Salah only had a shout up until February. That time has long since passed.
Lamine Yamal
- Thread starter Hoof the ball
- Start date
His level is already near best in the world at 17, which I don’t think has ever happened before. It will be interesting to see his trajectory over time, he still has 10 years before he even hits his “prime”.
Hope he keeps his shit together.
Hope he keeps his shit together.
100 games while still only 17 years old can’t be good for you. I can’t see him having the longevity the way he is being played.
He could well have played the fabled 500 games by the time he is 24.
He could well have played the fabled 500 games by the time he is 24.
He’s gonna be another definition of a 1 club player. Can see him staying there all his career
This is what you call a generational talent. Absolutely incredible, taking the game into his hands like that, just brilliant.
Worried about the amount of games he's played though, just being 17 too. In the next 5 years, he's either going to be a multiple Balon D'Or player or a perma crock.
Worried about the amount of games he's played though, just being 17 too. In the next 5 years, he's either going to be a multiple Balon D'Or player or a perma crock.
Yeah this is what really sets him apart for me. In an era where football has largely become focused on efficiency, and attackers just on output, having a player who is genuinely entertaining to watch is so refreshing. Takes me back to watching football when I was younger.
No he hasn't been. That conversation ended 3-4 months ago.
I've been watching football since WC 98 (that I can remember, probably watched WC 94 och Euros 96 but can't really recall). That right there was special. I hold Dimarco in high regard. What Yamal did was kind of like Bale vs Maicon. Shades of Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo (Euros 2004).
That's the hope. Leave those old men in the 2010s.
My instant reaction was "whoa now, let's calm down" but then I thought about it and I genuinely don't have an argument to refute it
He's 17. It shouldn't be legal for him to be this good. 17 year olds should suck at everything, they're kids! Frankly Mr Nasraoui Sr should slap him over the head and explain to him that he needs to wait 'till he's like 20 before he can be this good(he won't. In his own words he betrayed madrid and feels nothing of it because barcelona puts food on his table)
Are we sure he is 17? He definitely doesn't play like 17 year old.
My instant reaction was "whoa now, let's calm down" but then I thought about it and I genuinely don't have an argument to refute it
He's 17. It shouldn't be legal for him to be this good. 17 year olds should suck at everything, they're kids! Frankly Mr Nasraoui Sr should slap him over the head and explain to him that he needs to wait 'till he's like 20 before he can be this good(he won't. In his own words he betrayed madrid and feels nothing of it because barcelona puts food on his table)
Ronaldinho in his peak eased past players and technical ability (passing wise) was on a different level. Also he had the Brazilian flair where they try outrageous skills which he pulled off.
I think the above was easy for him because he reached his peak physically whilst Yamal hasn’t yet. So it’s interesting to see when Yamal does hit that age, how he develops as he looks special.
I just hope he stays on the wing and doesn’t do a Mbappe and think he can play up top.
How does Barcelona do it again is beyond me. After Messi they find Yamal. The guy is absolutely unplayable.
The playmaking aspects of his game around his passing, vision and head-up awareness are already as good as Ronaldinho reached. I don’t think Yamal’s feet, as brilliant as they are, are quite as mesmerising as Ronaldinho. The unique thing about Yamal is how he breaks the mould for young tricky wingers. Most of them have little to no awareness of others around them, never mind the foresight to know where everyone will be in 5 seconds time. He also breaks the mould for young players who rarely have that sense of awareness and the collective early in their careers. I can only think of a couple all time who had that combination of talents so young.
There’s a lot of indignation to the notion, and I am quite sure some would find it offensive that a literal child (Definitions of a childMy instant reaction was "whoa now, let's calm down" but then I thought about it and I genuinely don't have an argument to refute it
He's 17. It shouldn't be legal for him to be this good. 17 year olds should suck at everything, they're kids! Frankly Mr Nasraoui Sr should slap him over the head and explain to him that he needs to wait 'till he's like 20 before he can be this good(he won't. In his own words he betrayed madrid and feels nothing of it because barcelona puts food on his table)
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) defines a child as everyone under 18 unless, "under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".) can be held in the same regard as an icon of an era/decade/all-time and the instinct should be to baulk because it sounds incredulous, perhaps insulting… but when you strip it back, Yamal is doing the mirror image (reversed) of what Ronaldinho did, plus has had a more impressive, individualistic major.
