Roberto Soldado's Winner Fails to Mask Spurs Desperate Need for Erik Lamela

The old adage teaches us that "winning cures everything."

In the case of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon in their 1-0 win over Swansea City, achieving their second win of the season did not cure the transfer blues surrounding a White Hart Lane crowd that was decked out in their traditional white. 

With the Gareth Bale saga reaching its inevitable end sometime in the next few days, and a surprise denial by Brazilian playmaker Willian hitting the club hard this week, manager Andre Villas-Boas opted to start Andros Townsend and Nacer Chadli on the wings of a 4-3-3 with Roberto Soldado up front.

Soldado did what was asked of him in the 58th minute as he converted his second penalty kick of the season, which is a sight that is still new to Spurs fans after their lack of penalties taken last season.

In the victory, Soldado's play was not the issue at hand, but the play of Townsend and Chadli was.

Townsend was awarded a start by Villas-Boas after his impressive performance in Georgia on Thursday against Dinamo Tbilisi in the UEFA Europa League.

The 22-year-old ended up taking charge of the right wing in the first half, but after he was wrongfully denied a penalty late in the first stanza, his play dropped off a bit.

Before Soldado was able to convert the penalty and guide Spurs to the win, Townsend did his best Bale impression as he was wrongfully awarded a penalty for his dive—a decision which was surely influenced by the failure to make the first decision correctly.

While Townsend had a direct impact on the result of the match, Chadli failed to be a consistent performer in the attack, which led plenty of critics to speculate on what the club needs before the transfer window officially shuts its doors on September 2.

That answer was supposed to come in the form of Willian, but after the last-second theatrics by Jose Mourinho and Chelsea, Spurs are now forced to go all in to bring in rumored target Erik Lamela from Roma.

Lamela has a left foot that could rival Bale on his best day, and with the need to find a talented winger to accompany left-back Danny Rose on the flank, Spurs have no choice but to make sure that the 21-year-old Argentinian calls North London his home sooner rather than later.

Tottenham do have a few other internal options on the wing with Aaron Lennon and Gylfi Sigurdsson, both of whom were left out of the starting 11 after the opening weekend win over Crystal Palace seven days ago.

Lennon and Sigurdsson are quality players in their own right, but they are not dynamic playmakers like Lamela, and there is no doubt that Villas-Boas would love to have another star in his matchday squad ahead of an outside chase at the EPL title.

The first two victories of the season have begun the changing of the guard at Tottenham, but with the impending departure of Bale, to complete that change, Spurs must introduce one more playmaker, whether it be Lamela or someone else, as the season ramps up with its usual hectic and unpredictable pace.

Do Tottenham need to go all in and sign Lamela to bolster their squad?

Comment below or leave me a comment on Twitter, @JTansey90.