His assist was also so good, avoided a tackles and instantly passes it in the right space for his teammate. His decision making is that of player who's at the peak of his football
Lamine Yamal
- Thread starter Hoof the ball
- Start date
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Nik (@Rood), Jamie (@Vault Dweller) and Ed (@That'sHernandez) give their end of season awards out! They celebrate the best players, goals and moments of the season (there were some, honestly) and also give out awards for the worst and most disappointing players/moments of the season.
They then discuss all the latest transfer rumours and get into the potential ins and outs this summer at Old Trafford.
It wasn’t his best game outside the screamer but that's what the best players do. Give them just a bit of space and they'll punish you.
BPITW.
BPITW.
We’re still living off the class of 99 and Barca just produced back to back GOATs. It’s really not fair man.
There had been speculation pre match that if Barca do win the title, Flick will make sure that Barca don't celebrate on pitch like they did two years ago and caused a pitch invasion. I'm sure there will be a big celebration in the dressing room.
Pace and brute force merchants.
Technically the PL is currently at its absolute worse and only own its strength due to the incredible amounts of money flowing in which allows the english clubs to poach the best players from other leagues.
Forgetting about how he develops, is it fair to say that his current level is comparable to/ better than the likes of peak Robben, Ribery, Figo and almost comparable to Neymar's peak?
It didnt last long, but his performances when messi was injured were out of this world.
In 2017, Forbes ranked Barcelona as the fourth most valuable sports team in the world with a team value of $3.64 billion.
In 2018, Barcelona became the first sports team to surpass $1bn in annual revenues.
In November 2018 Barcelona became the first sports team with average first-team pay in excess of £10m ($13.8m) per year.
On November 9, 2024, Barcelona announced its new sponsorship deal with Nike. It is said that it is the highest deal in football history.
8 of Barcelona's first team squad of 25 are foreigners. 10 of the remaining 17 were bought from other Spanish clubs.
That red card haha
Either La Liga is rigged or is the least physical league in the world.
WTF
What a weird league @Fobal
This is why I don't rate La Liga players as highly as others, legends for sure but they have to prove to play in a different environment both FOR and Against.
Each to their own!
That red card haha
Either La Liga is rigged or is the least physical league in the world.
WTF
What a weird league @Fobal
This is why I don't rate La Liga players as highly as others, legends for sure but they have to prove to play in a different environment both FOR and Against.
Each to their own!
That's a wild historical take my man, really wild
He's what Garnacho thinks he is.
He needs to improve his finishing to be on that level. I get the feeling he tries too hard to score spectacular goals when easier shots are sometimes possible.
He’s amazing. I’d be a bit worried about the amount of football he is playing if I were a Barca fan. 4400 minutes as a 17 year old is insane. This guy could be the world’s best player for 10+ years, don’t break him.
For comparison, Messi didn’t log >3000 minutes in a season across all comps until he turned 21.
For comparison, Messi didn’t log >3000 minutes in a season across all comps until he turned 21.
I'm quite fond of his goal catalogue, so hopefully he ignores this comment and keeps going for the upper 90
Put his left foot in the Louvre.
Ribery maybe. Neymar was absurdly good at his best though. I’d have him way ahead, age aside. He was a consistent goal scoring and had the all round game to rip up defences.
This makes little sense. The most neutral grounds between different we can get are european tournaments and the La Liga players have done excellent in history.
That red card haha
Either La Liga is rigged or is the least physical league in the world.
WTF
What a weird league @Fobal
This is why I don't rate La Liga players as highly as others, legends for sure but they have to prove to play in a different environment both FOR and Against.
Each to their own!
It's ok to dislike the spanish league but what you said is beyond absurd
Amazing.
That red card haha
Either La Liga is rigged or is the least physical league in the world.
WTF
What a weird league @Fobal
This is why I don't rate La Liga players as highly as others, legends for sure but they have to prove to play in a different environment both FOR and Against.
Each to their own!
Posts like this wouldn't be out of place in tiktok comments.