Opponents are like mesmerised statues against both, and in the meantime, Yamal’s efficiency in what he executes is starting belie adjectives because we haven’t seen a 17-year old do this before. Lewandowski on the pitch yesterday, and the exact same Yamal likely has a hattrick of assists; a couple of millimetres lower, and he has two iconic goals to add to the collection - it is <insert your desired all-timer> esque, and that’s the level he is at. What’s more, he gets even better in the big games.
So long as he remains focused and injury-free, he’ll start to get these plaudits a year or two down the line, even if he is the exact same player as yesterday, just extrapolated over a larger body of work. I don’t use words lightly; he’s an absurd player, so good he gives framing of how out of this world Pele was to be better than him at the equivalent age.
For sure; on his level in that the job is going to get done in spectacular and pinpoint fashion. Yamal’s still not really focused on take ons, but he’ll whip a ball right where it’s most dangerous in the space of a half step to compensate.
I do think he’ll start to switch one out for the other more as he gets older, but I don’t know if that’s going to make him any more effective.
It’s exciting to watch but there is no guarantee he gets any better than this, sometimes teenagers have a sort of freedom where they don’t have a worry in the world and the world is full of setbacks, we don’t really know yet how he’d manage them as it’s all been relatively plain sailing so far. Also the longevity of the likes of Messi and Ronaldo is not the norm, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and many others had no career to speak of by their 30s.
The likes of Rooney, Owen and Fabregas may have been more accomplished but I’m not sure they got any better than they were at 18. Injuries is a big one or wrong moves in their careers, or too much money at a young age can lose a slight edge like Mbappé and develop detrimental ‘diva’ traits to go with the celebrity.
But it will be very fun to watch how he progresses.
The likes of Rooney, Owen and Fabregas may have been more accomplished but I’m not sure they got any better than they were at 18. Injuries is a big one or wrong moves in their careers, or too much money at a young age can lose a slight edge like Mbappé and develop detrimental ‘diva’ traits to go with the celebrity.
But it will be very fun to watch how he progresses.
Every player has their own curve. He looks unreal in some games, but it doesn’t mean in 10 years he’s gonna be this or that…For now he is full of confidence and it’s amazing to watch.
Wow what a player to watch as a neutral
Only things that I can see holding him back are his age and injuries. Hes playing every game for Barca. I know hes that good that they can’t not play him but it might come back to bite in years to come. Injuries like every other player, if he gets a bad one or niggling ones, can he overcome them and get back to the same level
Only things that I can see holding him back are his age and injuries. Hes playing every game for Barca. I know hes that good that they can’t not play him but it might come back to bite in years to come. Injuries like every other player, if he gets a bad one or niggling ones, can he overcome them and get back to the same level
Bang on. There are so many things that can go wrong. Among them injuries, wrong VAR calls, distractions, money, women, fame, lack of motivation, pressure, troubling personal life and so on. He already had a story out there about some girl dumping him, getting back and what not.
But at the moment the lad has a certain ease only found in the absolute elite so it's really exciting.
Yamal is a better player than Salah
Absolutely. He just needs to prove it over a period of time.
Not for me
Yep. 100 games by 17 years old for an elite club like Barcelona is crazy stuff. We occasionally rest kids his age in school because they're playing multiple sports. He'll need to be looked after.
Been watching both all season, and there was a CL day recently when they both played on the same day, so I watched both games back to back and it was easy to compare because they were sort of in the same position. It wasn't even close, to be honest. Of course, people will bring up Salah's numbers, and that's fair enough, but in terms of all round performances, Yamal is clear of this current version of Salah IMO.
