Érik Lamela Prepares for His Fourth Season with Tottenham
This upcoming season will be Erik Lamela’s fourth with Tottenham. And with each passing year, the Argentine international continues to get better and better.
Érik Lamela’s journey with Tottenham has been a bumpy one since he first arrived three summers ago from AS Roma. His £30 million price tag (when you include bonuses) made the Argentine winger Spurs’ record signing in 2013.
If his high transfer fee wasn’t enough to put plenty of pressure on a then-21-year-old, then having to step in and immediately fill in a sizable gap left by Gareth Bale’s sale surely did it.
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No matter who the player is, to come in as a replacement for someone such as Bale, who over the years showed that he was clearly Tottenham’s best player, was a daunting task.
Because of Lamela’s two-year stint with Roma since arriving in 2011, where he went on to make 67 appearances, score 21 goals and register 13 assists, it wasn’t surprising that everyone expected good things from him right away.
Unfortunately a few things made Érik Lamela’s debut season difficult. Sustaining a back injury didn’t make things easy as it wiped out almost half of his first year with Tottenham.
But when you add in a language barrier and adjusting to the rigors of the Premier League compared to that of Serie A, this was even more challenging.
It was essentially a difficult period for the Argentine winger.
“I hope he wouldn’t mind me saying it but he probably had a few difficult months when he first came in here, but I think he’s proved the doubters wrong.” Kyle Walker said (via Tottenham’s official site).
After going through his first season, Lamela agrees with Walker. The odds were heavily stacked against him but over time, he eventually found his footing with Tottenham.
"“It was difficult for me in the first year,” Érik Lamela said.“I was injured for a long time but that can happen, it’s football.”“Always my mind was in Tottenham and I knew that my moment would arrive. I was confident in myself, always.”“This is very important, I always trusted in myself and working hard every day was the solution.”"
That determination helped the Argentine winger put in two very good years with Spurs, numbers that are quite comparable to that of his time spent with Roma.
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To make 90 appearances, score 16 goals and have 21 assists while working with Mauricio Pochettino for these past two seasons, shows how the now-24-year-old has become a key member to this young Tottenham team.
Lamela has taken his game to new heights by undergoing quite the transformation ever since he first arrived to north London.
Along with being a major contributor on offense, Érik Lamela has proven to be very good defensively. On match-days you could see him make plenty of challenges for a winger. Something that isn’t uncommon to see, but as Walker points, could be the most in the Premiership.
“I think he’s probably made one of the most amounts of challenges in the Premier League for a winger.” said Kyle Walker.
His aggressive streak actually fits his playing style seeing as how he constantly hustles for the ball if his teammates lose possession or if it he got dispossessed. And while Lamela agrees that he goes after the ball a lot, it’s down to how Pochettino wants his team to play.
"“Yes, but this is the way that the team plays,” Lamela continued.“We fight for everything for the team, we all want the same thing and that is to win.”“I think the team has helped me a lot, I have helped the team also.”“We helped each other last season and all together we pushed in the same way. All we want to do is bring Tottenham up a level and we are trying to do that.”"
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A third place finish seemed like Tottenham fell short of winning the Premier League title, and while that is certainly true. Compared to two years ago, where Spurs finished fifth in the standings, they climbed up by two spots.
It’s progress, from Mauricio Pochettino’s first year to his second year in charge.
This year will be the Argentine’s third season as Tottenham manager, and while it’s too early to tell what will happen, at Spurs’ pace they seem to be trending upwards.