Now it?s not hard to see that Erik Lamela has struggled in the start of his Tottenham career, his below par performances in the Premier League have left some fans wondering whether the ?30 million man was a waste of money. The 21 year old has been limited to 4 appearances in the league this season and all have been substitute appearances, so to be criticising him and jumping on his back at this early stage I believe is unfair.
His best Spurs games have come in the Europa League and in particular their most recent one against Sheriff, he not only bagged himself a goal but he also won a penalty for Jermaine Defoe?s penalty which put Defoe to number 1 in Spurs? all time European top goal scorers list. Lamela look very relaxed but confident in the game which helped his performance excel, his dribbling in the game was exceptional and ended up being fouled on 7 occasions, and this was a small glimpse of what was to come for Tottenham fans.
Lamela is only 21 years of age and speaks very little English, this language barrier and the fact that he hasn?t had his family around for a couple of months has been one of the factors that he hasn?t lived up to expectation.
When he spoke to SpursTV he said ?I would say that?s the main part of my settling in, training with the team. I think it?s essential to be able to communicate in English. It?s essential to be able to talk to my teammates & for my personal life. It?s important that I learn the language.?
In the coming months I have no doubt that Lamela will be a much more confident and this will bring better performances and quite possibly get him a place in the starting line-up, well if he?s able to keep a certain Andros Townsend out the side.
Source: DSG
Source: DSG