I usually don't like to write about the well-known players, as I think there is already a lot of content and analysis being done on them. But, in a recent discussion with Furymaker, I was informed that Yamal's performance has come under scrutiny for several reasons. There has been discourse around a drop-off in his explosiveness, work-rate and efficiency due to his pubalgia injury.
So, in this piece, I will dive deep into the data and his actions to assess whether or not there has been a drop-off. And if there has been, which facets of his game have been the most affected.
Overview
I will divide this article into simple and easily digestible sections. The sections are:
Ball Carrying Ability & Half-Space Dependency
Post-Carry Passing Effectiveness
Passing Ability & Quick Passing Tendency
Hold-Up Ability
Final Words
Data Sources & More
All the sections will have visuals from the 2024/25 and 2025/26 league seasons (updated till 23/12/25).
Ball Carrying Ability & Half-Space Dependency
Ball carrying is an auxiliary tool in Lamine's arsenal, because the real game breaking ability in his locker is his passing. It helps that he is elite at creating separation which helps him with his passing but in isolation, his ball carrying isn't as effective as it should be.
The reason why I have described it as an auxiliary tool is precisely due to the low progression and penetration ratings, which in turn result in a low effectiveness rating. Yamal's objective with his carries is to get into the right half-space and either shoot, pass or take-on the opposition.
During the 2024/25 season, Lamine Yamal had 29 successful take-ons (0.91 per 90) in the half-spaces, which is 10 more than the player at second, Kylian Mbappé (19), in the top 5 leagues.
Not only at taking on players, Yamal was also very persistent with his shooting from the right half-space. He took twice as many shots (32) from the right half-space than any other player in the top 5 Leagues last season.
His conversion rate is definitely something that can go up if he improves his ball striking but the two maps prove my initial point, Lamine's primary purpose is to get into the half-space and we will see more of this in upcoming sections.
Fast forward to the current season, his ball carrying seems to have improved in all departments barring his effectiveness. He is carrying the ball more this season, getting into the box more and covering more distance (1.6m to 2.1m) on average, while taking a similar amount of time on the ball. The primary purpose remains the same: get into the half-space.
But, let's see if the actions inside the half-spaces have changed or not.
The Spanish prodigy is completing take-ons at a better rate (1.15 per 90) than last season while also having nearly 20% more efficiency. He still has the highest number of take-ons completed in the half-spaces (15) and Mbappé still sits behind him (13).
He is still taking shots at a similar rate as last season, 14 shots in 13 nineties (32 in 31.8 in 24/25) but he hasn't found the back of the net this season from that area.
In terms of ball carrying ability, his tendency is still the same. Get into the pocket and act as a creator. He has massively improved his take-on ability in the right half-space this season, both in terms of volume and efficiency.
Post-Carry Passing Effectiveness
Now, it's time to dive deeper into his ball carrying ability and see what he does after carrying the ball forward. As I mentioned earlier, ball carrying is his auxiliary tool, the main tool is his passing. His fluidity helps him generate good passing angles from the flank as well as the right half-space.
During the 2024/25 season, Lamine was taking a lot of risks and reaping the benefits. He was persistent with the balls into the penalty box. 11% of his progressive carries further turned into a progressive pass, most of them, into the penalty box. You can also see the high concentration of unsuccessful passes into the centre of the box, hence the 53% passing accuracy.
Now, what's interesting is his map from the current season.
While his overall progressive carrying tendency has gone up this season, his passing seems to have taken a hit. And it's a change in style as well as efficiency. The lofted balls into the centre of the box have disappeared, there is a massive hit in progression efficiency (4% from 11%). There is an increase in safe passes as can be seen on the map. That's the reason behind the increase in passing accuracy.
His successful progressive passes were delivered more comfortably last season (6.2s), it almost looks like he had more time on the ball. This season, even though the quantity is less, he is releasing these passes quickly (or in a hurry?).
Is the reason behind this a change in his approach or a change in how defenders are defending against him?
The key takeaways from this section are:
Yamal's lofted deliveries into the centre of the box have decreased due to the absence of a target inside the box
He is playing with a safer approach, less progression & more retention.
In the next section, we will look at his passing as a whole and not in isolation, which will help us analyse whether there has been a full change in passing approach or not.
Passing Ability & Quick Passing Tendency
Since the beginning of this article, I have mentioned that Yamal's primary weapon is his passing ability and now it's time to dive deeper into his passing numbers.
