Hansi Flick Raises Alarm Over Lamine Yamal—Is the Young Star Truly at Risk?

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick acknowledged that "everyone is worried" about Lamine Yamal, though he appeared relatively unconcerned about the situation.

The gifted teenager had enjoyed a relentlessly upward trajectory. Since making his senior debut at just 15, Yamal has continuously improved, earning more playing time, taking on greater responsibility and netting more goals with each passing year. Until last April.

Yamal sensed something was amiss before slotting home a first-half penalty against Celta Vigo near the end of last season, yet the act of scoring his 24th goal of the campaign confirmed his season was effectively over. As it would soon become clear, a hamstring tear would cut Yamal's club season short by more than a month.

On the surface, Barcelona's elusive danger man has not looked the same player since.

Spain claimed this summer's World Cup title with Yamal featuring in every fixture, yet Barcelona's star man managed just a single goal throughout the entire tournament—and that came during a comfortable group-stage victory over Saudi Arabia.

Those worries have carried over into the start of the new domestic campaign. Yamal endured a miserable personal showing in Barcelona's 5–0 thrashing of Elche last weekend, trudging off the pitch after an hour appearing close to tears. Following another appearance against Athletic Club in which Yamal failed to register a goal or assist, Flick was pressed on his supposedly fading star.

Flick Explains Yamal's Slow Start to the Season

"Everyone is worried about him, but he played in a World Cup after an injury," Flick said of Yamal ahead of Monday's encounter with Rayo Vallecano. "He's had three weeks of vacation."

As the German tactician rightly pointed out, a degree of rustiness is only to be expected.

Yamal essentially used the opening rounds of the World Cup as a competitive rehabilitation platform, easing himself through the group stage. Once the knockout phase got underway, Yamal impressed without quite hitting the extraordinary heights demanded by his own remarkable talent. Spain's tactical setup also deliberately reined in the winger's individualistic tendencies; one of La Roja's most effective strategies was deploying Yamal as a pivot point around which Pedro Porro could advance, exploiting the heightened defensive attention opponents direct toward the Barcelona star, which in turn left the overlapping fullback in space.

"He's played two games—the first one maybe wasn't his best—but I'm happy because he gives us more, creates opportunities..." Flick insisted.

"He's on the right track. We have to support him, and I'm going to do just that."

Has Yamal Been That Bad?

If even Flick is prepared to concede that Yamal was below par against Elche, it's fair to say the teenager's display left much to be desired. However, he was considerably more influential in the comfortable 2–0 win at Camp Nou on Thursday evening.

"Against Athletic, he played the full 90 minutes; I've seen him at his best," Flick enthused after the match. "Today he was excellent."

While the likes of Fermín López, Raphinha and even Karim Adeyemi have racked up a string of goal contributions across two convincing victories, Yamal's attacking output must be assessed through his underlying statistics. Across his first two brief outings in La Liga this season, he has already been involved in or generated 15 shots on goal. None have found the net just yet, but it surely is only a matter of time.

Everyone may be worried about Yamal, but the only people with genuine cause for concern are those hoping to see him fail.

Lamine Yamal's La Liga Stats

Stats via Opta.