Absolutely, Rooney and Owen were at the peak of their powers at 18-20. Owen's notable drop off was through his loss of pace through injuries, the root cause by being so overplayed and badly man managed at Liverpool. Barca need to be careful that they don't do the same.
18 is not 17. Or 16. Which is the age Yamal was when he was starring in the Euros. What we're seeing is unprecedented (apart from Pele).
Challenges later in your life are not unprecedented, in fact it might make it tougher to avoid them starting so early, nobody has played 100 games like he has at this point.
That's obvious. No one knows what will happen. The point I'm making is that he's not quite the same as the people you referenced.
Re the 100 games, Pele probably did. He played around 1400 in his career and started at 15, so it stands to reason. Of course, it was a different time.
Can’t get enough of his goal yesterday. From absolutely nothing, it was Messiesque
The way he strikes and loops the ball is just something else, its not power just pure placement. Gonna be some player to watch for the 15 years or more.
His ball control is also amazing, some shades of Ronaldinho in his prime. Very enjoyable to watch.
wouldn’t it be crazy if Barcelona run out of levers and have to sell him to stay afloat… would be so ironic
Not seen such a good young player in Europe since R9. And already hit so many benchmarks for club and country. Insane.
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Much more easy on the eye than Messi for me and variety when it’s come to dribbling. Sorry for Dembele, Raphinha and Salah but he is the best player in the world. I don’t rate this Barcelona team, they are very ordinary and this kid is the main reason we are talking about a potential treble, it’s crazy…
Please don’t ruin this genius by overplaying him or asking him to become a stat padder.
Please don’t ruin this genius by overplaying him or asking him to become a stat padder.
Yes i figured that. But what if they couldn’t? What if they had to.. that’s the premise under my what if.
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In that case I'd imagine he'll be the one to finally break neymar's ludicrous transfer fee record.
Very good player for his age but getting a little bit over the top by some putting him in conversations with Ronaldinho, Messi etc. That’s beyond silly if we’re being honest. Even with Salah for this season tbh.
Ridiculously exciting to watch at times but he hasn’t even been Barcas best player this season. Raphina has been better and Lewandowski continues to be outstanding and Barca wouldn’t be where they are without him but likely would without Yamal this season. Brilliant to watch and could have an incredible career but let’s not go too far this early.
Ridiculously exciting to watch at times but he hasn’t even been Barcas best player this season. Raphina has been better and Lewandowski continues to be outstanding and Barca wouldn’t be where they are without him but likely would without Yamal this season. Brilliant to watch and could have an incredible career but let’s not go too far this early.
This kid is amazing, very mature, he seems to have it all (he could score more consistantly but he has his whole future to improve that). He could arguably be the best 17yo player in history but I don't really think it's that interesting a debate.
I always have a hard time with the projections made though. "He's going to be the best for the next 15 years", "he'll break all the record", "he'll soon contest Messi's records etc.".
He could do all that, obviously, but people far too often forget that the evolution that Messi or Ronaldo had, with steady improvements through a decade, is actually very unusual, there's a million of different ways for a career to go sideway, even for a top (top) talent like Yamal. Injury, lifestyle, early peak that has him stuck at a certain level (even if he's already one of the best in the world). It happens far more often than not. It would actually be interesting to make some stats but I'd stay that between 1/2 and 2/3 of top talents don't evolve according to the projections.
Lets enjoy his games as they come but predicting the future is often a bad idea.
I always have a hard time with the projections made though. "He's going to be the best for the next 15 years", "he'll break all the record", "he'll soon contest Messi's records etc.".
He could do all that, obviously, but people far too often forget that the evolution that Messi or Ronaldo had, with steady improvements through a decade, is actually very unusual, there's a million of different ways for a career to go sideway, even for a top (top) talent like Yamal. Injury, lifestyle, early peak that has him stuck at a certain level (even if he's already one of the best in the world). It happens far more often than not. It would actually be interesting to make some stats but I'd stay that between 1/2 and 2/3 of top talents don't evolve according to the projections.
Lets enjoy his games as they come but predicting the future is often a bad idea.
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