he can stay fit

 

[ralvy]

Yeah that's right. Spursy yeah? Maybe he's just in a weaker league.

haha, calm down, I wasn't being serious. If you may recall, quite a few times Lamela started the season for us in that type of form, only for him to pick yet another injury around the 7th season match or so.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

You'd be guessing badly, though. Tangaga has only played 12 games in the PL, and has one less yellow than Aurier:
(ref https://www.premierleague.com/players?se=418&cl=21)

Looks roughly like this

Dier: 202 games, 36 yellows
Alderweireld: 174 games, 19 yellows (had to subtract Southampton stats)
Davies: 219 games, 27 yellows
Davinson: 101 games, 10 yellows
Tanganga: 12 games, 3 yellows
Aurier: 77 games, 4 yellows
Rodon: 12 games, 0 yellows
Reguilion: 27 games, 5 yellows
Doherty: 17 games, 2 yellows


Aurier probably has one of the lowest per-game, behind Rodon

Stats 'per game' generally gives an extremely distorted view compared to 'per minute' / 'per 90 minutes'.

Minutes per yellow card:
Lo Celso - 225
Lamela - 290
Tanganga - 297
Doherty - 311
Winks - 312
Hojbjerg - 360
Bergwijn - 416
Sissoko - 456
Skipp - 467
Dier - 472
Reguilon - 486
Ndombele - 519
Dele - 541
Davies - 571
Kane - 726
Moura - 767
Sanchez - 779 (+ 1x straight red)
Aurier - 788 (strange that anyone thought he gets loads of yellows)
Son - 3325 (+ 3x straight red)

To add a bit of context, here's some of our past players from the modern era:
Palacios - 241
Sandro - 257
Wanyama - 272 (+ 1x straight red)
Rose - 296 (+ 2x straight red)
Dembele - 476
Walker - 495
Vertonghen - 530
Bale - 802 (+ 1x straight red)
Alderweireld - 806
Modric - 893
Lennon - 2165
King - 2888 (outrageous stat for a CB)

@sausage & @TheTanguy you haven't counted the occasions players received 2x yellow (and therefore a red) in a single game, whereas I have. I know that ends up getting counted as a red officially, rather than 2x yellow, but in the context of this debate it gives false impressions of players.
For example, Aurier has been shown 8 yellow cards and Doherty 4, which is double what your figures reflect - leading to them being shown as far less rash than they actually are.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I'm really pleased it's working out well for him. Hopefully he can resurrect his international career in time for the World Cup.

 

[Spartan Spurs]

Bravo Erik. Long may your good fortune continue.
The passion & work ethic was never a question.

 

[glacierSpurs]

Given time and space, I have no doubt he will do very well there. Just I have no idea why we couldn't start him and play him for 90 minutes more often - players only get better playing instead being so protective over their fitness. He never got better in fitness in fact since AVB with those start-stop regiment from the various managers. Was kinda frustrating even when he was deemed fit or back from injury.

 

[CoopsieDeadpool]

Really miss him

Absolutely. And looking at the celebration for his goal, he's already a massively popular part of their squad.

Would love it if he's brought back in some capacity when his playing days are over. His work ethic & attitude is clearly contagious and would absolutely rub off onto others.

 

[E17yid]

I don’t think the league was ever his problem it was injuries. I suppose you could argue his injuries were only that bad coz of the intensity of the league but we’ll never know.

Lamela actually thrived with the fast paced nature of the Prem, he struggled more against teams that parked the bus and slowed the tempo down. When he had more time on the ball he could sometimes make frustrating decisions but when acting on instinct at a faster pace he invariably made the right call.

Shame as I reckon if we could’ve just got 1 or 2 injury (ish) free seasons from him he would’ve been an integral part of the first team but instead just proved to be a very useful squad player for us which isn’t to be sniffed at. Not at all surprised to se him doing well while he’s injury free. I think he’d do well in most leagues around the world.

 

[dontcallme]

I don’t think the league was ever his problem it was injuries. I suppose you could argue his injuries were only that bad coz of the intensity of the league but we’ll never know.

Lamela actually thrived with the fast paced nature of the Prem, he struggled more against teams that parked the bus and slowed the tempo down. When he had more time on the ball he could sometimes make frustrating decisions but when acting on instinct at a faster pace he invariably made the right call.

Shame as I reckon if we could’ve just got 1 or 2 injury (ish) free seasons from him he would’ve been an integral part of the first team but instead just proved to be a very useful squad player for us which isn’t to be sniffed at. Not at all surprised to se him doing well while he’s injury free. I think he’d do well in most leagues around the world.

One thing I noticed early in Lamela's career was how often he would try dribbling and get tackled instantly.

I wonder if the tackling or maybe use of the rules around challenges are a bit different and he was seen as a better dribbler in Italy.