The reason that he has not "lived" up to his £30million price tag is simple, poor integration.
I have read numerous articles on the youngster but I feel it is time that I put my opinion out there (that is obviously the right one haha).
Look at the successful integration of foreign talents in the EPL starting from the likes of Drogba who had a poor first season (some considered his 16 league goals as exceptionally poor), however he was played regularly and became one of the most prolific scorers of recent times. Henry was brought into the Arsenal squad as a left-winger from Juve and struggled to score in his first few games. It took Henry 8 games to get onto the score sheet, but he went on to score 17 goals in his debut season. The Italian league is a very defensive league and Henry was ineffective there, so for a player like Lamela who was success in Serie A, you would expect him to be a success in the Premier League.
The issue for a youngster is how he is integrated into a team. Like with Soldado you must play to his strengths to build his confidence, once the player has settled in then ask him to play to your needs. He is used to playing as an attacking right midfielder and with injuries to our wingers I cannot see why Lennon and Lamela are not being used on either wing to start each game.
Games are what helps’ players (especially young players) to settle in. His family joining him in London will help dramatically and now I can see that we are in a position to help him flourish with a large support network.
Against Man Utd do I expect Sherwood to start him? No, but he should do. Cristiano Ronaldo played 29 league games in his first season and scored 4 goals, but look at what he has become.
What I am trying to say is that he must be thrown in at the deep end, but natured whilst he is there. We all remember how Gareth Bale started and he is another one of the current Galactico's, but started life at Tottenham under a dark cloud.
If Lamela was allowed to make a loan move he would be throwing himself back to square one. I realise that the player wants a World Cup spot, but why risk that for starting from the beginning with a new club? Erik's brother Brian has said that he will stay and I am certain that is the case. Why leave now? He may not of thought at the time that he wanted to leave Roma, but he has the chance to prove himself on a huge stage now and become the player that came with his price tag. Most importantly he can walk in the footsteps of previous Spurs legend’s Ardilies and Villa.
Greatness is not something that you learn or can be taught you are born with it. From a young age Lamela was known to the footballing world and it is for this very reason why we must now drop him into the deep end. We cannot let this bright spark die out by not playing him. Constant games will bring this player back to where he should be.
It is imperative to our team as well as him. Why waste this opportunity? We have made this mistake in the past and we only have to go back a few years with Boateng to see what giving up to quickly costs you. Also look at Kaboul and how quickly we brought him back? The difference is neither of those players had the pedigree or skill of this young man.
At the age of 21 he needs some stability, so let's give it to him and give him what he needs to get back to the level he was at in Serie A. He has only made eight starts and one of these was a game that he may not have been ready for, but it’s a good learning curve.
Come on Tim you love to see the attacking football, you love us to use our pace, so why not have Lennon on the left and Lamela on the right against Utd, what have we go to lose? We can then put Eriksen and Dembele in the middle and that completes our midfield. With the likes of Ade and Soldado up front we have all the pace and strength we need to push Utd all the way.
Lamela has to start and be in the starting 11 regularly now or we will waste his enormous potential.
Any that disagree that he is not ready or is not capable of competing etc just look at the league he came from and the level he was playing at, it's just been poor integrating. No one can fault the youngster’s commitment and we have all seen him training by himself to improve and show that he will do anything to force his way in.
Look at it this way would you rather have Sigurdsson who narrows our midfield completely and opens the left hand side up? Or would you rather have two natural wingers on the pitch? Again for me it's common sense, a no brainer!
COYS and Come On Erik Lamela!
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