Most entertaining player since Ronaldinho? 👀 Derek Rae on Lamine Yamal’s stellar season ⭐️ | ESPN FC
Derek Rae on Lamine Yamal: a Ronaldinho-like entertainer who brings joy back to football
The video discusses Lamine Yamal's breakout season, with guests comparing his impact to Ronaldinho and asking why football has lost some of its joy. The conclusion is that Yamal is both entertaining and winning, while modern coaching's emphasis on structure and possession is stifling creativity in others.
- Yamal's impact reminds him of Ronaldinho at Camp Nou — They are different players, with Yamal on the right cutting onto his left foot, but the level of impact and entertainment is comparable; Rae commentated on many of Ronaldinho's early matches
- Yamal has brought joy and entertainment back to football almost every game — Modern discussion focuses heavily on tactics and structure, but Yamal makes people enjoy individual brilliance again; he may be quiet for a match or two, but not for long
- Yamal is the most exciting player in world football, and the Ronaldinho comparison is fair but not exact — Ronaldinho arrived at Barcelona as a more seasoned professional, while Yamal has grown from a 16-year-old in the Barcelona first team; he entertains and wins, like a throwback fans feared was lost
- Coaches are the main reason football has lost fun, prioritizing possession and structure over freedom in the final third — Too many coaches stop players from taking risks one-v-one near the box; in the Premier League such situations often end with the ball back near the halfway line; Yamal is lucky to have a coach who lets him express himself in the final third
- Many players with Yamal-like ability end up in the wrong team and never get the chance to show it — Yamal is special, but there are more talented players than it seems; if given the opportunity, more would try what he does, and the biggest problem is that coaches and environments limit opportunity
- Street football teaches freedom and creativity, but skills must be effective rather than pure showboating — Yamal's moves are not just to toy with defenders; he beats a defender and crosses for a goal, or uses a Cruyff turn to finish into the far corner, which is why he is enjoyable
- Listening to coaches too much turns players into robots; they need to keep creativity after doing the tactical basics — Players must do enough to get on the field and stay there, but after that they should express themselves; turning that creativity into effective output makes them entertaining, otherwise they are just robots
Derek Rae, Steve Nicol, Shaka Hislop and Mario Melchiot join Alexis Nunes on ESPN FC to discuss Lamine Yamal’s outstanding season and his potential to go down as an all-time great. ✔️ Subscribe to ESPN Unlimited: https://plus.espn.com/ ESPN ESPNFC
Transcript
This is a look at the sport newspaper Heno E figura just an absolute genius that we have seen on the pitch in the form of Lamin for Barcelona. It has been such a joy to watch him especially over the last two games that Barcelona have had in the Champions League and back in La Liga. So we have to welcome in the man, the myth, the legend, the voice that is Derek Ryer. And welcome back Mario, of course. Mario, I'm going to start with you on this one because Mario. Yeah, >> we've got Mario. >> By the way, Mario's here. >> You guys are here with me. Mario's still here with hanging around. [laughter] >> I thought you were supposed to go to go. Eric, we're going to talk to you in a bit about Real Madrid cuz you were on that call. But when you look at Lamin and especially, you've been calling games for a very long time right now. We're not going to age you, but have you ever seen anything like this? You know what, Alexis? He actually reminds me a little bit in terms of the impact of the impact that Ronaldo had at camp now going back to the 2000s. And I was very lucky to commentate on pretty much all of Ronaldinho's early matches. And they're different players, of course, and Laminal is operating on the right and cutting in onto his left foot. But I thought Mario summed it up really well there. and he used two instructive words, joy and entertain. And is it the case I'll just sort of pose the question for the rest of you maybe to to tag on to. Have we lost the joy and the entertainment to an extent? We speak a lot about tactics nowadays, rightly so, structures within a team, but this is a player who has brought back the joy pretty much every game. I know, you know, until recently we were saying where is he? maybe just for a couple of matches, but we don't say that for very long. And we should be delighting in watching these individuals. You know, Mario grew up with a lot of players from his country