Lamine Yamal

Too much focus on his off field stuff, or his personality in many of these last posts and he is just a kid that one of the (or THE) main reason(s) of some of his not that great displays since some time it's an strict football issue: he is forgetting that his best asset that made him so how mature is to acknowledge what were his best assets and play in consequence.

Comparisons in style with Messi did not helped at all, if he buys that, he'll committ time and again many of the mistakes has done EVEN in some of his best late games.
He is another type of player that has to first go back to his first days where he almost never did an extra play, didn't want to dribble everyone, was more of a team player and put a good share of tactical awarness when came to at least make shadow or drop back to make numbers.

Off field, attitude has a tad to do with this shift in the way he plays the game? to a certain point, but he also is growing, he is less of a child and part of him maturing it's to feel more confident to take more risks (or even talk too much). BTW it wasn't always his impecable decision making when he started (even said by himself) product of just being brilliant, he was more of a team player, less risky in his approach, paying due respect to his mates, knowing he was LITERAL little kid literally starting in first division.
Now he is a tad too cocky?, yeah he succeed, he is literally older, he'll had to ajust. Mantein his cockines at bay (it's needed it to a certain extent) and he'll come back to his best moments and even progress even further. But the first thing to solve it's his playing, he can stil throw 45 parties and with just adjusting his game to what he did when he apperared and work form tehre, he'll be back in full form.

If he does this he'll be back to his best self, even if course it was always logical to find it harder when he wasn't the new surprising thing and teams would start to put more attention on him and knowing better what his tendencies are. It's all on him and thsoe around him to put him back on track.
 
I don't think some of the off-field stuff helped him this match. Specifically talking about his comments on Real Madrid, but it makes for more passionate encounters. I think the Real Madrid players had even extra motivation from the comments.

Yamal's play specifically, I don't think he's fully fit, because I thought he was excellent to start the season then he got injured.

I do think you can worry about overexertion. He has played a lot of games at a very young age already and Barcelona as previously mentioned don't have the best track record with their youngsters lately. I also don't think it's easy now to be such a prodigious talent in the day of social media.

That said, once he returns to full fitness, I am pretty sure he'll be back to his best.
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
I don't think some of the off-field stuff helped him this match. Specifically talking about his comments on Real Madrid, but it makes for more passionate encounters. I think the Real Madrid players had even extra motivation from the comments.

Yamal's play specifically, I don't think he's fully fit, because I thought he was excellent to start the season then he got injured.

I do think you can worry about overexertion. He has played a lot of games at a very young age already and Barcelona as previously mentioned don't have the best track record with their youngsters lately. I also don't think it's easy now to be such a prodigious talent in the day of social media.

That said, once he returns to full fitness, I am pretty sure he'll be back to his best.
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Not really, Lamine has been shifting his style since even last season. Many games he found the excellent assist, the ocasional splendid goal and a some excellent play, but watching whole games, he was also:

. Going time and again into very crowded areas, loosing it, sthg. he would avoided when he started (sounds funny wih him, the "when he started")
. He has not the stamina to go after players time and again, nor is explosive enough, nor has that level of control in full throtle, so he might end with 5 excellent takes on and 5 very silly attemps loosing the ball.
. He realeased the ball quite a number of times too late (or not even doing it) finding his destinataries already marked, sthg that in his first period was almost perfect doing almost every time what the play "called".

There are many of these instances that he had shown even in some of his best games (in the medicore or bad ones, even worse) that were worrying signs and since the last stage of last season he showed these tendencies quite a lot more that will hurt his game and actually ended hurting his game.
It's all a package, he grows in confidence, he goes a tad over the top in this new tendencies, he finds himself not playing as great and what he talks, ends biting in his arse.

The signs where there, but it's nothing fatal if he focus back again in his best assets, he is a natural born footballer, that has every spotligh on him at a very young age and he already is from the extrovert style that can get a tad dizzy, but he can still be a party boy if he just gets back to the basics that amde him look as the new Messias and even improve his talent.
 
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Fobal said:
Not really, Lamine has been shifting his style since even last season. Many games he found the excellent assist, the ocasional splendid goal and a some excellent play, but watching whole games, he was also:

. Going time and again into very crowded areas, loosing it, sthg. he would avoided when he started (sounds funny wih him, the "when he started")
. He has not the stamina to go after players time and again, nor is explosive enough, nor has that level of control in full throtle, so he might end with 5 excellent takes on and 5 very silly attemps loosing the ball.
. He realeased the ball quite a number of times too late (or not even doing it) finding his destinataries already marked, sthg that in his first period was almost perfect doing almost every time what the play "called".

