19 - Lamine Yamal

[Co0ter]

Not overly impressed from what I saw. He doesn't have explosive pace or exhibit much strength. At his age, you're either fast or you're not. Fati had a lot of trickery and appeared to be a deadly finisher, so I had hope for him despite not having great pace. What physicality he did have, is likely to have been effected by the injuries though.

This kid could be good as an AM or attacking minded CM possibly, be he would be required to have a well rounded game. As a winger, eh.

 

[Porque]

Yeah he is exquisite at some things though. And despite having a growth spurt in height, hasn't really fleshed out physically to match the age groups he is against.

If I would to have a guess, I'd say he looks like a version of Collado that might actually make it.

Huge potential but not that Brazilian Rick and Morty huge.

 

[jamrock]

Barcelona's very own di Maria, prepare for clutch goals.

 

[jamrock]

Barrera is the one I'm very excited about from a potential striker prospective, like him whenever I've seen him play.

 

[te amo barca]

Not overly impressed from what I saw. He doesn't have explosive pace or exhibit much strength. At his age, you're either fast or you're not. Fati had a lot of trickery and appeared to be a deadly finisher, so I had hope for him despite not having great pace. What physicality he did have, is likely to have been effected by the injuries though.

This kid could be good as an AM or attacking minded CM possibly, be he would be required to have a well rounded game. As a winger, eh.

to be fair to him he is 15 and playing against 18-19 year olds, who are naturally faster and more developed. I wouldn't call him slow too soon. Fati was also fast enough before his injuries. Not super fast, but he wasn't slow and could outpace the fullback in some instances.


P.S. In other news, the media hypetrain has departed:

Xavi is delighted with Lamine Yamal, and is considering giving him minutes in the Copa del Rey. [as]
Xavi Hern?ndez has total confidence in La Masia starlet Lamine Yamal, who has impressed in training these days. [md]

 

[Windhook]

Frank Rijkaard hair.

All those clips are mindblowing, kid plays fantastic football, but I've seen a lot of those on other players from La Masia and France.

Dembele at Rennes was similar force. Now he's our... asset.

I think it's too early to throw Lamine against even Tercera team. A friend of mine shared an opinion that clubs throw kids into 90 mins of top-level football and pretty soon the injuries start. Happened to Michael Owen in his youth, Messi was made of glass in his early years, Fati is not Fati after the injuries... the list goes on.

 

[BusiTheKing]

His vision and intelligence is surely astonishing for his age. He just has that way of improvising ideas, of playing against the envelop of the logical move, that mark out a special player.

Despite the obvious concerns about physique, I'm betting big this guy. But yeah, no reason to rush him into senior level physical contest. Let him develop and refine that vision at a natural pace. Cultivate that inventiveness.

 

[BBZ8800]

There is no way to make it today as a winger with his (slow) pace.

He can be only a poor man's Raphinha or Trincao.

His only hope is turning into a creative midfielder who can also defend a lot.

This hype machine is obviously staged to keep fans happy and full of hope, offering 1-2 new potential gems every season.

And the weaker are the results of the first team, then papers & hype machine have to "create" more new gems from La Masia to keep the hype, hope and the brand alive.

 

[Birdy]

He is astonishingly similar to Dembele when on the ball
Moves, patterns of trajectories, and the way he slides with the ball are almost identical

He can be a great Dembele's understudy soon w/o losing anything in playstyle

 

[te amo barca]

There is no way to make it today as a winger with his (slow) pace.

He can be only a poor man's Raphinha or Trincao.

His only hope is turning into a creative midfielder who can also defend a lot.

This hype machine is obviously staged to keep fans happy and full of hope, offering 1-2 new potential gems every season.

And the weaker are the results of the first team, then papers & hype machine have to "create" more new gems from La Masia to keep the hype, hope and the brand alive.

The hype machine is delivering lately. Balde, Gavi and Ansu all great talents. Pedri is not La Masia but same story. Puig was a bust

 

[BBZ8800]

The hype machine is delivering lately. Balde, Gavi and Ansu all great talents. Pedri is not La Masia but same story. Puig was a bust

Barca's level has also dropped from the top of Europe and MSN to Uefa league, Pedri and Gavi.

The true estimation of their abilities on club's results will be clearer in a few years, though.

 

[khaled_a_d]

There is no way to make it today as a winger with his (slow) pace.

Most scouts actually consider him pacey in comparison to his age group though.
Honestly, I rarely see any super quick highlights of 14 or 15 years old kids.
Don't get where all the "if he isn't quick now, he will never be" hypothesis coming from.
The honest answer for me is that we really don't know how quick he is relative to potential professional top level football, and it is why there are guys who earn a life deciding on those things and it isn't a job for everyone.
Also, People are getting carried away with the pace thing, niether Neymar or Messi were speedsters for example and they are doing just fine even at old age. Mahraz too and ge did in EPL.

 

[BusiTheKing]

He's not leaving defenders in his wake but he seems to be staying ahead of them once he gets past them. Those defenders being 3-4 years older than him, I wouldn't be too worried.

I think the fact that he stands precisely for reasons OTHER than his pace is what makes him interesting.

 

[ajnotkeith]

Pace isn't a be all end all.

Sure it is very helpful but there are other ways to pass defenders and the important thing is knowing how to keep them behind you once you do. Football brains is just as important as pace.

Plenty of wingers have succeeded with average pace and also, he can play as a striker or inside forward as well. It's just down to whether the other skills of his ARE top level unlike Trincao who has little to no redeeming qualities other than he has a nice dribbling style.

 

[gasgas]

Pace isn't a be all end all.

Sure it is very helpful but there are other ways to pass defenders and the important thing is knowing how to keep them behind you once you do. Football brains is just as important as pace.

Plenty of wingers have succeeded with average pace and also, he can play as a striker or inside forward as well. It's just down to whether the other skills of his ARE top level unlike Trincao who has little to no redeeming qualities other than he has a nice dribbling style.

Our experience with slow ass and average paced wingers says otherwise:
Trincao, Malcolm, Ferran, Ard turan, Demir, Depay, Fati, Raphinha,


All unimpressive