Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Michael Brown fears whether the crowded fixture list over the next two months might be too much for Erik Lamela to handle and suggested that the Argentine needed to be managed carefully.
Lamela has had a spate of injury problems since arriving Tottenham from AS Roma in the summer of 2013 (transfermarkt).
While his work rate, intelligence and technical quality have been assets for the side whenever the 28-year-old has got a consistent run of games in the team, his injury problems have prevented him from having a sustained run as first-choice.
The Argentine started in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United last Friday, with a typically industrious display and was arguably one of the standout performers for Jose Mourinho’s side.
He also put in another impressive cameo when he came off the bench in the 2-0 win against West Ham United on Tuesday.
While Brown has no doubts about the left-footer’s ability, he felt that the midfielder’s body may not be able to handle the heavy workload after an extended break.
Brown told Football Insider: “Erik Lamela’s got that unbelievable ability but it just comes down to that consistency.
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“Is he one of those who can handle this amount of loading, in regards of so many minutes, especially when they haven’t played?
“They’ll be aware of that, they’ve got a super sports science team who understand everything.
“With Lamela, you can play well well, yeah, but you’ve got to look and say: ‘We’ve got this amount of games in a short period of time, how can you manage it?'”
Spurs Web Opinion
With Lamela, the next injury problem is always just around the corner. The 28-year-old does himself no favours by putting his body on the line every single time he plays.
However, I suspect that it is his commitment that Jose likes most about him. When he is fit, he is certainly a very useful squad player to have.
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