There are many of these instances that he had shown even in some of his best games (in the medicore or bad ones, even worse) that were worrying signs and since the last stage of last season he showed these tendencies quite a lot more that will hurt his game and actually ended hurting his game.
It's all a package, he grows in confidence, he goes a tad over the top in his tendencies, he find himself not playing as great and what he talks, ends biting in his arse. The signs where there, but it's nothing fatal if he focus back again in his best assets, he is a natural born footballer, that has every spotligh on him at a very young age and he already is from the extrovert style that can get a tad dizzy, but he can still be a party boy if he just gets back to the basics that amde him look as the new Messias and even improve his talent.
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I don't agree with you that he wasn't great to start the season.
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
I don't agree with you that he wasn't great to start the season.
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He had great moments, I can even agree that he was "overal" great in terms of producing plays and some numbres, but at the same time but for me he was already shifting his game in aspects I've mentioned that when it specially when it was a more troubled match, it was even worse. Like I've said it has been happening since last seaosn even in overal very good matches.
Nowadays with at times some fitness lacking and his head a tad dizzy, this tendencies had become worse. But again, it's just a fecking kid that just need to focus again and all in all he wasn't playing bad, he is just (for me) loosing his edge in what he does better and would be sad if it becomes a tendency that prolongues too much time.
 
Fobal said:
He had great moments, I can even agree that he was "overal" great in terms of producing plays and some numbres, but at the same time but for me he was already shifting his game in aspects I've mentioned that when it specially when it was a more troubled match, it was even worse. Like I've said it has been happening since last seaosn even in overal very good matches.
Nowadays with at times some fitness lacking and his head a tad dizzy, this tendencies had become worse. But again, it's just a fecking kid that just need to focus again and all in all he wasn't playing bad, he is just (for me) loosing his edge in what he does better and would be sad if it becomes a tendency that prolongues too much time.
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Fair enough.

But for me, his performances against Inter last season(which were his best for me) aren't really indicative of a giant shift in style of play for Yamal nor do I think he's changed much this season(he didn't play well in the Clasico obviously though).
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
Fair enough.

But for me, his performances against Inter last season(which were his best for me) aren't really indicative of a giant shift in style of play for Yamal nor do I think he's changed much this season(he didn't play well in the Clasico obviously though).
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He changed Eddy, it's not giant because if not he would not still be great. And mostly not in HOW he does things, but in the quantity and moments (when) he chooses to do those.

He is trying to dribble in situations where he shouldn't, he is tiring himself by doing so at times (one of the most demaning things phisically it's going after players from deeper areas time and again while being kicking), he it's taking more risks (that's good too), calling more shots for himself. Meaning dribbling at moments that "old" Yamal would have been more clever or by shooting from distance a lot more frequently, too much in fact.

All of them quite logical, he is older, he got recognition and saw what he can do, he has the backup of his mates, but still he has to tame this tendencies because in some aspects he doesn't have some traits at the level he at times thinks he has and in others because even having such traits, one of his best assets it's his reading, his vision, his ability to decide a play that other one shoudl finish or continue...and mostly his limits and how to administrate better his moments to make dammage. This last thing looked extremely natural in him and maybe now a big part was him being a tad timid and now too much cocky, we'll see, but still looks like someone that plays and feels football in a away that comes naturally for him...he should be back more sooner than later to his best self.
 
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Fobal said:
But the first thing to solve it's his playing, he can stil throw 45 parties and with just adjusting his game to what he did when he apperared and work form tehre, he'll be back in full form.
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I don't know how hard he parties but this type of lifestyle would affect any footballer at this level. Having poor rest and alcohol are terrible for performance in any sport.
 
Acheron said:
Yeah, I think he's at risk of being burned out and/or end up injured and they're very dependent on him. Don't know what they can do to lessen the burden specially with their finances.
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With his work rate I think there is no fear of being burnt out. He basically has Messi like levels of walking through games. :) I couldn't find any data can someone else find it? What distance he covered vs Real Madrid for example?

