Waiting on Erik
The hate some of our support have for Spurs players is ridiculous. Hate opposition players with all your heart but aiming the same type of abuse towards our own? Really? Well, let's be honest, this has nothing to do with football and has everything to do with the type of person you are. I remember Carrick at Spurs, constant abuse when he first arrived just because he was West Ham or because the idiots behind me couldn't grasp the subtly of his play and his influence.
With Lamela, because of the price we paid (not his fault granted) and the expectations post-Bale, he was under the microscope more than others. To be honest, you'll need one to see him - the kid hasn't bulked up at all since joining us. His brilliance has been in pockets of play. Can't dispute he doesn't graft but then what exactly is he meant to be doing for us? What's his role? His identity in the team? He remains overly enthusiastic and isolated from the type of player many of us expect based on his role at Roma.
He has to be more natural, expressive than always attempting to shoehorn his football. Spurs is hardly the best place for him considering the numerous positional issues we have with our sides structure. Add to it the unnerving reality that Franco Baldini signed him because he did the same thing from River Plate to Roma. Daniel Levy's new poster boy can't stay plastered on the wall. Most of Franco's signings have been sold on. It's an omen that even Gregory Peck would run away from.
When the likes of Townsend (an academy player, one of our own) gets destroyed and laughed at by many of our supporters do you really expect less when watching a £30M player struggle to impose himself on the English game? I guess we need targets, ones that we can relate to and players that are either inconsistent or deeply flawed pretty much reflect the club and the state we've been in for over 20 years.
I want Erik to be a success, but much like Soldado, there is nothing currently to suggest he will be. I'll keep on supporting and hoping but some of our fanbase simply skip the wishy washy dreamy stuff and just give up altogether (it's the easier option, it allows for scapegoating and 8/10 times you'll likely to be right).
Hate is a strong word. They probably don't really hate Lamela. They (we) just hate the fact that we're made to feel so despondent so much of the time.