Erik Lamela Reveals His Only Tottenham Hotspur Regret

Written By Jacobs Dunga

Erik Lamela spoke to Tom Roddy of The Times about his time at Tottenham Hotspur where he spent eight years before moving to Sevilla over the summer.

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Lamela arrived in London in August 2013 as one of the famous “Bale Seven”, theey were the players brought in from the money generated gained from the transfer of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in 2013.

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The 29-year-old Argentine arrived for a fee that rose to around £30m from AS Roma where he scored 21 goals in 67 appearances in two seasons.

The River Plate of Argentina youth product arrived North London amidst a huge fanfare and he told Tom Roddy about his first impression on arriving at White Hart Lane.

“I remember [the Bale Seven]. It was a new project, with a lot of new players. Some of them I spent many years with, like Christian [Eriksen]. I was the last one!

He remembers fondly his time under Mauricio Pochettino and how missing out on appearing in the Champions League final still hurts him till date. “The era with Pochettino I can say was the best, no? From when Mauricio arrived, the first season maybe wasn’t the best but after that we got better and better. We were always very close to the top of the league, second or third. I enjoyed every season there but to reach the Champions League final [in 2019] was a big success for the club.”

On the Champions League final snub, he said:“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’t feel good.

“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’d brought the club 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 final there was a big pressure on the team to do well and to always get better.

Pochettino was sacked a few months after the final showpiece, a move that hit Lamela by surprise after only learning of it on Twitter.

“We didn’t expect it. He did an amazing job to bring the club to such a high position, to qualify for the Champions League for many years in a row and always in a position to win something. The way 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.”

Lamela appeared a total 257 times for Tottenham Hotspur scoring 37 goals in eight seasons before departing for Sevilla.

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The Sevilla midfielder when asked about Jose Mourinho who lasted just seventeen months at the helm after replacing Pochettino refused to criticize the Portuguese coach but instead praised his mentality.

“[Mourinho] is an amazing coach. His mentality is amazing. He tried his best for the club — I can say that because it’s the truth. I know how hard he worked for Tottenham, he was a great guy as well and I enjoyed the time with him.

“When the managers go you feel bad because the feeling is that the team is not doing amazing. Of course we all have a responsibility of when the team wins and when the team loses. Those moments don’t feel good.”

He does still hold Spurs firmly in his heart and advised the fans to be patient with the current crop of players. “They have a very good team, a lot of young players. They changed a lot of the team since I was there and it’s a new project and sometimes new projects need a lot 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 great squad, a lot of potential and, in the future, is going to be better.”

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