Even CharGPT was powerless:
I couldn’t find any publicly verified data indicating exactly how much distance Lamine Yamal covered in a specific match against Real Madrid CF.
Would you like me to check in paid-sport statistic databases (like Opta, StatsBomb) and attempt to access their match-reports (which may require subscription)?

Short answer: I couldn’t find a publicly available, verified figure for how many kilometres Lamine Yamal covered in the recent Real Madrid — Barcelona match.
What I checked (searches run)
  • Opta Player Stats / Opta match pages (they hold per-player GPS/physical metrics but their match pages are often behind a subscription). optaplayerstats.statsperform.com
  • Major public stat sites (WhoScored, SofaScore, FBref) — they show minutes, touches, xG, ratings, heatmaps, etc., but I didn’t find a published “distance covered (km)” number for Yamal in that specific clásico. WhoScored+2Sofascore+2
  • Specialist outlets (The Analyst / StatMuse / Transfermarkt) and match recaps — useful for many per-match stats, but no public per-player distance figure for Yamal in this match. Opta Analyst+2StatMuse+2
Why this is likely missing
  • Distance/physical tracking is routinely collected (Opta, StatsBomb, Wyscout, club GPS systems), but the exact km per player is often kept for internal/paying clients and not always released publicly.
    The Opta match page exists for that fixture, which suggests the data is available to subscribers — I just can’t find a free, published number. optaplayerstats.statsperform.com
 
Acheron said:
I don't know how hard he parties but this type of lifestyle would affect any footballer at this level. Having poor rest and alcohol are terrible for performance in any sport.
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Of course it hugely affects, I wasn't being literal and at the same time he still won't be the first one to do it (if he actually does it), at this age he can more than survive a party boy period, won't be the first one nor the last one...of course again it's far from a great carreer choice to embrace such behaviour.

Anyway, the idea behind what I've said it's that primarly to be his best self in the pitch, he has to go back to the way he started and leave certain tendencies I've mentioned, way more important than all the noise around his social life, his declarations, etc.
 
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Fobal said:
Of course it hugely affects, I wasn't being literal and at the same time he still won't be the first one to do it (if he actually does it), at this age he can more than survive a party boy period, won't be the first one nor the last one...of course again it's far from a great carreer choice to embrace such behaviour.

Anyway, the idea behind what I've said it's that primarly to be his best self in the pitch, he has to go back to the way he started and leave certain tendencies I've mentioned, way more important than all the noise around his social life, his declarations, etc.
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It will be interesting to see how he evolves. I do think he's a bellend and I like the way Real Madrid players handled him but I wouldn't conclude he's destined to fail because of that, at least not yet.
 
Acheron said:
It will be interesting to see how he evolves. I do think he's a bellend and I like the way Real Madrid players handled him but I wouldn't conclude he's destined to fail because of that, at least not yet.
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He shouldn't if those around in the club help him, his father on the other hand looks quite a handful
 
It's interesting to read quite unpleasant posts from grown men towards a very young man growing up in perhaps the most intense media spotlight of the last, what, near 30 years?

This is the biggest name at his current age since Ronaldo was lacing them up for PSV, even then, he, the most talked about teen of that time, only really went stratospheric during the Barcelona season, when he was 19-years old. Do you not comprehend the extreme difference in the growing pains Lamine Yamal might experience, even next to other teenage prodigies, who were not at the level of fame and standing he currently is... at an age where most of them hadn't made the name for themselves that they carried forth for a career.

Neymar is perhaps the next on the rung of being a true superstar by the age Yamal is now. Santos placed a lot of hope and pressure on him and also indulged his every whim. He had no concept of normal because he was so abnormally talented and that may well be the case for Yamal, but even then, the words in here seem to be harsh and premature. He had an elaborate birthday party, which wasn't the smartest of things to be doing, more so from the controversy than the grandeur, and he lives a life in the spotlight, but you have to ask if he sought that or whether it was thrust upon him.

If you "burst" onto the scene after 18, things are a little different and the narrative can be controlled somewhat for you by family and PR; you better get to live a preferred life and lifestyle as the foundations are already in place. When you're 15, 16 and making waves in the adult game so much so that your only peer to that point in time is Pele himself, you're screwed. Intrusion will be the name of the game and there will be no shying away from it or real means of preventing it permeating your formative years. It's beyond abnormal; it's the first time since the 1950's it has happened where it's not buzz and rumours, but actual real time performance in the adult game with the world watching.

