Can a genius not defend? Yamal is still far away from Messi, and Barcelona is harming him by encouraging him.

Yamal is a unique talented player in today's football. He is fully capable of succeeding Messi in the future and becoming the absolute core of Barcelona. However, Yamal's performance last season was far inferior to Rafinha. In the past 20 years, La Masia's youth training camp has become famous because of Habaib's existence, but it has been silent for a long time since then. Fati once let the fans see the hope of La Masia, but the failure to promote the young talent ultimately harmed this talented boy.

After Messi left, talented players such as Pedri, Garvey, Yamal, and Fermin came out of La Masia, and the Barcelona youth academy once again became a star-making factory. Last season, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid many times and won the league championship. However, they were defeated by the veteran Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-finals. In the Champions League final, Yamal was completely restricted by Nuno Mendes, and his world's number one value was questioned.

In fact, in the second round of the Champions League semi-finals, when Barcelona was tied by Inter Milan, Yamal's operation of shooting when he got the ball was a bit confusing. He is only 18 years old this year, and his unstable mentality is completely understandable, but not everyone is a super genius like Messi.

Top leagues all have star-making policies, but Yamal was less than 17 years old when he debuted. Due to his outstanding performance in the European Cup, Yamal has since become Barcelona's main force. However, starting from this season, injuries have become an old friend that Yamal cannot get rid of.

When Messi was playing for Barcelona, ​​in order to allow him to have more physical strength to attack, he did not need to assume defensive tasks. Now it seems that Yamal, who is only 18 years old, has also been given such a privilege. This is unhealthy for a young player who has just grown up. If he moves to other teams in the future, this kind of work attitude may make his career go downhill from then on.

From a data point of view, Yamal's defensive contribution last season was indeed unsatisfactory. His average number of steals per game in the league is only 0.6, and in the Champions League it is as low as 0.3. This data is at the bottom among players in the same position. What is even more noteworthy is that his defensive participation dropped significantly as the game progressed, and he often gave up defense completely in the second half of the game. This directly resulted in Barcelona being left with only one full-back on the right side of the defense.

If we want Yamal's future to be bright, the Barcelona coaching staff needs to develop a more scientific training plan for him, reasonably arrange Yamal's playing time, and at the same time strengthen his defensive awareness and physical reserves during training. What's more important is to let him understand that a real top star must not only shine on the offensive end, but also take responsibility on the defensive end. Enrique's Paris let Mbappe go because he didn't defend, and then won the Champions League championship. There are many such examples, and Yamal still has a long way to go.

For Yamal, who is only 18 years old, there is still a long way to go: he does have amazing talent, but the talent needs to be matched with the right attitude and comprehensive ability before he has the chance to become the next Messi or even surpass Messi. Barcelona must be wary of a recurrence of the tragedy that encourages young talent, otherwise it will not only destroy a talented player, but also cause the club to lose the cornerstone of its future. After all, a true superstar not only needs sparkling offensive statistics, but also needs to show all-round professionalism and overall contribution to the team.