Lamine Yamal, the symbol of Barca and La Masia's revival

Lamine Yamal is the symbol of a new generation of talent, who helped revive the La Masia academy and lead Barca to victory.

Historic contract reminds of Messi

The word “enjoys” stands out in the review, underlined as “passing expert” and marked as “unselfish” – rare comments for a youngster, and even more so in the reports of scout Isidre Gil, famous for his tiny, dotted handwriting, precise and unassuming, a quiet and discreet observer, always close to the pitch and away from the cameras, a loyal student of the legendary Oriol Tort – after whom Barcelona ’s youth academy (the new La Masia) is named.

Gil's gaze spotted a 7-year-old dribbler at La Torreta who always made the right decisions on the pitch, named Lamine Yamal . His assessment prompted swift action from the technical staff of the Barca youth system in 2014.

Yamal and Barca had a brilliant season. Photo: LaLiga

Coordinator Oscar Hernandez acted immediately after confirming Lamine Yamal's talent. He immediately sent an urgent email to Marc Serra (7-a-side coordinator at La Masia), and also informed director Albert Puig (later replaced by Jordi Roura and Aureli Altimira).

Hernandez stressed the urgency of organising a trial and signing the 2007-born boy – who was then on a trip to his “parents’ homeland” in Morocco and Equatorial Guinea – before the signing of a partnership agreement between CF La Torreta and Espanyol, which could have made it difficult to bring Lamine to Barca.

The boy quickly joined the team, and the document recording his recruitment is today considered to be as valuable as the tissue that signed Lionel Messi's contract in 2000.

The Messi-Yamal bond was marked in 2008: Leo held Lamine during a charity photoshoot for the daily Sport and UNICEF.

An iconic photo taken by Joan Montfort shows Messi bathing a five-month-old baby born in Esplugues de Llobregat, who would grow up on Mataro's Rocafonda street and show his talent at La Torreta.

Lamine’s journey has been even quicker than Messi’s since joining Barca in 2014, especially after the La Liga Promises tournament in New York in 2019. Barcelona beat Real Madrid 6-1 in the final – a symbolic victory for the ambitious 2007 generation that included the likes of Lamine, Pau Cubarsi and Marc Bernal (who was Hansi Flick’s favourite until his injury ruled him out for the rest of the season).

These three are typical representatives of Barca's youth training academy, alongside other talents such as Marc Casado, Alejandro Balde and Fermin Lopez (born in 2003); Gavi (2004); Hector Fort (2006); Eric Garcia, Dani Olmo and Ansu Fati (2002).

Perhaps no club is as daring and thorough in its selection and training as Barcelona. Many join La Masia at the age of 6-7, starting with 7-a-side football and can make their La Liga debut at the age of 15-16. The latest is Lamine Yamal, the flagship under Hansi Flick, alongside Pedri, who was brought in from Las Palmas at the age of 18.

Yamal represents boldness, technique and fearlessness. Photo: EFE

It is no coincidence that they became leaders in a season when Barca did not make any major signings other than Olmo. Both are typical products of the football “symphony” taught at La Masia.

The foundation from Johan Cruyff

Scouts are always looking for players who are creative, who can create numerical advantage, who manage to gain space and time with clever ball control, and who have quick reflexes to speed up the ball's circulation - players with a refined sense of football, as described in the FC Barcelona Methodology Department document.

The great Johan Cruyff laid the foundation. Although the youth academy has always been a core value of Barca, it was only under “Saint Johan” that the youth team became an official source of supply for the first team, with its own identity.

From the time of Rexach, Marti Filosia, Pujol and Fuste, to the highlights such as the time of Cruyff's Dream Team with the record of winning La Liga 4 consecutive seasons in the early 1990s, or "Quinta del Pelat", culminating in 2011 when 3 players in the top 3 of the Golden Ball all came from La Masia: Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi. The person who orchestrated that festival was Pep Guardiola.

On November 25, 2012, the late coach Tito Vilanova even fielded a squad full of players who grew up in La Masia against Levante: Valdes; Montoya, Pique, Puyol, Alba; Xavi, Busquets, Cesc Fabregas; Pedro, Messi, Iniesta. La Masia has always been a more stable and reliable policy than shopping – which has failed many times since the departure of Figo, and especially Neymar.

Yamal during the La Liga parade. Source: FCB

The crisis lasted until Barca ran out of money. Ronald Koeman and Xavi put their faith in Pedri and Lamine Yamal, while Flick built a team that won La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Super Cup and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League – for the first time in six years. “We are talking about a generation with a very competitive collective spirit,” said Albert Puig, who was director of youth development from 2010 to 2014.

David Fernandez – a scout who now works for Bayer Leverkusen – believes that their outstanding qualities are “the ability to understand and read the game as a team; they prioritize the team over the individual” . A comment that suggests Barca is the ideal environment for them to thrive. “They think for the team and have a winning mentality” , Fernandez concludes.

“They are kids without complexes, who have confidence in the dressing room,” said Miquel Puig (La Masia director for the 2021-2023 period). “The boys have grown up in a professional environment, which gives them confidence and allows them to reproduce on the pitch what they did 10 years ago. The biggest challenge for the kids is probably the outside world , especially the use of social media, which exposes them more than previous generations,” Puig emphasized.

Oscar Hernandez highlighted the “youth and confidence” of a generation born when Barca temporarily played at Montjuic. The destination is no longer the Camp Nou, as it was for the first generation of La Masia at Can Planes (1979), which is now buried under the construction of a new stadium.

“They played fearlessly against Real Madrid, despite having just been eliminated from the Champions League. They quickly forgot about the defeat, even the adversity made them stronger and ready to face a bigger challenge,” Hernandez shared.

Yamal is a symbol of the new generation of La Masia. Photo: LaLiga

“These boys don’t feel pressure,” confirm staff at the Joan Gamper centre. Most coaches are tight-lipped, none of whom want to claim credit for discovering Yamal, which is unpopular at Barca. “They operate like a family and feel they are the protagonists of the television show that the modern pitch has become. Trained from a young age in a possession-based philosophy, they are now well adapted to the high pace that Flick demands because of their hunger for titles,” says a veteran Barca coach.

Barca's ambitions are so great that they are not looking at the B team - currently in danger of relegation - but instead are looking at the Juvenil (under-19) team, which has just had an excellent season, winning the UEFA Youth League. "A new generation of talent is coming, even from Cadete A (U16) there are many prospects" , revealed Barca sources.

“A new Lamine? We would be as wrong as looking for a replacement for Neymar or Messi. That is not the policy of Barca youth football,” Mikel Arteta once said. “La Masia is the most unique environment I have ever seen in my life; the most competitive, the most inspiring, and probably the most professional, where the atmosphere of the first team is recreated when the players are 14 or 15 years old.”

Lamine Yamal is now 17 and still enjoys football as much as he did when he was 7 years old in La Torreta or 12 years old in New York - in the 6-1 win over Real Madrid 6-1.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/lamine-yamal-the-symbol-of-rebirth-of-barca-and-la-masia-2402173.html