Lamine Yamal’s name is all over the football world. The Barcelona wonderkid started his first LaLiga game for the club against Cadiz and is expected to get more game time under Xavi. He came into the limelight after making his debut last season. The forward is still 16 and is expected to play more first-team football at Barcelona.
The 16-year-old started on the right flank against Cadiz. Raphinha was suspended for the match, and Lamal got an opportunity ahead of the other players. Lamine Yamal had a decent pre-season. He was involved with the Spanish U17 side in the recently concluded U17 Euros. Yamal finished as the joint-top scorer in the tournament.
Barcelona’s financial problems have restricted them from buying players. This means that Xavi will be dependent on these young players. We now look at some of the reasons why the World Cup winner should trust this 16-year-old talent.
Goal-scoring and Creative threat
Lamine Yamal headed into the 2023–24 season with some goals to his name. Having failed to score in the first match of the Euro U17, Lamal went on to score a goal in each of his next four games. The above shot map shows all 15 attempts he made in the tournament. Only five were on target, but the goals have been scored in the far corner. Lamal is a left-footer, and he opened his body nicely three times to beat the goalkeeper.
In the match against Cadiz, Lamal attempted two shots from similar positions and made the goalkeeper work on both occasions.
Lamine Yamal also created two goals for his teammates in the Euro U17 championship. The above viz shows the winger’s actions, including dribbles and crosses. It can be observed that Lamal not only likes to stretch the defence with his footwork, but he also tries to come to the centre and dribble past the players. He often managed to penetrate the opposition penalty box and averaged around 2.9 touches inside the box per 90 minutes. His dribbling also had a 50% success rate.
The penetration carries show that Lamal likes to cut inside and then attempt his cross or dribbles. This allows the full-back to make runs down the flank and open up the opposition’s defence.
Decent start to the first full season
Lamine Yamal has featured in both LaLiga games for Barcelona in 2023–24. He played 30 minutes in the first game and started the second match. The above image shows that Yamal stayed wide and was not trying to cut inside. Most of the actions that he performed were around the right flank only. He played against some of the top players in the world and had a low dribble success rate of 33.3%. The crosses were also a bit inaccurate and had a 25% success rate. But one thing that saves him from these stats is his age factor. Yamal is only 16 and gave everything to the first team.
Most of the managers expect their forward players to track back and defend the goal. Lamal covered the defensive territory as well and managed to make two interceptions against Cadiz.
Lamine Yamal is very young and will learn a lot about playing with the big boys. LaLiga is a very competitive league and will teach him a lot. Xavi is likely to give him more playing time in the future and Yamal might make his UEFA Champions League debut this season.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