Lamine Yamal became a household name at 16-years old. Not for what he might go on to do ala Rooney, but for what he was currently doing, which was being a star performer for his club and country and a contender for player of the tournament. He has no concept of normal, as even other prodigies might know and define it, which means his pitfalls as well as the probing into his life are going to continue to be unprecedented, where grown men have the knives out at the first instance, unabashed, seemingly. That is as bizarre as his life is.

We're watching him grow up before our eyes, like The Truman Show. It's bound to be a rocky road with pitfalls abound, how can it not be? Whatever shithouse teen you may or may not of been, few got to see it because you didn't have a global lens on your back. Petulance, feelings of invincibility, naivete and stupidity are par for the course for most at the age he is. Imagine that amplified by a magnitude of order nobody else can really relate to, and you have Lamine Yamal. Talk of his family and handlers bringing him into line is sweet and all, but if anyone had told 18-year old me what to do, I would probably have done the opposite out of defiance and thinking I know best, so bringing him in line isn't this Mary Poppins show some of you seem to think it is. One of the reasons or methods of keeping you in line your parents had is that you, more than likely, still lived in their house, under their rules with their financial support being paramount, so what do you actually think people on the team, or in the family of a global superstar can actually do to bring him in line, other than to appeal to him on an emotional level? Send him to his room? Threaten him with financial support being removed... his reality is not based or congruent with yours or even most (all) 18-year old footballers.

What we can hope is that he simply has good people around him who won't lead or encourage him down the darker paths that 18-year olds are wont to explore. It's a 50:50 in itself because friendship groups can have wronguns in them or people who are massive [negative] influences on others. Difference is, most of us trip and stumble and find ourselves after sampling some/a lot of what life has to offer at that age. His own professionalism and, hopefully, desire to be the best will keep that in line, more likely than some Dungeon Master sage giving him wise words he can't help but follow.

As some are mirroring him with Neymar, we should then recall what 17-20 year old Neymar was about, and that was being extremely driven and obsessed with bettering himself, carrying his club and carefully mapping out his big move to Europe. Neymar really corrupted once he left Barca, and that was because a club indulged him to a point that is almost unheard of (and they did the same thing again with Mbappe). Teen into early 20's Neymar was a player burning with fire and desire to make club and country proud, so please use some context and don't layer trace PSG Neymar onto Yamal's fate whilst skipping out the formative conditions that got him there.

To finish, chatting shit, being cocky, overstating your mark is all standard fare for an 18-year old footballer, it's more a case that most haven't made a mark or had microphones and a platform to be out there running their mouths. There's also the matter that the biggest "burn" at that age tends to be public humiliation and being ribbed or made a mockery of for not coming through on big words. That will be Yamal's grounding here; he'll be more sure to either back his words or not speak so boldly the next time - growing pains - the collective we learn this and it rounds us out into the marvellous people we go on to become... I should imagine in Yamal's world, becoming a meme or social media trend for egg on your face is the grounding not much else could provide. An ego check you can't do anything but endure until it blows over.

Anyway, context is the order of the day with such a freakish occurrence as this kid is; if you're expecting "normal" from his journey then you haven't been paying attention to the bubble he lives - and will continue to live - in.
 
He was somewhat useless in that game but his passing range is impeccable, rarely seen anyone performing an outside the foot pass so consistently.
 
Fortitude said:
It's interesting to read quite unpleasant posts from grown men towards a very young man growing up in perhaps the most intense media spotlight of the last, what, near 30 years?

This is the biggest name at his current age since Ronaldo was lacing them up for PSV, even then, he, the most talked about teen of that time, only really went stratospheric during the Barcelona season, when he was 19-years old. Do you not comprehend the extreme difference in the growing pains Lamine Yamal might experience, even next to other teenage prodigies, who were not at the level of fame and standing he currently is... at an age where most of them hadn't made the name for themselves that they carried forth for a career.

Neymar is perhaps the next on the rung of being a true superstar by the age Yamal is now. Santos placed a lot of hope and pressure on him and also indulged his every whim. He had no concept of normal because he was so abnormally talented and that may well be the case for Yamal, but even then, the words in here seem to be harsh and premature. He had an elaborate birthday party, which wasn't the smartest of things to be doing, more so from the controversy than the grandeur, and he lives a life in the spotlight, but you have to ask if he sought that or whether it was thrust upon him.

