The Rise Of Lamine Yamal

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1:38Hello and welcome to the Rest is Football La Liga episode with Alex Aljo and me, Gary Lineker.

1:46Alan Shearer:Obviously no La Liga action this weekend, so we're going to do something a little bit different. We're going to look at the life, the relatively short life so far, of a certain Lamin Yemal. But before that, Alex, have you been enjoying the international break? What have you been up to? I have been enjoying the international break, Gary. I went to Portugal for a few days and as did Trent Alexander-Arnold. And we played paddle. So there's a place called the Campus in Quinta de Lago, which is amazing. Football pitch, gym, paddle courts, tennis courts, you name it. It's got it. So I was down there.

2:23I was actually, I was having a lesson and he was down there with his brother and they were playing singles. And I don't know if you've ever played paddle, but you can't really play. My boys play. Yeah, it's great. Well, two or three of them play. It's so good. But you can't really play singles. So they needed a couple more. So I played with Trent and we then got a random who, his friends had sacked him off. He was watching his friends play and we were like, do you want to come play with us? I bet you couldn't believe it. And he was like, oh, okay. So he played with Tyler, Trent's brother. And honestly, I've never played a more intense competitive game of paddle in my whole life.

3:03Show me a footballer and I'll show you someone who's competitive. Oh my goodness. But he's very, very good. Very good. He got everything back. I got pep talk after each point. Just no one forced errors, okay? No one forced errors. And then he was like, they'll make the mistakes. They'll make the mistakes. You know, celebrating points like it was a goal in the Champions League final. But we won. We won in three sets, tie break in the third. And then he made his brother do box-to-box sprints as a punishment. Fantastic. How was he? How was he? He's in good form. How was he saying about the life in Madrid?

3:38He loves Madrid so much. He loves Madrid. He's really happy out there. He actually said something really interesting, which I really liked. I asked him how the Spanish was going. And obviously he said to him, we thought you were brilliant in that press conference. And he said, well, I'd learned it. I said, no, it's irrelevant whether you'd learned it, you know, because it was so good. and you could easily learn it and then screw up on the day, couldn't you, with all that pressure? Anyway, he said, I'm really trying to learn and I have a lesson every week, but it's really annoying that they speak to me in English because they want to practice their English.

4:08And he was saying, you know, it's not that I want to practice my Spanish. Speak to me in Spanish. I've come to Madrid. So he's frustrated about that, but he's trying to speak as much as possible, which is brilliant because other players might say, oh, great that they're speaking to me in English, but it's obviously not his mindset. I think it's so important. I remember when I went to Barcelona and I did two or three lessons, three lessons a week, actually, for two years. But also hardly anyone did speak English back then. But now everyone does. And even when I go there now and I want to practice, like Trent, you want to practice it because obviously over time you forget words and grammatical errors and stuff.

4:44So it's so frustrating when you start speaking in Spanish and the reply in English. So I totally get that. I hope you said you're going to come on the pod. Oh, I didn't. I didn't actually. Oh, for crying out loud, Alex. But we can invite him on the pod. Massive failure there. Don't worry, don't worry. We'll sort that out. We'll sort that out. And I must mention, by the way, I did ask Alan. When we were looking for one more, I knew Alan was down there. Oh, wow. So I messaged him. I said, quickly, we need one more. And the reply was, I'm just getting the reply. He said, my knees, my ankles and my back are all killing me because he's been in Loch Lomond for seven days playing golf.

5:22So it was a no from Alan. I mean, come on, you both missed a trick. I know, we'll sort it out, we'll sort it out. Well, my weekend was nowhere near as interesting. What did you do? Oh, I had a glorious meal, actually.

5:36Alan Shearer:I had a place called Humble Chicken in Soho. Oh, I saw the photos. Two Michelin stars. Fantastic. Really, really brilliant. I was about to say, what did you eat? A rare treat. Oh, about 14, 15 courses. No, there's no chicken, actually. Oh, what? Not one bit of chicken. Are you kidding? No, I'm not kidding. It's kind of high-end tasting menus. The main course was actually pigeon, Anju pigeon, but it was, I'd never had pigeon before. I don't know if it's the pigeons off Trafalgar Square. Those are dirty pigeons. Nice clean pigeons. Yeah, no, it was great. It was really good. Anyway, we should discuss it because we're going to do a little special on Lamine Yemal and tell his story a little bit.