Figo never had as many goals as Yamal this season. Ribery only once. Robben a few times. None of them ever had as many assists as Yamal this season.
I'd say he's already a level above peak Figo and Ribery. I'd say he's on a par with peak Robben st the moment.
It's not all about stats tbf, his general play is phenomenal. The majority of play goes through him, he's always involved and he does score 'Robben like goals'
He might well win the Ballon Dor anyway, but if they went all the way in the Champions League he would have been nailed on.
What I love about him right now is that he isn’t just “efficiency”. He’s raw, he’s flamboyant, he’s still got an element of flair and arrogance. He’s just a properly exciting footballer. And it feels like a long, long time since there was such a player.
No doubt he will trend toward efficiency and effectiveness and away from glamour over time, but for now, just great to watch him play.
And that’s not in any way mocking his output. His assist and goal tallies show he isn’t just tricks and show.
No doubt he will trend toward efficiency and effectiveness and away from glamour over time, but for now, just great to watch him play.
And that’s not in any way mocking his output. His assist and goal tallies show he isn’t just tricks and show.
This feels accurate.
Usually when you think about young players you think about "what could be" - you see a nice body feint, or a perfectly weighted pass and think Oh boy! This could be some player. Then you forgive them the next wayward pass, or running the ball out of play. With Yamal it's not "what could be" he already is. He doesn't really need to add anything new to his game. At 17, he easily copes physically too, which is wild. It was fascinating watching him in the Inter game, they just couldn't get near him! To be counted amongst the very very best, he just needs consistency and to do it year-in year-out. Marginally better decision making (which is already fantastic mind you) and making more efficient use of what he has will come with age. He already has 42 g/a in 53 matches this season. Injuries notwithstanding, I'd be surprised if he doesn't hit 55-60 next season.
No, too much. But Ribery/Figo, yeah, those are fair comparisons I think. At their best
Nah. I’ll be convinced he’s a world-beater if he can get here and carry Manchester United back to glory days.
He’s restoring the feeling and he’s going to end up in my top 5 favourite players and it’s not going to take him long
The bolded part simply isn't true. Factually. Both Figo & Ribery had more assists in a season (00/01 and 11/12 respectively), both in less minutes in teams that scored significantly less (119 goals for Figo's Madrid, 121 for Ribery's Bayern... Barca is currently on 169 goals in all competitions). If you put so much emphasis on stats, check them first!
He isn't better than peak Figo... yet. They're about equal which sounds insane as it is — Figo is pretty much the golden standard of a traditional right winger. There's no need to overhype Yamal. He does feel like a Figo regen in many ways with a hint of Robben (he's more vertical, he feels faster and he loves those curled shots).
And it's like he doesn't have to think about anything - just knows what to do.
I think this is a pretty difficult question to answer for a number of reasons. You have winger versions and playmaker versions of Figo; Neymar was essentially a wide #10, like Ronaldinho and Messi. Ribery was more of a hybrid and Robben - like a young Figo - was a pure, unadulterated winger, doing winger things and looking to burn opposition and/or score.
Yamal doesn't play or get utilised like a pure winger; he is the chief playmaker of his team and everyone else looks to him to be definitive and make the final play; often times he does that without even moving from the position he's standing in; it's hard to compare that to a player who is reliant on beating players and causing havoc via their penetrative runs - Robben is one of the best wingers of all time, but standing still, like a playmaker, he carries next to no threat.
Despite winning the Ballon d'Or at Real as more of a playmaker, the better version of Figo (many including myself would argue) was the Barcelona hotshot who caused the controversy. He played as more of a pure winger at Barcelona, much more reliant on beating men and darting towards either goal or the touchline for a standard cross. The Barcelona version of Figo was relentless, aggressive and consistent. The Real version, more cultured, more passive, but more focused on playmaking and being #10 like than #7. I'd take Yamal the #10 over Figo the #10, but young Figo the #7, it's harder to call; he would do winger things from start to finish and be utterly dependable in the role. I am not sure Yamal will ever play as a pure #7 so it's asking for something we're not likely to see.