If you "burst" onto the scene after 18, things are a little different and the narrative can be controlled somewhat for you by family and PR; you better get to live a preferred life and lifestyle as the foundations are already in place. When you're 15, 16 and making waves in the adult game so much so that your only peer to that point in time is Pele himself, you're screwed. Intrusion will be the name of the game and there will be no shying away from it or real means of preventing it permeating your formative years. It's beyond abnormal; it's the first time since the 1950's it has happened where it's not buzz and rumours, but actual real time performance in the adult game with the world watching.

Lamine Yamal became a household name at 16-years old. Not for what he might go on to do ala Rooney, but for what he was currently doing, which was being a star performer for his club and country and a contender for player of the tournament. He has no concept of normal, as even other prodigies might know and define it, which means his pitfalls as well as the probing into his life are going to continue to be unprecedented, where grown men have the knives out at the first instance, unabashed, seemingly. That is as bizarre as his life is.

We're watching him grow up before our eyes, like The Truman Show. It's bound to be a rocky road with pitfalls abound, how can it not be? Whatever shithouse teen you may or may not of been, few got to see it because you didn't have a global lens on your back. Petulance, feelings of invincibility, naivete and stupidity are par for the course for most at the age he is. Imagine that amplified by a magnitude of order nobody else can really relate to, and you have Lamine Yamal. Talk of his family and handlers bringing him into line is sweet and all, but if anyone had told 18-year old me what to do, I would probably have done the opposite out of defiance and thinking I know best, so bringing him in line isn't this Mary Poppins show some of you seem to think it is. One of the reasons or methods of keeping you in line your parents had is that you, more than likely, still lived in their house, under their rules with their financial support being paramount, so what do you actually think people on the team, or in the family of a global superstar can actually do to bring him in line, other than to appeal to him on an emotional level? Send him to his room? Threaten him with financial support being removed... his reality is not based or congruent with yours or even most (all) 18-year old footballers.

What we can hope is that he simply has good people around him who won't lead or encourage him down the darker paths that 18-year olds are wont to explore. It's a 50:50 in itself because friendship groups can have wronguns in them or people who are massive [negative] influences on others. Difference is, most of us trip and stumble and find ourselves after sampling some/a lot of what life has to offer at that age. His own professionalism and, hopefully, desire to be the best will keep that in line, more likely than some Dungeon Master sage giving him wise words he can't help but follow.

As some are mirroring him with Neymar, we should then recall what 17-20 year old Neymar was about, and that was being extremely driven and obsessed with bettering himself, carrying his club and carefully mapping out his big move to Europe. Neymar really corrupted once he left Barca, and that was because a club indulged him to a point that is almost unheard of (and they did the same thing again with Mbappe). Teen into early 20's Neymar was a player burning with fire and desire to make club and country proud, so please use some context and don't layer trace PSG Neymar onto Yamal's fate whilst skipping out the formative conditions that got him there.

To finish, chatting shit, being cocky, overstating your mark is all standard fare for an 18-year old footballer, it's more a case that most haven't made a mark or had microphones and a platform to be out there running their mouths. There's also the matter that the biggest "burn" at that age tends to be public humiliation and being ribbed or made a mockery of for not coming through on big words. That will be Yamal's grounding here; he'll be more sure to either back his words or not speak so boldly the next time - growing pains - the collective we learn this and it rounds us out into the marvellous people we go on to become... I should imagine in Yamal's world, becoming a meme or social media trend for egg on your face is the grounding not much else could provide. An ego check you can't do anything but endure until it blows over.

Anyway, context is the order of the day with such a freakish occurrence as this kid is; if you're expecting "normal" from his journey then you haven't been paying attention to the bubble he lives - and will continue to live - in.
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Great post.
 
Acheron said:
It will be interesting to see how he evolves. I do think he's a bellend and I like the way Real Madrid players handled him but I wouldn't conclude he's destined to fail because of that, at least not yet.
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He's too good to fail. The only thing that can stop him is injury.
 
Kwabs said:
He's too good to fail. The only thing that can stop him is injury.
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More than failing and injuries, there has been always an assessment on his atributes (and even historical comparisons with the past) that in my view it's not that accurate that seems it has even affect his very own perception of his game, that he has to re align.

