Mauricio Pochettino left unimpressed with Erik Lamela skill after Tottenham star's nutmeg on Andros Townsend  

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Erik Lamela’s outrageous nutmeg on former team-mate Andros Townsend during Spurs’ 1-0 win over Palace last Saturday has not gone down well with his boss Mauricio Pochettino.

The former Argentina defender had sympathy for his former player Townsend and defenders in general and confessed he would be out to ‘kill’ anyone who did it to him.

While not condemning Lamela, he did not share the delight of those fans who have enjoyed the endless re-runs of the flash of skill.

Erik Lamela puts the ball through the legs of former team-mate Andros Townsend on Saturday

The skillfull Argentine pleased the fans but it was not to the liking of boss Mauricio Pochettino

‘To be honest I don’t like this type of thing,’ said Pochettino. ‘I understand Lamela’s game and he is always trying things like this in training sessions. But for me, it is important to show respect to the opponent. I don’t like it when you try to humiliate your opponent.

‘Lamela never tries to humiliate opponents, it’s just the way he plays. But for me it is nothing to celebrate. One day, if we win a trophy or the Premier League, it will be a time to celebrate.

‘The supporters enjoy this type of action and that’s a good thing, but it doesn’t create any emotion in me. I enjoy it more when my players score a goal and win a game.’

The Spurs boss said Lamela is not out to humiliate that's just the way he plays

Even so, Pochettino has no plans to stop Lamela performing his trickery and it would also not prevent him trying to sign Zaha, another wide player with a reputation for extravagant footwork.

Pochettino added: ‘People tried to nutmeg me when I was playing. But they did it knowing that afterwards I would be out to kill them.’

Only a few seconds remained when Lamela collected the ball near the touchline at White Hart Lane, slipped it through Townsend’s legs and collected it on the other side.

On the widely circulated video clip, Spurs left back Danny Rose can be seen in the background throwing his hands to his head in shock, though he was not surprised to see Townsend caught out.

Danny Rose (right) said Townsend used to get nutmegged all the time in training 

Rose told Spurs TV: ‘When Andros was here he used to get nutmegged five or six times in a training session without a doubt. I was actually thinking in the game ‘‘He’s done well not to get nutmegged today’’ and then Erik did that. It was brilliant, sorry Andros.’

Townsend left Tottenham for Newcastle in January and moved to Palace this summer. Argentine Lamela has a reputation for showcasing his skills, once scoring a ‘Rabona’ goal from the edge of the box for Spurs in a Europa League tie at White Hart Lane against Asteras Tripolis of Greece.

There has been a move to open contract negotiations with the player, whose work-rate and stylish skills have won over so much of the fanbase in recent months.

But Pochettino said: ‘We need to wait. At the moment we are more focused on trying to improve our squad than to improve the contracts for our players.’