Robben's lethality and certainty makes him hard to pick over - it's not so much the spectacle with Robben; it's the getting things done and dusted. Closing out the game and being as definitive as you're going to get in a player cutting in from the right and concluding outside of Messi himself. Robben almost won Holland the World Cup and he was a different kind of unplayable to Yamal in that the whole stadium could know exactly what he was going to do in a game, but when he actually executed it, it was down to whether he hit the target or not whether it would decide a game. Nothing mystical or out of this world, just plain, old, lethal effectiveness. I'm still picking Robben to determine a game if my life depended on it over Yamal, but that's not to say it won't change as Yamal's finishing and individualism matures. Having said that, Yamal is still the more talented player.
Ribery at his best would've won a Ballon d'Or himself if it wasn't for the two freaks, so it's not some lowly bar. He won a treble and was the stand out performer that season. I think it's a difficult one to break down - I'd say he was par with Yamal in some aspects and better in others, but despite Yamal's semi finals for the ages, Ribery and Bayern actually won the CL that year, and it has to count for a lot. I'd par Ribery's peak with Yamal's season for his decisiveness and effectiveness, but what I'd also say is that the difference in talent is such that this, I would expect, is a standard season for Yamal, whereas that was Ribery's career season. Yamal is going to wrack up more like this one or even better it, if his health holds, imo.
Neymar's peak is ahead of Yamal for now, imo. Neymar's goal threat was as certain as Yamal's assist threat but in reverse, Neymar's assist threat was far greater than Yamal's goal threat - peak Neymar and Yamal playing right now in the same team, I'd expect Neymar to outperform him and be just as much of a showman and showstopper, if not more. Neymar's treble season was him swashbuckling with Suarez - who many recognise as the best striker of the 2010's at his absolute peak, and Messi, being Messi and easily holding his own throughout to form arguably the greatest attacking 3 of all-time. Yamal would not usurp any of them to get into that team and he'll have to improve his individualism to match that - peak - Neymar. Between the two of them, you have the most naturally gifted players outside of Messi in the respective era, so it's no shame to be behind peak Neymar at the moment. Unfortunately for Neymar, within Messi and Ronaldo mania and with Suarez playing at a dumbfounding level, a lot of the credit he should be due has been diluted and washed away, but this was Neymar holding his own in an/the all-time front 3 that shows no signs of being beaten.
So yeah, arguments in and around all of them, except Neymar, for me.
What's crazy is it's their peak versions and even then, there's arguments for and against a 17-year old. O.o
No.
I'll say stylewise he most of times he is like Figo the: intelligent/for the team winger (in Boca we had Schelotto in such style, first providers, with great feet to cross and assist), with the necessary quote of individualism to create space and dribble his way up.
And when he goes for it he has a mix of Robben/Ney given build and mix of styles. He also is less explosive than Robben or Ney and closer to Figo in his stride, pace, grace and effortless ability to beat their markers.
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3 minutes between these two posts of comparable quality.
But to answer the question - yes he is already comparable to them in their peaks, with perhaps the exception of Neymar. He's on track to be talked about in the same breath as the absolute greats. No one else in world football is currently on a trajectory even remotely close to Yamal's.
He's no Paddy McCourt, but he's alright.
Weight of pass is such a key element for creating chances and this kid has it flawlessly. It's ridiculous, he makes a lot of things look so easy
Another great goal when cutting in on his left foot. He's becoming more and more Messi-esque in the last month with that low pace but high accuracy curled finishes into the corner.
Best player in the world.
That left foot has become Robben mk. II - everyone knows it’s coming, but can’t stop it
That left foot has become Robben mk. II - everyone knows it’s coming, but can’t stop it
Almost another unreal goal there. A nutmeg to get past a defender or two and then curled a wonderful shot off the crossbar. He's unplayable.
He has unlocked Robben's ability to score the same goal over and over with no defender being capable of stopping him no matter how predictable it gets.
While he did occasionally show that he has it in him, it's scary that he suddenly seems to have nailed it. That's like 4 goals in the last two weeks where he's just cut in on his left and curled it in.
insane game