who were entertainers who had that view of football, that vision and that natural talent. And personally, I think we're very lucky on ESPN to have the privilege of watching Lamin Yamal as often as we do. >> Check. We really are lucky to be watching this week in week out. >> It really is. I mean, um, as exciting players go, there there's none like him in the world. And while Derek is right to draw those comparisons to to Ronaldo, Ronaldo arrived at camp now as a more seasoned professional. >> You've kind of seen Laminal grow up >> from being introduced as a 16year-old in in the Barcelona [clears throat] first team um to where he is now, ripe old age of 19. But you've seen we've been able to enjoy every step of what that development looks like to see him be the player that he is today. And as as both both Mario and Derek pointed out, we've kind of at times we've kind of gone away from that because it is a result oriented business. Um, and that has been the focus. But to see somebody who is just as entertaining as as Lamin Mal, who wins as many football games as as Lein Mal in doing that is just a throwback to a time that we as fans >> kind of feared were lost. >> CB, you feel like we've kind of lost that fun part of the game, that joy, that kind of Joab Bonito? >> Couldn't I couldn't agree with Derek more. And the reason is because of coaches. >> Yeah. You know the >> keeping the ball is more important now than a guy like Y meanal doing what he does for too many coaches. You know Y meanal sorry Lin was going to say him too. Yeah, Lamin has got a coach that allows him to express himself and then in positions in the final third he says >> you do what you do >> up until that final third this is how we structure this is how the team is structured but when you get into a position in the final third >> I I can't I can't teach you the game I can't tell you what to do >> you go and show us what you can do and too many coaches don't allow the players to do that how many times do we see teams particularly in the Premier League. >> Name them. You know you want them. >> There's there's too many. There's too many of them. You'll get a one-on-one with the defender up and around the penalty box in the corner where Y min we just saw him doing something absolutely fantastic. And what happens? The ball ends up at the halfway line. >> That's the problem. People that have ability like Yin Mal, too many end up in the wrong team >> and don't get the opportunity to show exactly what they can do. And now let's be honest, Le is absolutely different. >> Yeah, >> it's not it's not like there's a hundred of them hiding somewhere they don't get a chance. He is special, >> but there would be an awful lot more people trying to do what he does if they were given the opportunity. I think that's the biggest problem. >> Mario, you sound like you agree with Stevie that coaches are the ones ruining all the fun. >> Yeah, because you know why? Because look, okay, street football, you understand? That's what we all grew up with, right? Definitely coming from Holland, it was a lot of street football, you understand? And and what that was one of my dreams as well, you understand? To create one when I became a pro because on the street is what we learn the ability um to to be free and to do whatever you want to do. And that exactly that skill would we will bring that over to the field. And of course, you have people that overdo it. The ones that overdo it, don't make it. Why they don't make it? because they don't understand the target that you have to deliver. Your target is you can do a skill but make sure it's effective in what you want to succeed in. And that is what Yamal is doing. That's why we enjoying it because the kid is not stepping over the ball just primly just to you know uh take fun or enjoy you know playing with the defenders. No, he did a movement to get beyond the defender and then the crosses it for his teammate to score. Then he does a cry turn and then he gets it into the far corner. I'm just calling two tricks of him and he has more tricks. But the joy is if you listen to your coach, that's one thing that we always say. We might not like coaches don't like to hear that. But if you listen to your coach too much, my friend, and you do everything he says, you become a robot. But if you do, you know, like you give him the give him the the 50/50 feeling. do the things you have to do to be on the field and stay on the field, but after that it becomes about your own creativity. And if you can deliver that, you become joy to watch. And if not, you're a robot. >> Great advice from Mario. Don't listen to your coaches, kids. That's [laughter] out of my own. Rebel against authority. [laughter] [music] >> [music]