He's genuinely not even in best in the world in his position debates anymore right now
He's in best in the world debates. Fecking madness
He's in best in the world debates. Fecking madness
Lamine Yamal | Now 17 Year Old Barca Wonderkid
- Thread starter Hoof the ball
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran are here to talk about a frustrating 2 points dropped at Crystal Palace. They then discuss the regeneration of Old Trafford. Finally, Nik is joined by special guest Michael Statham from the Football Oranje podcast - who gives us a more in depth look at our EL opposition FC Twente, and then runs through the (many) Dutch connections currently at United.
I recall just a while back someone in this thread called him a sanchez/pedro level player IF he fulfills his potential. Had a laugh then and just had another laugh remembering that
Legit one of the best in the world right now
I could've made that pass. No defence, no pressure. Good player, but this standard.
Yup, I could dribble like messi, jump and head like ronaldo and goalkeep like Neuer too. Too bad I am not interested in a career in football
If you made that pass in a dream you'd wake up to a broken ankle
Neither Rooney nor Fabregas were considered anywhere near being the best in their position when they were 17. And it's not even like Yamal is turning 18 anytime soon, he just turned 17 a few months ago!
This kid is insanely good but my worry will always be that he's being overworked and will burn out at a young age and not fulfill his talent. While he is arguably the best right winger in the world, Ferran Torres isn't exactly a poor player and can easily play in his place for resting.
If Rooney or Fabregas were breaking through now they would be.
What? No they wouldn't. Rooney scored 6 goals the season he became 17 year and Fabregas was still breaking through Arsenal at that age.
I can understand with Rooney the comment is more talking about the dearth of strikers today but even then he wouldn't be considered better, or even close to, Haaland, Kane, Lewandowski, Mbappe etc.
Rooney in Euro 2004 was insane. I can’t remember how old exactly he was but he was 17/18. It’s similar to Yamal.
He was 18 and a few months away from being 19. Yamal was 16 in the Euros until the day before the final
its genuinely hilarious how young and good he is right now. There is no one I've seen who was making such an impact on international football at his age. I think the only thing comparable in history is Pele at the WC at 17.That being said, I think the climate of football is much different today than before, is true that young footballers are generally playing much more football than their predecessors at the same age and therefore getting exposure. Maybe some past players were as good at 16/17 but were more protected at their clubs, I remember Ronaldinho saying Messi was embarrassing them in training when he was 16 as well but Barca still brought him into the team steadily rather than starting him in every game.
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If you want to protect and nurture your asset, you manage those minutes the best you can. It’s actually cautionary, the players you’ve mentioned as they’re precisely the road not to follow given both were shadows of themselves by 30.
I’m all for protecting Yamal at his age — but that’s because he is still a literal child. Not really convinced by this shadows of themselves by 30 talk. If Rooney started at 20 and finished at 34 instead of 17 and 30 it’s just a much of a muchness. Rooney and Fabregas both played an awful amount of football at the highest level. They declined early, sure, but that’s because of the obvious answer of them peaking earlier. In the grand scheme, the total amount of football was on par with the vast bulk of the other quality players of their generation who came through a few years after them. (Outside of freak outliers like Ronaldo, Modric etc)
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Yamal’s was key to winning Spain a European title and is Barcelona’s best player. Putting him on the bench for Ferran Torres just isn’t really going to fly. The expectations have been set for both player and club (and nation).
Sounds wonderful until he breaks down and then there’s no conundrum to solve.
Barca/Spain have form for ruining youngsters and it’s a needless gauntlet to run (finding out if he’s durable enough to handle the men’s game and full calendar). This’d be an even bigger tragedy than Pedri, which I didn’t think was possible this cycle.