The Tottenham winger could find it difficult to get back into the starting line-up.
After 13 months out through injury, Erik Lamela is in contention to return to the Tottenham Hotspur squad for tomorrow’s Premier League game away to Leicester City.
Lamela, who was sidelined with a hip problem, has played just one game at U23 level for Tottenham this season but the winger is set to provide manager Mauricio Pochettino with a useful additional option at an important stage of the campaign as the fixture list becomes increasingly congested.
Initially Lamela will be slowly eased back into action with substitute appearances but eventually, when he has sufficiently built up his fitness, the 25-year-old will be determined to start regularly for Pochettino’s side.
Achieving that aim could prove to be rather difficult, especially given that Pochettino’s current 3-5-2 formation makes use of wing-backs as opposed to natural wingers.
In such a system Lamela would perhaps be best suited to playing in attack alongside Harry Kane, but then he would face a battle for a starting berth with Son Heung-min, and, in any case, playing in that formation may not enable the Argentine to make a major overall impact on games.
Although he has previously played as a support striker or an attacking midfielder on several occasions, it is clear that Lamela is at this best when he is out wide and using his pace and trickery to burst past players.
In all likelihood it would take a tactical switch from Pochettino – a reversion to 4-2-3-1 perhaps – to allow Tottenham’s returning star to be a constant threat to opponents.
It appears that Lamela will have to be patient for chances at first and it will be intriguing to see whether at some stage Pochettino elects to alter his formation to suit his compatriot.
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