Andros Townsend has been the surprise package for Tottenham early on this season. A series of excellent all round performances have seen him become a regular feature for the Premier League side, with a recent England call up deserved recognition for his performances.

Tottenham though are a team with an abundance of attacking riches, Erik Lamela was the marquee club record signing and he sits alongside a number of other big names impatiently waiting in the wings. Has the time now come to end the Townsend apprenticeship and unleash the world-class potential of Erik Lamela?

Meritocracy is an important thing in football, and it is an ideal central to Villas-Boas’ managerial thinking. Regardless of who you are, how much you cost and where you came from; the Portuguese tactician has firmly maintained the belief that starting XI’s will be determined by performances above anything else.

The Lloris/Friedel saga was a prime example of this ploy, with the French international forced to wait and fight for his place with the veteran American keeper. It sends out all the right messages to players throughout the club setup, academy prospects safe in the knowledge that they will get a fair crack of the whip when the time comes.

[cat_link cat="tottenham" type="list"]

It is thinking along these lines which makes me believe that Villas-Boas will continue to persevere with the young Englishman until he stops offering up the kind of performances he has done so regularly.

The dilemma comes though when you have a £30m man itching to play, with the board keen to see their money put to good use. For me though this isn’t a simple question of Lamela or Townsend. Although Townsend is comfortable on either foot he is still predominantly left footed, harbouring the same tendencies of Bale cutting in off the right flank.

Erik Lamela isn’t too dissimilar either, a left footed right-winger with a desire to cut in off the flank. My view is that both could easily be employed together, in what for me would be a much more fluid system.

Spurs in recent years were extremely successful when the likes of Bale and Lennon swapped wings intermittently. This disruption of the defence ensured one or the other was often found in space rather than to be constantly tied to a particularly defender. Both may be left footed but I cannot see why Lamela and Townsend couldn’t happily operate together for Spurs.

This meritocratic idea that I have been harping on about may be a slight sticking point here as well. Currently Sigurdsson is the other wide man for Spurs, and his performances of late have been crucial to Spurs’ form. The issue I have with the Icelander, and this is a concern I have had for a while, is his inability to fit the current Spurs system. Don’t get me wrong I think he is a quality footballer, but in the current 4-2-3-1 he seems to be operating as an inside forward rather than the out and out wide man that Spurs need.

Sigurdsson may prefer a number 10 berth, but is he really going to get past either Eriksen or Holtby on current form? I don’t think so. Villas-Boas appears to like the Icelandic midfielder and I expect him to keep faith for the meanwhile, however in the long term I just cannot see him being the Tottenham answer out wide.

The reality as it stands for Spurs is that this Lamela debate isn’t a particularly urgent one. Many are quick to forget that the boy is 21, unable to speak English and a total stranger to our culture. Without the desperate need for him as it stands, the prudent long-term strategy is the softly-softly approach as employed at the moment.

Yes in the future I expect the Argentinian to be central to the clubs fortunes, but currently his omission in preference for Townsend is in my view a shrewd one.

A team operating on four fronts, it isn’t exactly like Lamela is being forced to play reserve team football. Europa and the League cup may well be the perfect recipe for easing in the undoubted talent that Spurs now possess.

A fully fit Lennon may well complicate this issue further, but for me as it stands Spurs and AVB have handled this situation perfectly.

Am I right? Or should Lamela be thrust into the First Team fray?

Join the debate below

[ad_pod id='unruly' align='center']