In other words I've felt since day one he played almost perfectly acording to what he has in his bag (future can provide even more, less (not that likely) or stay there that would be enough).

I'm talking about just football, because like Fortitude said, he is a kid and there is too much nonsense regarding his life outside the pitch, we don't even know how is it and it's extremely logical for him (with the kind of insane exposure this current world provides) just for being a kid in this context to be overwhelmed by that.
 
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Kwabs said:
Like what?
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Loss of drive, off the field distractions etc.
Fame has come very early for him and it can become abit too much for a teenager without the right kind of people around him. With the kind of things he says at times and does on the pitch, sometimes it feels like the fame is getting to him. Talentwise, I don't doubt him at all (although I do think that Messi is a superior talent), he is generational.
 
Kwabs said:
He's too good to fail. The only thing that can stop him is injury.
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Not the only thing. He may fall a victim of his own early fame (and pursue Greenwood route one way or another).

He needs people around to keep him humbled, but it doesn’t look like there are any
 
Wand of a right foot said:
Loss of drive, off the field distractions etc.
Fame has come very early for him and it can become abit too much for a teenager without the right kind of people around him. With the kind of things he says at times and does on the pitch, sometimes it feels like the fame is getting to him. Talentwise, I don't doubt him at all (although I do think that Messi is a superior talent), he is generational.
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None of this is a concern for me. As I said, avoiding serious or recurring injuries is the only key.
 
Alemar said:
Not the only thing. He may fall a victim of his own early fame (and pursue Greenwood route one way or another).

He needs people around to keep him humbled, but it doesn’t look like there are any
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But this is the whole point. He's in a different stratosphere to someone like Greenwood in terms of ability, so the only thing that is needed is health. The rest will take care of itself. Which is not to say he won't have ups and downs, but every career has ups and downs. It's also not to say that he'll play till he's 40, but not everyone wants to play until they're 40.

Bottom line, there isn't an example that anyone here can give me of a player who fell by the wayside (due to off the field stuff) who was anywhere near as good at this age as Yamal is now. Not one.

So I'm only concerned about fitness.
 
Fortitude said:
It's interesting to read quite unpleasant posts from grown men towards a very young man growing up in perhaps the most intense media spotlight of the last, what, near 30 years?

This is the biggest name at his current age since Ronaldo was lacing them up for PSV, even then, he, the most talked about teen of that time, only really went stratospheric during the Barcelona season, when he was 19-years old. Do you not comprehend the extreme difference in the growing pains Lamine Yamal might experience, even next to other teenage prodigies, who were not at the level of fame and standing he currently is... at an age where most of them hadn't made the name for themselves that they carried forth for a career.

Neymar is perhaps the next on the rung of being a true superstar by the age Yamal is now. Santos placed a lot of hope and pressure on him and also indulged his every whim. He had no concept of normal because he was so abnormally talented and that may well be the case for Yamal, but even then, the words in here seem to be harsh and premature. He had an elaborate birthday party, which wasn't the smartest of things to be doing, more so from the controversy than the grandeur, and he lives a life in the spotlight, but you have to ask if he sought that or whether it was thrust upon him.

If you "burst" onto the scene after 18, things are a little different and the narrative can be controlled somewhat for you by family and PR; you better get to live a preferred life and lifestyle as the foundations are already in place. When you're 15, 16 and making waves in the adult game so much so that your only peer to that point in time is Pele himself, you're screwed. Intrusion will be the name of the game and there will be no shying away from it or real means of preventing it permeating your formative years. It's beyond abnormal; it's the first time since the 1950's it has happened where it's not buzz and rumours, but actual real time performance in the adult game with the world watching.

Lamine Yamal became a household name at 16-years old. Not for what he might go on to do ala Rooney, but for what he was currently doing, which was being a star performer for his club and country and a contender for player of the tournament. He has no concept of normal, as even other prodigies might know and define it, which means his pitfalls as well as the probing into his life are going to continue to be unprecedented, where grown men have the knives out at the first instance, unabashed, seemingly. That is as bizarre as his life is.

