Will Tottenham’s Erik Lamela ever reclaim a starting role?
Injured for over a year, Tottenham’s former record signing, Erik Lamela, has a long road back to try regain his spot in the team’s starting XI.
Erik Lamela, in addition to six other players, joined Tottenham during a chaotic summer that saw talisman Gareth Bale leave for Madrid. It took the Argentinean winger a few seasons to fully adapt to the Premier League, but, before his injury, became a valuable contributor to the team.
Lamela has spent the greater part of two years battling injuries and recurring fitness issues. With that extended spell on the sidelines coming to an end, Lamela will be hard pressed to find substantial playing time in meaningful matches.
In 2015-2016, when Spurs finished the league in third place after doing their utmost to chase down eventual winners Leicester, Lamela was an integral part of the Spurs machine.
His unrelenting pressing and mercurial skill set helped Tottenham become one of the league’s most balanced teams. He scored five goals and added nine assists in 34 league appearances. WhoScored gave him an overall rating of 7.15.
Every Spurs fan should by this point know of the wingers’ quality, which saw him execute a nearly impossible rabona to score in the Europa League in 2014. He also bagged a Europa League hat trick against Monaco and contributed key goals in the Premier League, most notably in Tottenham’s a stunning win against Manchester United in 2016.
Quite possibly the best dribbler in the team, Lamela offers a different style of play to most Spurs attackers.
His tenacious pressing and ability to win the ball back provided an already dangerous attack with extra quality to break on the counter quickly and effectively.
However, the road back to the starting 11 will not be an easy one for Lamela. While on the sidelines recovering, Dele Alli has emerged as one of the top talents in the world, cementing his place in the team. Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-Min are also way above him in the pecking order, so much so that it now seems difficult to make a case for the Argentine.
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With the cluttered Christmas schedule fast approaching and a few key players picking up niggling injuries, Lamela’s imminent return may come at the perfect time for his Tottenham renaissance.
In his time at Spurs, Lamela has earned his stripes as a fan favourite. But he’s got a lot of making up to do, so let’s hope, once he regains match fitness, the same player who heavily influenced proceedings before his injury returns to that awe-inspiring form.