At just 17 years old, Lamine Yamal’s breakout season with FC Barcelona has produced endless praise. The youngster has taken the football world over with his phenomenal flair, composure, and fearless attacking intent. Being the next generational talent, Lamine has been the talk of the town due to his close ball control, dazzling dribbles, outstanding vision, and on-field maturity. He has already started to collect individual awards to his name. Recent debates have been sparked that suggest whether he’s truly converting his attacking output into goals and assists. Looking at the stats, he is phenomenal with his dribbling and passing, but do the expected goals(xG) and expected assists (xA) indicate a sort of underperformance? Let’s look into this.
What Do the Numbers Say?
Lamine’s impact on the league this season is nothing less than extraordinary. He has been consistent for his club in every game racking up crazy numbers this season. He has a special ability to create chances and make decisive plays which has made him one of the top contributors in La Liga. Lamine Yamal is one of the highest contributors among teenagers in Europe’s top five leagues.
His expected goals(xG) and expected assists (xA) suggest he is consistent in creating chances for himself and his teammates. The main issue people debate is that his actual goals and assists are far behind his expected goals(xG) and expected assists (xA). Currently, Lamine has expected goals(xG) of 9.85 and expected assists(xA) being 12.87. His actual stats are 6 goals and 12 assists in La Liga. This slightly shows signs of underperformance if we only view the stats, but if we observe the whole 90 minutes, Lamine’s contribution on the pitch is unmatched. His attacking intent and work rate speak for his performance itself, doing this stuff at just 17 shows only signs of growth.
Finishing Problem
When it comes to expected goals(xG), Lamine has been solid in creating chances on his own. The only problem is he lacks finishing or sometimes his passes are not converted well. We have already seen finishing being Lamine’s weakness, we have often seen him making wrong decisions in crucial moments during the final third.
It feels like when Lamine gets a clear 1-on-1 chance, he gets confused about what to do, it is like he has a thousand scenarios going in the back of his head. Due to this, he takes a lot of time, so he ends up messing up the chance.
Creative Vision vs Final Output
Lamine’s expected assists(xA) suggest a different story. He delivers the right pass at the right time, which is highly expected looking at his 12.87 xA, but the end products of his passes depend upon his teammates in the box.
Multiple chances coming from his boots have been squandered by players including Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Olmo, a factor that is not in Lamine’s control. As Barcelona’s attacking third becomes more fluid, Lamine’s assists would significantly increase.
Conclusion
In my opinion, Lamine Yamal may be underperforming slightly on paper looking at his stats, but not everything depends on the stats if you view 90 minutes of his game His impressive xG and xA indicate he is still young and there is a lot of room for improvement. His xG and xA suggest he is a player always in the right place at the right time, just lacking the finishing touch. He is just 17, there is no doubt learning from these mistakes is the only way to improve. His stats are much better than players his age including Saka, Garnacho, and Endrick. So I believe, viewing the game tells more about a player’s performance instead of stats.