It's funny, I was doing some digging around at lunchtime to see exactly how Lamela stacked up in his 822 minutes last year. That's not a lot. But he was finally fit for possibly the first time ever at Spurs, definitely the first time since the 2015-16 season. And the actual numbers are very, very interesting.
Coco:
2.2 shots per 90, 1.8 key passes per 90, 0.20 non-penalty goals per 90, 0.39 non-penalty expected goals per 90, 0.20 assists per 90, 0.20 expected assists per 90, 0.49 build up expected goals per 90.
Anyone out there with similar numbers?
Not really on Spurs. He didn't fit the same boxes as Dele, Christian, or Son. But there is a player at another top-4 club who has rather similar numbers, by the name of Roberto Firmino. You may have heard of him.
Lamela scores more, and contributes more in build-up, but shoots a little less and seems to create slightly less directly. Both are well-documented pressing machines.
The idea of using Coco as a sort of false 9/creative forward in an interchanging attack might be a smart option to back up Kane, as opposed to looking for someone similar..
I think the Chelsea away match showed how that could work, and I'd like to see more of it.