Tottenham boss backs Erik Lamela to come good

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has backed Argentinian attacking midfielder Erik Lamela to eventually become an important player for Spurs. The 21-year-old has so far only started in two games for AVB's side this season.

Despite a big money transfer from Roma last summer, Erik Lamela has yet to set the Premier League alight with the similar performances shown whilst playing in Serie A last season. Lamela, who had been signed as a replacement for Real Madrid's Gareth Bale, is apparently struggling to adjust to life in England and in particular with learning the language.


Despite that, Andre Villas-Boas has backed Lamela to fire very soon: "Not speaking the language is very difficult, but not only that but coming from very different social backgrounds – from Argentina, to Roma, to Tottenham. It has been a difficult step for him. We need to be patient with him and we need to give him the chances to break into the team and eventually when a game goes fully to his way for 90 minutes we can have him back to the levels he was at before.


"Rome, as you can understand, is completely different from living in the north of London. Social life – the warmth of the fans is felt in a different way. With Lamela, it is going to take time but actually he has all the technical abilities that we see of a great player, so we have great belief in him."


Lamela's second start for Tottenham came in the 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Man City last week.