I am, you are, we all are, Erik Lamela

Erik Lamela is a symbol, he is the grand champion sensei master quadruple black belt Karate Kid analogy that we can compare Tottenham to. He is so perfect an analogy that he doesn’t even exist anymore, through sheer osmosis he has been absorbed by you, me, Spurs, Twitter and the universe. Bouncing around us at this very moment are bits of Lamela DNA. He has become one of us.

When Lamela arrived this summer I was a throbbing mass of expectancy. We had lost one player, but we had replaced him with something better, something South American, something Argentinian. Showing my girlfriend an interview of Lamela she swooned at his Argentine lisp, whilst I gazed at him with lust. For a moment we were one in desire.

I consumed anything Lamela related. The Trans World Sport clip of him as an 11 year old, countless YouTube scouting reports and my friend who shares his surname grew in my estimation.

[linequote]We had lost one player, but we had replaced him with something better, something South American, something Argentinian[/linequote]

“We signed Erik Lamela!!” I would often find myself saying as I drew possible Spurs formations in the condensation on my shower door. Spurs had made a Football Manager signing, in my mind, on paper, on Sky and on Twitter, it was amazing.

The words settling in, homesickness and adjusting were put one side. At Spurs we don’t adjust, we just do. He would shine, he is Argentinean and in a world where Leo Messi, Kun Aguero and Ezequiel Lavezzi exist that is as good as being knighted by God wielding Excalibur.  The expectation and the lust were gigantic.

It would be unfair, however, to say I lusted only after Lamela. We had six others who excited me, but it was Lamela that was the centrepiece, he was the one into which all my hopes and expectations had been thrust.

Now though, with the clocks back in BST that lust and excitement has become fear.  I fear for Erik, just as I fear for Spurs.

What will happen to Erik?

His future is just as in the balance as ours. At Spurs we don’t do anything by half. Glory is full ecstasy, misery dining with Satan, even in pure ph7 neutral average-ness we are a giant acidic Twitter/forum/various other pods/blogs meltdown.

But we should not forget there is a man, a young man at the centre of this. All jokes aside.

“Erik. Are you ok? Spurs are you ok?”

Just as Spurs threatened to dazzle this year, so did Erik. A solid start, a platform in place, strong defence, an attack just lacking cohesion, even when we lost to Arsenal, there were enough silver linings to keep our heads up. We had outplayed them, Lamela had played a bit part, but we were so enthralled that we missed the writing being scrawled onto the wall in AVB’s blood.

It is hard to pin point the exact moment of  Tottenham’s downfall and the failure of Lamela to impose himself. Whether the issue was mental or physical it proved big enough for him to allow himself to be marginalised. Footballers are competitive beasts, its in their very nature to prove themselves better than everyone else, but with Lamela that never happened. Life, his body, his mind, us, the coaches or the back room power struggles broke something.

A strong performance against Sheriff in the Europa League looked set to be the start of something wonderful, but in the next game as Spurs lost 1-0 to Newcastle he was deemed surplus to requirements. AVB thought we were strong enough to succeed without him we weren’t, we aren’t.

[linequote]We failed him, he failed himself and us. At critical junctures of every game this season we have failed[/linequote]

However, he was given another chance. Pushed into the spotlight for an away tie at free scoring City, the team crumbled. One nil down after a matter of seconds, six down after 90 minutes. Lamela and Spurs weren’t strong enough. The wheels started to shake, the chassis rattle. We were unravelling around him just as his intergalactic fee pushed him in deeper into the shadows.

Our lack of strength across the pitch, the stands, the training room and the boardroom is something that ended his season. We failed him, he failed himself and us. At critical junctures of every game this season we have failed.

A few more appearances, a start against Southampton then our last glimpse of him at home to Stoke City in 2013. We haven’t seen him this year, it is Easter this week, two religious festivals come and nearly gone without a sighting, we have been left in the dark with no hope of finding the light switch. The rumours surrounding Erik are over the top, but only because the reality is even more fantastical/farcical. 

How can any organisation invest so much into one component only to have it fail so spectacularly in silence? There has been no drinking or womanising, in fact the lack of off-field issues have added fuel to the flaming pyre. We need a reason, we need some serious club-to-fan communication, this, however, has been lacking in areas this season.

[linequote]I still believe that Lamela can come good, talent doesn’t disappear, but the longer we are left in the dark, the more I question his and our mentality[/linequote]

I admit not every transfer in football works but there are generally mitigating reasons, or at least excuses that are given to the fans. With Lamela we have nothing, not even a medical opinion.

I still believe that Lamela can come good, talent doesn’t disappear, but the longer we are left in the dark, the more I question his and our mentality. Is there any other club that can break their own transfer records so regularly with failures or perceived failures?

Whilst we lament how Lamela’s season has stuttered, we should also lament on ours. Our season became just as stop start then as flat-lined as his. A season of false dawns, fleeting moments of glory before transforming into friction across the Tottenham universe. If the fan base is broken, I doubt the boardroom is less fractured.

Another season wasted, one year of a young athlete’s short career expended. I feel for Erik because he is me, you and us. A person let down by outside and inner forces. I cling on to the hope that after a summer of peace Lamela  can rediscover his football and find himself, whilst we and Tottenham find ourselves.

Where is Erik? He is in all of us.