What Role Should Erik Lamela Play for Tottenham as the Season Progresses?

A matter of inches was the difference between Erik Lamela enjoying more of the spotlight from Tottenham Hotspur's 1-0 win over Watford.

Dele Alli's low, 64th-minute cross was a little too quick for him to convert, and he instead found right-back Kieran Trippier waiting at the far post. He went close earlier, too, when following up a Ben Davies shot resulted in him almost catching out former Spur Heurelho Gomes.

While a goal would have nicely topped off Lamela's dogged, at times insistent, individual display, it mattered little, ultimately, that he did not score. The bigger takeaway was the reiteration of the flexibility and team-first ethos that continue to make him a valuable utility option in attacking midfield—a role he should look to embrace as the season progresses.

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Compared to his more prominent finish to 2015—notably scoring a hat-trick against Monaco and the opener in the away win over Watford—Lamela has had a quieter start to the new year individually. He's still featuring regularly, but he's less prominently involved than during an autumn-to-early winter run of form that epitomised the head-turning hunger of Pochettino's men this campaign.

It has been Lamela's attacking midfield colleagues who have typified the renewed urgency underpinning Tottenham's current winning streak (since the draw with Everton and league-loss to Leicester City).

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Only recent illness has dimmed Dele Alli's sparkling form from his central berth. Heung-Min Son's propulsive qualities continue to provide timely final-third boosts. Nacer Chadli again looks motivated, and Christian Eriksen is thoughtfully and productively influencing proceedings once more.

Lamela had been playing adequately enough in his starting appearances prior to Spurs' latest win. His incisive cuts through the channels notably helped facilitate the ambitious combinations that aided in seeing off Leicester in the FA Cup.

But with the aforementioned team-mates contributing a little more pronouncedly, it made sense that Lamela's minutes diminished accordingly—even if just temporarily.

With Alli rested for the latest meeting with the Hornets (referenced by Lamela above), the 23-year-old had an opportunity to reiterate his worth again.

Though not a solo showing so impressive as to guarantee a starting spot at Manchester City on Sunday, the more workmanlike effort ticked other boxes.

It would take the introduction of Alli to stretch Watford with any real result. But the substitute was aided by the work Lamela, Chadli and Eriksen did wearing the visitors down.

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Their calculated unpredictability (the trio were visibly in communication at various points) could be seen in their switching between combining in a close-confines triangle and something looser.

Lamela looked to pick the ball up across the breadth of the pitch (as seen in the heat map provided by Tottenham's official website). He offered a passing option and made distracting runs, ready to make something of others' creative efforts—a first-half header and later chipped effort joining the earlier-mentioned examples here.

Along with the width provided by full-backs Davies and Trippier, it kept the visitors on their toes.

Adhering to his boss' demands for relentlessness and versatility on and off the ball, Lamela showed he can be slotted in when needed and that he will not interpret others being previously preferred as a slight on him and start sulking to unilateral effect.

"For me, I feel confident and I am training hard like my team-mates," Lamela said in the aftermath of a win that took Tottenham to second in the Premier League (see above).

"Everyone trains hard to do their best on the pitch, and I think this team is a very good team because we have quality and we are all together to fight."

Such declarations of collective effort and morale might sound trite if the legitimacy of the work backing them right now was not so apparent.

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Asked about the response of players like Lamela and Trippier to their rotation in and out of the team, head coach Mauricio Pochettino was—as usual—keen to place it in the context of the overall. "The atmosphere in the squad is fantastic. Everyone believes they can play and help the team," he said post-match.

"It’s true that we are individual persons—but all want to help the team, and this is a gift for us. We play like a team and all enjoy and feel they are part of the success, and will be part of the success of the club."

By and large this season, Lamela's work has been in this spirit. But with so many big, decisive games ahead, it did no harm to remind Pochettino.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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