We're watching him grow up before our eyes, like The Truman Show. It's bound to be a rocky road with pitfalls abound, how can it not be? Whatever shithouse teen you may or may not of been, few got to see it because you didn't have a global lens on your back. Petulance, feelings of invincibility, naivete and stupidity are par for the course for most at the age he is. Imagine that amplified by a magnitude of order nobody else can really relate to, and you have Lamine Yamal. Talk of his family and handlers bringing him into line is sweet and all, but if anyone had told 18-year old me what to do, I would probably have done the opposite out of defiance and thinking I know best, so bringing him in line isn't this Mary Poppins show some of you seem to think it is. One of the reasons or methods of keeping you in line your parents had is that you, more than likely, still lived in their house, under their rules with their financial support being paramount, so what do you actually think people on the team, or in the family of a global superstar can actually do to bring him in line, other than to appeal to him on an emotional level? Send him to his room? Threaten him with financial support being removed... his reality is not based or congruent with yours or even most (all) 18-year old footballers.

What we can hope is that he simply has good people around him who won't lead or encourage him down the darker paths that 18-year olds are wont to explore. It's a 50:50 in itself because friendship groups can have wronguns in them or people who are massive [negative] influences on others. Difference is, most of us trip and stumble and find ourselves after sampling some/a lot of what life has to offer at that age. His own professionalism and, hopefully, desire to be the best will keep that in line, more likely than some Dungeon Master sage giving him wise words he can't help but follow.

As some are mirroring him with Neymar, we should then recall what 17-20 year old Neymar was about, and that was being extremely driven and obsessed with bettering himself, carrying his club and carefully mapping out his big move to Europe. Neymar really corrupted once he left Barca, and that was because a club indulged him to a point that is almost unheard of (and they did the same thing again with Mbappe). Teen into early 20's Neymar was a player burning with fire and desire to make club and country proud, so please use some context and don't layer trace PSG Neymar onto Yamal's fate whilst skipping out the formative conditions that got him there.

To finish, chatting shit, being cocky, overstating your mark is all standard fare for an 18-year old footballer, it's more a case that most haven't made a mark or had microphones and a platform to be out there running their mouths. There's also the matter that the biggest "burn" at that age tends to be public humiliation and being ribbed or made a mockery of for not coming through on big words. That will be Yamal's grounding here; he'll be more sure to either back his words or not speak so boldly the next time - growing pains - the collective we learn this and it rounds us out into the marvellous people we go on to become... I should imagine in Yamal's world, becoming a meme or social media trend for egg on your face is the grounding not much else could provide. An ego check you can't do anything but endure until it blows over.

Anyway, context is the order of the day with such a freakish occurrence as this kid is; if you're expecting "normal" from his journey then you haven't been paying attention to the bubble he lives - and will continue to live - in.
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‘indulged his every whim’

This is the root of the problem for me. Clubs create monsters from a very young age…as far back as 11,12,13 if there’s high hopes for them. they won’t be told ‘no’

I don’t know the guy (obvs) but based purely on his attitude on the pitch there doesn’t appear to be much to like. I’d be embarrassed if my son at that age had a god complex about him. Too much too soon

Why can’t we see a bit more humility, respect and unpretentious behaviour from young elite footballers.

Look at the state of Garnacho and Rashford.

In fairness I blame the clubs. How do we go from an academy player chasing down every ball and celebrating wildly when they score to being an lazy, insufferable, miserable cnut that points to his head to make a point to the fans after every goal. Clubs enable it and almost encourage it to further the brand
 
Kwabs said:
But this is the whole point. He's in a different stratosphere to someone like Greenwood in terms of ability, so the only thing that is needed is health. The rest will take care of itself. Which is not to say he won't have ups and downs, but every career has ups and downs. It's also not to say that he'll play till he's 40, but not everyone wants to play until they're 40.

Bottom line, there isn't an example that anyone here can give me of a player who fell by the wayside (due to off the field stuff) who was anywhere near as good at this age as Yamal is now. Not one.

So I'm only concerned about fitness.
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Morrison
 
Kwabs said:
But this is the whole point. He's in a different stratosphere to someone like Greenwood in terms of ability, so the only thing that is needed is health. The rest will take care of itself. Which is not to say he won't have ups and downs, but every career has ups and downs. It's also not to say that he'll play till he's 40, but not everyone wants to play until they're 40.

