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Ahead of kick-off, Lamela exchanged words with Harry Kane, the conversation presumably over how many ballrolls the Argentine would achieve over the course of the night.
The two forwards, joined by Dele Alli and Heung-min Son in Tottenham’s front four, would combine early on, a Kane pass eventually alluding Serge Aurier out on the right-hand side.
The good and bad of Erik Lamela was on full display within eight minutes. The 29-year-old dispossessed a Dinamo player deep inside his own half before receiving the ball again, failing to release a pass and squandering possession.
Alongside Kane’s love affairs with Son and Bale, Lamela’s appreciation for his left foot and his left foot only is almost admirable at this stage. The Argentine is incredibly dependant on his favoured foot, with his dribbling and incessant hunger for possession allowing him to remain a successful tool for Jose Mourinho.
His Portuguese head coach cited his admiration for the player last month, with the disorderly manner in which Lamela goes about his business praised by Mourinho.
“I just want to confirm, a good Lamela I love. You are right. He is the kind of player that I like very much.
“The first thing I like about him is he wants to play. He wants to assume responsibility. He never hides. He wants the ball. He’s a little bit sometimes chaotic, but it’s a positive reason to be chaotic because it’s, ‘I want to play, I want the ball, if the ball is not arriving to me I have to arrive to the ball’.”
This insistence for the ball proved influential in Spurs’ opener.
The goal was classic Lamela. He received the ball on the half-turn, pushed a player to the ground before scanning his forward options.
Six consecutive touches with his left foot followed during his foray into the box, before he chopped inside of his man and even when the ball presented itself for a right-footed finish, Lamela poked towards goal at an awkward angle with his left. The ball would cannon off the Dinamo post and fall fortunately for Kane, who made no mistake from close range.
As everyone clambered to congratulate Kane on the goal, Serge Aurier went straight to Lamela.
On Thursday night, the winger’s positioning allowed the right-back to establish himself as one of Tottenham’ primary attacking threats. Drifting in from the right-hand side, whilst pressing relentlessly across the forward line, Lamela both combined with the Ivorian and created space for him to attack.
The ‘Gareth Bale replacement’ was named as the only change in the front three from Sunday’s win against Crystal Palace as the Welshman’s minutes continue to be managed as expected. Despite the rotation, Lamela’s impact was positive throughout his 65 minutes on a cold evening in N17.
Coco though. pic.twitter.com/Qu0Nr64iuf
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 11, 2021
As Dinamo attempted to counter after clearing a Son corner, Mislav Orsic picked the wrong man to attempt to run away from. Lamela chased him down, amidst screams of ‘come on Coco’ from Mourinho and assistant Joao Sacramento on the sidelines, to win the ball cleanly and halt any danger.
The winger matches Mourinho’s intensity from the dugout and often sets the tone for Spurs’ pressing. If there is a Tottenham player never in need of extra encouragement from the sidelines to win back the ball it’s the former Roma man.
Having been a part of this squad since leaving Italy in 2013, the Argentine international is an established member of the side. His longevity puts him into the ‘not afraid to moan at Harry Kane’ bracket and the England captain was in his firing line when blazing a shot into the second tier of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium late in the first half.
Lamela squandered a chance himself in the second period after a Ben Davies cross, the former River Plate youngster’s obsession with fighting for possession prompting him to chest the ball and battle for an opening rather than heading towards goal.
There is a tendency in Lamela’s game to receive the ball in dangerous areas, which inevitably leads to mistakes, but his desire to win the ball back cannot be questioned. He averages almost 20 pressures per 90 minutes of action and ranks in the 97th percentile for tackles made when compared with other attacking midfielders and wingers.
The stats display a simple analysis of Lamela’s attributes. His ‘chaotic’ style means he presses, tackles and when receiving possession always aims to drive Tottenham up the pitch. Completing dribbles into the final third and consistently progressing possession enables him to add value to Mourinho’s squad.
As Alli and Son presented an option to run in behind the backline of Dinamo, Lamela dropped deeper in pockets of space ready on the half-turn to take his first touch forward and launch an attack.
His industrious performance would end twenty minutes in the second half when Mourinho utilised the five subs rule in the Europa League by swapping three of his front four at the same time, a view on Sunday’s north London derby fresh in his mind.
Five minutes later, Tottenham netted their second of the evening. With Harry Kane in his current form, the Dinamo defence could not afford a mistake. Unfortunately for the Croatian champions, former Cardiff defender Kevin Theophile-Catherine provided exactly that.
From an Aurier cross, the centre-back failed to clear. The ball fell straight to the feet of Kane, who chopped back onto his right, feinted to open a gap and fired the ball through the legs of the defender and low past Livakovic to double the lead.
Whilst Kane rightly grabbed headlines, the Tottenham striker described as ‘a master of football’ by Dinamo coach Zoran Mamic, Lamela’s performance was applauded by fans.
Amongst jeers about his constant ballrolls and obsession with using his left foot, Spurs fans appreciated his constant commitment on Thursday evening. The Argentine contributed to a 2-0 aggregate lead which provides his team a fantastic chance of reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Bale, Son and Kane may be the idyllic front three for Tottenham, but Lamela will undoubtedly have a part to play in this relentless season.
Mourinho loves ‘a good Lamela’ and the Argentine’s performance against Dinamo Zagreb matched exactly that description.
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