6:16And it is a remarkable story right from the beginning. In fact, even before he was born. Where to begin, really, with Laminya Mal. Should we start with his name? I think that's a really good place to start. Because his name isn't Laminya Mal, is it? Well, it is Laminya Mal. But it's also, but they've added to that because his actual, his full name, of course, is Laminya Mal Nasrari Ebana.

6:44Alan Shearer:And he was born on the 13th of July, 2007. So young. So young. So young. But the names Lamine Yamal come from the fact that his parents had a very difficult time before, well before Lamine was born. And they were helped out by two young men called, one was called Lamine and one was called Yamal. And his father, Lamine Yamal's father, promised them that should he have a son, that he would name it Lamin-Yumal. And they did. They held their word and he became Lamin-Yumal at that stage, I suspect. They didn't think that he would go on to be the superstar that he did. But then he was anointed by who?

7:38Messi. Lionel Messi. That famous picture. Honestly, you'd think that was AI, wouldn't you, if you saw that? I genuinely thought it was AI the first time, but it is real. His parents lived for free with Lamin, Yamal, which Lamin in Arabic means honesty and Yamal means beauty. So that's the meaning in Arabic. And so they won a competition linked with UNICEF to go and meet the Barcelona players when Lamin was just a baby. But then how does it, what I want to know, then how do you end up in Lionel Messi's arms being baptised? It takes a messier to spot a new one that's coming along. Something must have happened in that moment.

8:24I should know. I've followed a few. Yeah. Monty Python. Very good. Life of Brian there. But he's, yeah, I mean, what the chances? It's mind-blowing. You couldn't make it up really, could you? And now to think that he's wearing Lionel Messi's number 10 shirt at Barcelona, which obviously I would say is big pressure. We've spoken about this before, haven't we, on the pod? But I think they would not have given him Lionel Messi's number 10 shirt if they didn't think that he could handle it.

8:50Alan Shearer:I think he knows how good he is. He does. Yeah, absolutely. You can see it, can't you? He's so mature. So mature. Nation build up from Barstow. And the cross comes in and the header and the first goal of the season. So that was his upbringing. And then obviously he joined La Masia. When I was there, we used to train on the side of the Camp Nou. There was one pitch. It wasn't very good, but it was right in front of La Masia, which is like the home, isn't it? The place where, and it's where the young kids used to come and stay. Obviously, it's a different now, but the building is still there. It's different because they've got their incredible camp where they, their training ground.

9:30Alan Shearer:and that's where the young players used to come up and we all know how famous that La Masia is and how many incredible players it has produced including of course Lionel Messi himself and many, many others, Cesc Fabregas and all sorts of great players over many years and it was changed really by Johan Cruyff in my time who changed not necessarily the building and all that stuff but the way that they would play football and he's clearly benefited from that. He was seven, wasn't he, when he joined the academy there? And I think that's my question really. Do you think academies are a lot better now, which is why we're seeing these young players break through, younger, fitter, stronger.

10:16Do you think the academies are better now than they were back then?

10:20Alan Shearer:I think, yes, I think there's no question about that. And also for all sorts of reasons, the money that's in football, that allows them to get the best possible coaches for young players. The surfaces that they play on is a hugely important factor. And the facilities are incredible now when you go to academies, especially ones at clubs like Barcelona. So I think there's no doubt about that. Training has moved on. There's science behind it all as well. Even in our country, in England as well, Well, it's changed dramatically. And that's why England are now starting to produce incredible players with young talent because the facilities have got better.

11:06Alan Shearer:The coaching has got significantly better. If you go back to my time, obviously muddy pitches. How do you get the ball to the other end of the pitch? Well, you hump it. So therefore you get the biggest lad at the back, who's the strongest, and they're playing on full-size pitches. That's no longer the case. But that's another story. Interestingly, I saw that Lamine's hero growing up was not Messi, but another Barcelona player. Oh, who was his hero? It's a certain Neymar. Ah. Yeah, Neymar was the one that he absolutely loved growing up, which I found quite interesting. Wow. I mean, he wasn't bad either.