Bottom line, there isn't an example that anyone here can give me of a player who fell by the wayside (due to off the field stuff) who was anywhere near as good at this age as Yamal is now. Not one.

So I'm only concerned about fitness.
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Ok..not at 18 but Ronaldinho went off the boil real fast during his prime due to off the field issues. Adriano is another example but obviously not as talented.
 
Kwabs said:
But this is the whole point. He's in a different stratosphere to someone like Greenwood in terms of ability, so the only thing that is needed is health. The rest will take care of itself. Which is not to say he won't have ups and downs, but every career has ups and downs. It's also not to say that he'll play till he's 40, but not everyone wants to play until they're 40.

Bottom line, there isn't an example that anyone here can give me of a player who fell by the wayside (due to off the field stuff) who was anywhere near as good at this age as Yamal is now. Not one.

So I'm only concerned about fitness.
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Robinho. Flew into the Madrid team 1st choice attacker at the age of 20. Was an absolute wonderkid in the Brazilian leagues and well, the rest is history.

Yoann Gourcuff was literally hyped as the next Zidane. Scored one of the most outrageous goals I've ever seen too.

But the killer one is Antonio Cassano - was outrageous as a kid - 18 years old and Roma first team. Had the world at his feet. Unfortunately being a grade A wanker stopped him from making it to the very top.
 
Kwabs said:
But this is the whole point. He's in a different stratosphere to someone like Greenwood in terms of ability, so the only thing that is needed is health. The rest will take care of itself. Which is not to say he won't have ups and downs, but every career has ups and downs. It's also not to say that he'll play till he's 40, but not everyone wants to play until they're 40.

Bottom line, there isn't an example that anyone here can give me of a player who fell by the wayside (due to off the field stuff) who was anywhere near as good at this age as Yamal is now. Not one.

So I'm only concerned about fitness.
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Things are different from how they used to be. Physical performance levels today are much higher. A lot more work is required to maintain those levels to be competitive. Besides, a lack of motivation can lead to behaviours that negatively affect physical condition, including an increased risk of injury and slower recovery.
 
Wand of a right foot said:
Ok..not at 18 but Ronaldinho went off the boil real fast during his prime due to off the field issues. Adriano is another example but obviously not as talented.
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Ronaldinho is one of the greatest players of all time. You've just proved what I'm saying.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
Robinho. Flew into the Madrid team 1st choice attacker at the age of 20. Was an absolute wonderkid in the Brazilian leagues and well, the rest is history.

Yoann Gourcuff was literally hyped as the next Zidane. Scored one of the most outrageous goals I've ever seen too.

But the killer one is Antonio Cassano - was outrageous as a kid - 18 years old and Roma first team. Had the world at his feet. Unfortunately being a grade A wanker stopped him from making it to the very top.
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All of this just shows that you don't realise how good Yamal actually is. Robinho was not a second place Ballon D'Or finisher playing for Real Madrid at 18, or a star in a major international tournament at 16. In fact, Robinho's highest finish in the Ballon D'Or in his entire career was 9th, when he was 23. The other examples you've given are way off base as well.
 
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cly9472r5dpo

Barcelona and Spain midfielder Pedri is set for a significant spell out after suffering a tear in his hamstring.

On Wednesday, Barcelona confirmed that the 22-year-old had a tear in the distal biceps femoris muscle in his left thigh.
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FFS Barca please don't do to Yamal what you've done to the other 9 wonderkids in the past decade.

Give him rest ffs.
 
Kwabs said:
All of this just shows that you don't realise how good Yamal actually is. Robinho was not a second place Ballon D'Or finisher playing for Real Madrid at 18, or a star in a major international tournament at 16. In fact, Robinho's highest finish in the Ballon D'Or in his entire career was 9th, when he was 23. The other examples you've given are way off base as well.
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You asked for examples of amazing young talents who didn't fulfill their potential due to off-field issues.

I've given you three.

Now you've changed the goalposts to, "Well, akshually they aren't as good as Lamine Yamal."

Clearly the point that's being made is, "Great talent on its own isn't enough."
 
Vitro said:
Things are different from how they used to be. Physical performance levels today are much higher. A lot more work is required to maintain those levels to be competitive. Besides, a lack of motivation can lead to behaviours that negatively affect physical condition, including an increased risk of injury and slower recovery.
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There is no evidence that he doesn't work hard. People just like to believe that.
 
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