Tottenham fans on Twitter have suggested that they want Erik Lamela through that White Hart Lane exit door as soon as possible after his first few performances of the season.
How do you solve a problem like Lamela? After investing 30m over 2 years ago & not cutting it for 3 managers I’d suggest (sadly) cut losses
— Paul O Keefe (@pokeefe1) August 17, 2015
This will be Lamela’s third season at Tottenham Hotspur since his record move to North London for £30m from Roma in 2013, and hasn’t lived up to his price tag in the first two seasons.
However, his first season development was hindered by injury, that kept him out for long periods of time in the 2013/14 season, effectively making the 2014/15 season his first proper campaign.
Lamela certainly developed as a player last season, and his performances improved noticeably in his first season without long-term injury and under Mauricio Pochettino. We compared his stats PER GAME in the 2013/14 season to his stats in certain areas.
Stat: 13/14 season/ 14/15 season
Successful Passes: 15.89/28.21
Pass Completion: 80%/83%
Key Passes: 0.56/1.61
Chances Created: 0.67/1.82
Tackles Won: 0.89/1.97
Tackles Lost: 2.11/2.21
Assists (Whole Season): 1/7
As you can see there, Lamela’s performances and stats have improved dramatically from one season to the next, but you then ask the question, how do these stats compare to the best midfielders at our club? Well, in fact they compare quite well to left winger Nacer Chadli, who was probably the third or fourth best player on the pitch for Tottenham last campaign. Here are their stats per game.
Stat: Erik Lamela 14/15/ Nacer Chadli 14/15
Successful Passes: 28.21/25.37
Pass Completion: 83%/83%
Key Passes: 1.61/1.03
Chances Created: 1.82/1.17
Tackles Won: 1.97/0.66
Tackles Lost: 2.21/0.71
Assists (Whole Season): 7/5
As you can see from the stats above that Lamela has outperformed Nacer Chadli in most of those areas, and one thing you could say it that the Argentine could be a little stronger going into tackles, and that is all. The only thing that the Belgian runs away with is his goals tally, Chadli scoring 11 league goals compared to Lamela’s two.
I have mentioned before that Lamela’s first season at Spurs was somewhat injury hit, with the winger being out for the majority of the season after Christmas with a back injury, so discounting that season, the 14/15 campaign was his first real chance to adapt to Premier League football. Now he has a second full season ahead of him, and he should excel more.
Should Tottenham keep Lamela for at least one more season? Yes, I think they should.