11:43Yeah, I just assumed it would be Lionel Messi. But I have seen him come out and say that he doesn't want to be compared. because obviously there's talk, will he reach the heights of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, he's 18 years old, give him a break. But I think he's also said, look, don't compare me to these players. I believe that he probably thinks I'm going to go on and be better than those two. And he easily could be. If you think what he's achieved already, Lionel Messi hadn't, Cristiano Ronaldo hadn't, certainly hadn't scored as many goals, provided as many assists as him. So, you know, he's ahead of them, if you like.

12:18I know there's a long way to go and he's still very young and anything can happen. But at this moment, he's ahead of them.

12:25Alan Shearer:Yeah, he is. It's extraordinary, actually. He's comfortably ahead of them. But he's played much more games at this age. And there seems to be a little bit of a movement in football towards, I don't know, players younger age seem to be getting more football. I mean, he's broken so many records now, hasn't he, for Barcelona and in La Liga. And I get that he doesn't want to be compared with Messi. Who would want to be compared with someone that good? It's probably in a similar way. I suppose Messi didn't really ever want to be compared with Diego Maradona. Because, I mean, I played against Diego two or three times.

13:04Alan Shearer:I played with him on one occasion. And I never thought in my lifetime that I'd see another player as good as Diego. and in the early days Messi was coming along and Pebblon was saying and I thought he's got some talent maybe he will be but they are different although the similarities between Messi and Maradona are all there and the same similarities are there with Lamin-Yumal although Lamin-Yumal probably physically is bigger he's taller than the other two I mean both Messi and Maradona were diminutive left-footed incredibly strong great extraordinary vision quite outstanding dribbling abilities and and also obviously finishing capabilities so to have that all round package and people you know I think it's sometimes unfair to bring Cristiano into this conversation because Cristiano is not that kind of player he's more of a striker he's a number I mean I know he used to play on the left and score lots of goals and he is skillful and he can do stuff but he's not that visionary that, I mean, he would disagree.

14:16And I get that. He's incredibly self-confident. Get him on the pod. He'll disagree. He wouldn't come on the pod. There's no chance. He wouldn't speak to anyone that doesn't think he's the best player of all time. And sadly, much as I love him, I've admired him and he's given me so much pleasure. He's not messy. Yeah. He's not. I think it's his decision-making, really, that sets him apart at 18 years old or even younger. But there was this moment in the Euros, Spain 2-1 up against France. And he had this opportunity. It was a one-on-one with Teo Hernandez and Spain on the counter. But, you know, 2-1 up.

14:52And I think most young players would have gone for goal. But at this moment, he obviously thought, no. He passed it back to Dani Carvajal and said to everyone, tranquila, tranquila, just before his 17th birthday, to show that kind of maturity. You know, maturity of a veteran, really. making a decision like that is very rare.

15:14Alan Shearer:Really rare. And then he took it another step further because he was given a little bit of grief, wasn't he, before the game by Rabiot, who basically said he's done nothing yet, really. He's done nothing yet. Words along those lines. And then obviously he came and he scored that goal where he cut in and he bent it in the top corner. A very typical Luminium Algoal, actually. So he's incredibly good at that particular finish. The first time I've obviously seen him on the television Euros was obviously when suddenly everyone started realising how good he was. But it was last season's Champions League when I was covering that incredible tie, the Barcelona-Inter Milan tie.

15:54First leg, absolutely incredible goal he scored. It feels like he scores in the big moments as well, those moments that really matter. And then the second leg at the San Siro. So he did everything but score in that game. I think nine shots, 102 touches or something ridiculous. But I remember watching him and I just thought, oh my goodness, what am I witnessing here? Unbelievable.

16:19Alan Shearer:Yeah. And after that game against the French, of course, in the semi-finally, he went to the press conference or even on the pitch, he was going, speak now, speak now, aimed at Rabiot. I mean, to have that sort of confidence. Some people could call it arrogance, but I can tell you now, if I was that good and he knows he's that good, that you would have that confidence in your own ability in a way that perhaps Cristiano has, whereas Messi's quieter, isn't he? Perhaps more humble. But Lamin-Umal, to be that confident so young, it'd be interesting to see how his personality develops. develops. Let's discuss perhaps the future and what might happen to him and where he might go after we take a short break.