Now, my passing model, which is based on the three P's of passing (inspired by Jake Entwistle) and also considers the speed of execution (passing) has Yamal among the top passing forwards for the 2024/25 season as well as the current season.
Yamal is a high volume progressive passer who satisfies all the conditions required to be an elite passer of the ball. He is quick, penetrative and persistent. But has this changed this season?
The simple answer would be no, but we are here to analyse the minute details using data. So, it's worth to point out a few things:
A slight drop in penetration is partly due to the decrease in those lofted deliveries into the centre of the box
The share of quick passes (<2s release time) is same across both seasons and so is the median release time (TTRP refers to Time Taken to Release pass). So why is there a good amount of improvement in his speed rating? Let's find the answer.
In the previous section, we talked about how Yamal's passing post-carrying has become more risk averse this season and a look at his quick passing this season further strengthens that point.
This season, Yamal has improved both his volume of quick progressive passes as well as quick passing efficiency as a whole. That is the reason behind the increase in his 'Speed' rating in our passing model. The tendency to release these passes is still the same (12.04%).
But, the risk averseness and the actual difference lies in the quality of these quick passes. You will be able to spot the differences after seeing the same map but for the 2024/25 season.
As mentioned above, the tendency to release these quick passes has remained the same. But the purpose seems to have changed. We can once again notice the decrease the those balls into the centre of the box. The increase in passing accuracy and the lack of quick passes in and around the box are the main reasons why I reiterated the risk averseness point. This risk averseness, as correctly pointed out by Furymaker, could also be due to the absence of Raphinha as he was the primary source of counter attacks for Barcelona last season. In his absence, Yamal has had to adopt a retention based approach.
The key takeaways from this section:
Regardless of whether Yamal gets time on the ball or not, he has opted to not go for those lofted deliveries into the centre of the box. This could be a stylistic change or due to the absence of a box threatening striker. I think it's more of the latter due to Lewandowski's absence.
This is also the reason behind the drop in his penetration rating this season. The increase in the speed rating is down to his increased volume of quick progressive passes alongside the overall passing accuracy improvement.
Hold-Up Ability
The 18-year-old Spaniard has always been really good at holding onto the ball. That's what makes him an elite talent. The ability to be influential with the ball regardless of the time he gets on the ball.
According to my hold-up analysis, Yamal has been a top player across both seasons. His numbers are exactly what you would want from your primary creator who plays as a winger.
Low ball security due to continuous creation and take-on attempts. High progression via carrying and passing. It's also not surprising to see him being good resisting pressure/avoiding tackles as he knows how to use his body really well. Wins a lot of fouls as well.
Once again, if we look at his performance sheet from the ongoing season, we will see an increase in risk averseness.
Progressive carrying rate is still top notch but there is a drop in progressive passing rate. Another facet of his game where we can see a lack of passing into the box, unlike the previous season.
There is also an increase in ball security and passing accuracy. The best of the best at avoiding tackles and winning fouls during hold-up sequences.
*As the hold-up sequence methodology cannot handle some cases that arise due to data inconsistencies, some sequences might look odd. These are very rare occurrences.*
Final Words
I believe La Masia graduates, especially those like Yamal, are already held to a very high standard. It is easy to forget the actual age of your superstar when they have displayed world class levels consistently. It is also very important to remember that every player has something to learn, regardless of their experience, stature or age. Especially when they are just 18-years-old.
The data above clearly shows that you cannot claim that Yamal's performances have dropped or improved. There are facets of his game in which he has improved, while there are others in which he has shown a decline. Both of these things are very much influenced by the change in approach as well as the absence of some key players in the squad.
The best thing to do when looking at a lot of event data is to determine player tendencies. It helps make analysis a lot easier.
The only thing I would be concerned about, if I was a Barcelona fan, would be the under-utilisation of Yamal's game-breaking final ball. The absence of Lewandowski is one of the main reasons behind the lack of these deliveries as he was a better, more efficient target man than Ferran Torres but a system/team should always aim to maximise the best abilities of their best players.
Data Sources & More
Create Ball Carrying Rating Cards and Maps: Carrying Profiles
Create Zonal and Time based Shot-Map Cards: Shot Map Cards
Analyse Half-Space Actions: Half Spaces
All the above apps are created by me, using data from Opta.
Lamine Yamal's image taken from X/Twitter
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