Everywhere you go, always take Lamela with you…
…As the innovative chant inspired by Crowded House song ‘Weather With You’ goes.
But Tottenham have not been able to take Erik Lamela anywhere for over a year, after he suffered a hip injury in October 2016. In the 13 months since, Lamela has undergone operations on both hips and become a father for the second time. Impressive.
However, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino confirmed that the Argentine winger is fit and is in the squad to face Leicester with the first team squad for their midweek fixture against the Foxes, much to the delight of Spurs fans.
Tottenham have endured mixed spells of form this season, struggling against teams typically in the bottom half of the table, who tend to sit back and allow Tottenham possession of the ball – drawing against West Brom, Burnley and Swansea.
But contrastingly, they’ve won big games against the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.
All of those matches were at Wembley, their temporary home for the season, which raises the question; if it’s not the ‘Wembley hoodoo’, what do Spurs need to be able to do in order to turn those draws against smaller teams into wins?
That’s where Lamela comes in. No other player in the Spurs squad has a skillset similar to his. Excellent in 1v1 situations, a silky dribbler and possessing an eye for a key pass, the 25-year-old could inject exactly what Spurs are missing at the moment in those stale home matches.
Pochettino has spoken about the necessity of having a player with those skills:
“If we’re playing against teams like Palace, Swansea or Burnley that are playing a lot deeper, you don’t need pace, you need quality – good individual quality one v one; players like Lamela.”
Leicester City could prove to be the perfect example of what Pochettino is talking about. Usually favouring the counter attack, Claude Puel’s side will concede possession to Spurs, looking to hit them on the break and while Son Heung-min, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen are all excellent footballers in their own right, this match should suit Lamela.
Isolating the Leicester full-backs, and drifting into the pockets between Leicester’s midfield and defence, Lamela will be able to run at defenders and free up space for Harry Kane to finish chances.
The need for a wide player who runs at defenders in this Spurs side explains their pursuit of Wilfried Zaha, but they may not need him now that Lamela has returned to fitness. The Lilywhites will just be hoping that double hip surgery has not diminished the winger’s talents.
