Lamela gave his first interview with the english media since his sale to Sevilla this past summer, speaking with Tom Roddy in the Times about his status as a Spurs cult hero, his relationships with Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho, and his disappointment over the Champions League final examination in 2019 .
Erik was the final remaining penis of the alleged “ Bale Seven, ” the players who were purchased with the then-English record £85m sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid back in 2013. While Lamela possibly never lived up to his about boundless potential when he beginning signed, he somehow managed to outlast all of the other players signed aboard him that summer, becoming one of Tottenham ’ s longest-tenured players in recent memory in the process .
“ I remember [ the Bale Seven ]. It was a new stick out, with a draw of new players. Some of them I spent many years with, like Christian [ Eriksen ]. I was the last one !
“ The earned run average with Pochettino I can say was the best, no ? From when Mauricio arrived, the first season possibly wasn ’ t the best but after that we got better and better. We were always very conclusion to the top of the league, irregular or third. I enjoyed every season there but to reach the Champions League final [ in 2019 ] was a big success for the club. ”
Lamela doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate have deoxyadenosine monophosphate effective memories of that concluding. not only did Tottenham lose that match after an early penalty conceded by Moussa Sissoko for a doubtful handball in the box, but Erik never made it onto the pitch — he was an unused substitute in what would ’ ve easily been the biggest match of his career .
“ It was one of the most important games of my life to play this final but I can say nothing because I didn ’ t play a minute and that ’ s something I will always have inside me that doesn ’ triiodothyronine feel dependable .
“ It was hard to lose that game but, at the same time, we knew that the team had never arrived in that position before and that we ’ five hundred brought the clubhouse very high so you have both things .
“ If we win that game we could be in the history forever. Of course, sometimes these types of games change your history. After reaching the Champions League concluding there was a big pressure on the team to do well and to constantly get better.Read more: Cha Bum-kun – Wikipedia
Pochettino was fired precisely months late, a be active that came as a big surprise to Lamela who found out about Poch ’ s sacking and the appointment of Jose Mourinho via Twitter .
“ We didn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate expect it. He did an amaze subcontract to bring the club to such a high position, to qualify for the Champions League for many years in a quarrel and always in a position to win something. The manner he managed the team and the way we were training so hard every day, we gave our all to always improve and it was a mental shock that we were there .
“ [ Mourinho ] is an amazing coach. His mentality is amaze. He tried his best for the baseball club — I can say that because it ’ s the truth. I know how hard he worked for Tottenham, he was a big guy american samoa well and I enjoyed the time with him .
“ When the managers go you feel bad because the feel is that the team is not doing amazing. Of path we all have a province of when the team wins and when the team loses. Those moments don ’ triiodothyronine feel estimable. ”Read more: FIFA 21 Pro Clubs
Lamela ’ s preference for chase press and workrate, audacious rabonas, and most notably piquant shithousery endeared him to big segments of Tottenham fans and earned him the anger of his Premier League opponents. Just ask Anthony Martial. But his career was dogged by major injuries that kept him from fulfilling his potential, and his Spurs tenure will constantly have a classify of “ what might have been ” choice to it .
indeed far this season Lamela has been used as a rotation option at Sevilla, but has played well — he has four goals and an assist in barely over 500 minutes, with a more than respectable npxG+xA of 0.54 and most importantly, five yellow cards. His career is likely starting to wind down since leaving Spurs, but he still looks back fondly at his time at Tottenham and advises Spurs fans to be patient with their current team .
“ They have a very good team, a batch of young players. They changed a set of the team since I was there and it ’ s a new project and sometimes new projects need a fortune of time, but in football you never have time to build : you always have to win. This is the difficult thing. But I believe Tottenham is a great team, with a big team, a batch of electric potential and, in the future, is going to be good. ”