VIDEO: Lamela vs FC Sheriff - fans shown the missing ingedients

Is it coincidence that Spurs flew over Erik Lamela's family last week to help him settle and this week he gives a performance which could be the turning point of his Spurs career. You would assume he wanted to put on a display for them and he did so bringing them over may have been just what the doctor ordered.

Apart from everything else he did the goal clearly lifted a huge weight off his shoulders. As a reader pointed out he missed a penalty in the penalty shoot out against Hull City in the League Cup so to notch his first goal helped him to blow away any doubt.

His celebration told me a lot, it was extended, it was grateful, it was a yes I've done it moment, which all shouted that he has been having problems and feeling the pressure. Not surprising when he is in a new country and despite speaking both Spanish and Italian, which Andre Villas-Boas speaks by the way, can't communicate with most of his teammates or any shopkeeper. The Brazilians in our squad I assume speak Portuguese, the dominant language in Brazil so even they are different.

With that performance under his belt he and we hope he will kick on and soon be taking his place in the Premier League. He spoke recently saying;

"When I said recently that I would be capable of making the difference here, I said it because I believe in myself. I came here to give the team what they need. I will bring what I can and hope to do well. The game felt good. Every time I play, I feel I play better, so it was great experience, great to win game in front of fans."

"It means that Tottenham were prepared to go the extra mile to get me, so I want to show them what I can do, for benefit of team. The size of the transfer fee is a good thing for me. The transfer fee is no pressure for me, because when I went to Roma in 2011, they paid quite a lot to bring me from River Plate. Everyone can bring his own qualities and give his best for the team but it is wrong to say I was brought here to replace BALE. People have said many things about me and about the other players who joined last summer."

His performance in the near 10 minute video below in the first 2 minutes highlights something we have been missing from out play. He gets the ball commits an opponent before laying the ball off, he doesn't dwell but looks for a quick pass, he looks to pass into the box, he wants to pass forward, he runs at and beats players and he runs diagonally at the penalty area instead of parallel to it, he wants to get in the box all the time.
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As Gordon Strachan said at half-time he is getting fouled which is a good thing it shows he is taking men on, he is a danger. Les Ferdinand said we need to get the ball to our wide men who need to stretch the defence to create gaps we can pass into.
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He has created and put in a decent performance before in the Europa league at White Hart Lane but apart from his 15 minute cameo against Cardiff where he created a goal his away performances have been well below par.

This performance now gives him a stepping stone to produce another but the next Europa League game is not until the 28th so whilst he may not start between now and then, he should be on the subs bench and he should get on the field again while his confidence is high. That would be sensible management especially against Man City at the Etihad Stadium where the pitch is large and will afford him more space.





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