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18:08Alan Shearer:Welcome back to the Rest is Football La Liga edition with Alex Algeo and me, Gary Inica. We're discussing the, let's say, reasonably talented youngster, Lamin Yamal. I mean, I don't think a player would have been as much talked about at his age than anybody I can remember, even Messi and Maradona, possibly Pelé because he scored two goals, of course, in the World Cup final in Sweden when he was only 17. So perhaps he would have been at the time, although with communications, how they've come on, I suspect he was hardly known at that particular time. Yeah, no, I totally agree with you. And I think often we see it the other way when there's all this hype about a player and then it's like, oh, okay, maybe not, you know.

18:57But with Laminia Mal in the Euros, obviously outstanding, Spain winning and he's such a key part. It's not like he was just a fringe, you know, young kid sitting on the bench that came on. He was integral to that win and then obviously pressure to start the La Liga season well. And then I think he scored or assisted in the first seven La Liga games. He's like, okay, yeah, I can do this.

19:21Alan Shearer:When you were working with Real Madrid, Were you aware of this young man at all? No, I wasn't because, and this actually makes me feel very old. There's footage of Lamine Yamal walking out holding Sergio Ramos's hand, a mascot. Traitor. Traitor, yeah. It's actually, I imagine, really surprised that Ramos would hold a Barcelona fan. But he probably didn't know who he was going to be. and he was just it was actually I've seen that I've seen that and it's a picture but to be honest if you watch it as he's as he's looking you can see the Barcelona players coming down it's clearly at the camp now I've walked down those steps many times and you can see as he's walking down he seems way more excited about the Barcelona players and the possibility of perhaps glimpsing Messi or his idol Neymar if he was playing he's like who's this who's this looking at Ramos but no I worked at Real Madrid back then, looking at the team as a Gareth Bale, Kehla Navos in goal, Ramos captain, obviously.

20:27But to me, that feels like yesterday. And looking at Laminia Mali, he's a tiny child. I know he's still very, very young, but it does make me feel quite old.

20:40Alan Shearer:Right from day one, he struts his stuff, didn't he? He made an entry. I remember we talked about him on the podcast in the early days of the podcast. I remember when he made his debut. Yep, debut at. He made his debut 15 years, nine months and 16 days. And then the youngest La Liga starter for Barcelona at 16 and 38 days, which is just, it's so young. Do you think he was at school? Was he at school? I've seen it. I mean, he would have been at school, but I think like all the big academies, the big clubs now, they offer education as well on the side. I remember seeing a clip of him actually learning English.

21:22Alan Shearer:So hopefully we'll get him on the pod one day. Hopefully we'll get him in the Premier League. He could do a job at a few Premier League clubs, couldn't he? And then scoring in both Clasicos as well. Barcelona winning all four Clasicos in the 24-25 season. Yeah, the 4-0 win away against Real Madrid. Scoring in that, his first Clasico, his first Clasico goal. and then scoring in that epic 4-3 game. When they were two down. Yeah. Well, they love going two down and coming back to win, don't they? That's what Barcelona do. But it was actually really similar to the goal he scored against Inter. But brilliant goal.

22:00And just, yeah, just stepping up on the biggest stage. Not intimidated at all. It looked like he'd been playing in that Barcelona team for years. That little delivery, that little cross he does as well,

22:10Alan Shearer:creates so many opportunities. and he's got a lot of assists where he just comes in on his left and he just bends it. And it's always incredibly accurate. And it's not that easy a skill. Pinpoint. Pinpoint. To get it kind of the far end of the, to pass the goalkeeper. So the goalkeeper can't quite come out, but it's also behind the defenders. And we're starting to see people copy it now. Because I've not seen anyone do it consistently like that, that kind of ball that he does. I mean, we've seen Messi do it on occasions, but it's not a thing. Whereas with Yamal, this seems to be a thing. Now, I love talking about young talent.