He's what, born 1990?His dad was 12 when Pepe made his professional debut
Lamine Yamal | Now 17 Year Old Barca Wonderkid
- Thread starter Hoof the ball
- Start date
I don't think that's how it works. La Masia has a huge cultural component. Spain in general and the Barca environment in particular place a much higher emphasis on technicality and football IQ. Scouts prioritize different attributes, fans celebrate different types of players than in England or Germany and most importantly, those youth products flourish because they are playing together with others that think and play the same.
If you just take two coaches and expect them to change the whole culture at a club like United, they'd probably burn out really quick because they constantly encounter resistance to change. I'd be willing to bet that a few out of Gavi, Cubarsi, Yamal, Guiu, Fermin Lopez and Nico Gonzalez would have been sorted out at an early age at most clubs in England and Germany because they were considered not strong/big enough.
1989 apparently, he's 35.
It’s not about where you’re luring them to, rather where you’re trying to take them from.
There is a stronger sense of home, tradition, language and community in Catelonia than you find in most other places. FC Barcelona is the jewel in the crown of the Catalans - the brand the world over knows them for. To turn your back on the school that prepares youngsters for your greatest cathedral, just to earn more money would feel like a betrayal for many, and just alien to everything they stand for to others.
There will obviously be people who will leave and pursue careers elsewhere - many have done so for all manner of reasons, but you’re not going to headhunt the ones who have remained thus far, to come to Manchester just because you offer to pay them more.
We have a good academy and good youth coaches. Part of what makes La Masia so impressive, is the culture surrounded within it. A mix of what it is to be Catalan, with the ideas of Dutch total football that have grown there over decades.
Rather than poaching their coaches, we should be looking to emulate them by instilling our own culture - what does it mean to be Manchester United? What do we want talented young coaches from our local area and the local players they coach to be focusing on?
Reminds me of a theory I've heard before. Used to to be on another forum where someone came up with the idea that a lot of footballers have around 500 club games in them performing at close to their best. It seems to fit in a lot of cases. Mind you there's a lot of exceptions too, some don't reach that many and with modern sports science quite a few have now been able to eke out more. This was going back about 15 years. It was also a covenient number to pick I suppose as a lot of players traditionally hit that sort of number when they're around 32-34.
Still, I always remembered that and it would apply to Rooney and Hazard definitely. I suppose that if you get that many consistently top performances out of your career then to a large degree it doesn't really matter if you fall off at 30 or 36. Can certainly be sad to see someone decline at a relatively young but it's all equal in the end if that theory has any legs, you've done pretty well if you can reach 500 club games before your body gives out as a benchmark figure.
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His dad was 12 when Pepe made his professional debut
Jesus Navas was 22 when he was born.
Ryan Giggs was 33 when Lamine Yamal was born.
A career ending performance.
Likely Giggs is his true father then
Tell him to convince his son to join us, then.
Football's Luke Littler.
Let's not get carried away. He will be overplayed for the next couple of seasons, let's see what happens after that.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7206gj5w28o
In 2007, a young Lionel Messi posed for photos with a baby in the dressing room of the Camp Nou in Barcelona for a charity calendar photoshoot.
Messi, who was 20, was already making a name for himself and would go on to become arguably the greatest of all time.
But little did the photographer know that the baby would also make waves in international football less than 17 years later.
Messi was bathing Lamine Yamal - the 16-year-old who is taking the European Championships by storm.
No wonder Yamal is so talented, imagine being held by god on your first few days on earth.
I have a feeling Trippier is going to get cooked by Yamal and want to start with Shaw.
God? Our Smalling nullified him with an elbow to his nose.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7206gj5w28o
In 2007, a young Lionel Messi posed for photos with a baby in the dressing room of the Camp Nou in Barcelona for a charity calendar photoshoot.
Messi, who was 20, was already making a name for himself and would go on to become arguably the greatest of all time.
But little did the photographer know that the baby would also make waves in international football less than 17 years later.
Messi was bathing Lamine Yamal - the 16-year-old who is taking the European Championships by storm.
No wonder Yamal is so talented, imagine being held by god on your first few days on earth.
Either player will get cooked by him. Double teaming will be the only answer.
Struggling to beat Morata in training. Seems like Morata is really good in training.
This guy looks like the proper heir to Messi and Ronaldo rather than pretenders like Mbappe and Haaland.
Thread title needs updating, he’s 17.
Too old!
Well you say that, but Mbappe scored a goal in the World Cup final at age 19 to help France lift the ultimate prize in football.
With Lamine, there probably hasn't been a player so young who has performed so well on such a big stage since Pele. But the reason Pele is Pele is partly because when he was 17, he scored 2 goals in the World Cup final, to help his country win their first ever World Cup.
If we're going to say that Lamine is indeed the true heir to Messi and Ronaldo, then the Euros final is the kind of game where he has to prove it. I'm not saying he has to score necessarily, but a nation is relying on him to put in a performance that will help his team win. That's a lot of pressure for such a young player.
Physically he does not look like a 16 year old (17 year old today) that helps a lot!
Will be interesting to see him in 2-3 years to see if he keeps improving.
Will be interesting to see him in 2-3 years to see if he keeps improving.
In three years he'll be the next ansu fati, i.e. career destroyed by Barcelona overplaying him and rushing him back from serious injury.
He's either not really trying here, or he is being massively overhyped. Maybe a little of both?
I hope Lamine gets a nice birthday gift tomorrow.
Someone post that gif of Meryn Trant saying “too old”
Long way for him to reach the level and accomplishments of someone like Mbappe. Doesn’t look a Messi level (people have to realise how rare this actually is) talent albeit he does look superb.
A lot can change but if he continues this trajectory he's on right now, he will be the player of this generation and even then it's not actually his generation right now, he's basically a few years early.
Definitely the best 16 year old I've seen since Rooney. (Messi debuted at 17) I'm actually getting tired of hearing about his age now (as are probably many others) but to perform as he has; potentially player of the tournament (with a good final) and young player of the tournament at 16 or 17+1 day, is outrageous.
Trying not to get too hyped as been burnt with many promising talents over the years but this kid just gives me those Messi excitement vibes and although Pedri and Ansu are talented and were called generational, this is something else.
Definitely the best 16 year old I've seen since Rooney. (Messi debuted at 17) I'm actually getting tired of hearing about his age now (as are probably many others) but to perform as he has; potentially player of the tournament (with a good final) and young player of the tournament at 16 or 17+1 day, is outrageous.
Trying not to get too hyped as been burnt with many promising talents over the years but this kid just gives me those Messi excitement vibes and although Pedri and Ansu are talented and were called generational, this is something else.
You don't have a crystal ball, fella.
Rib tickling….
Hasn't really done anything since turning 17, has he? Decline coming fast!
Summer school for the kid.
Principle Shaw teaching him a lesson.
Principle Shaw teaching him a lesson.
Overrated little shit.
Nothing to Fatboy
Over the hill (until he's not again)
Hopefully curls one in top bins from 25 yards in the second half.