- DAZN Espana caught Lamine Yamal joking on the FC Barcelona bench and calling his friends “moles”.
- It was a show of the unity that Flick has built in the locker room, which is a tactic in itself.
- Lamine is clearly enjoying himself again, and the German has managed to keep his teenage starboy’s feet on the ground.
During FC Barcelona’s 5-2 pummelling of Sevilla on Sunday, DAZN Espana caught superstar Lamine Yamal mucking around and having his teammates in stitches on the bench.
“Listen. My friends. These are my friends. They are all moles. Moles!,” Lamine said to the camera, with Eric Garcia finding their back and forth particularly hilarious.
Jokes aside, though, the short and viral clip is strong evidence of a number of important things behind the scenes in Can Barça, which are paying dividends on the field.
Lamine Yamal is clearly enjoying life again at FC Barcelona
After his first career hat trick against Villarreal at the end of last month, in a 4-1 win over fourth placed opposition, Lamine made a bold confession.
Put simply, he claimed he hadn’t been enjoying himself before or in his words “didn’t feel well”.
“It was a mixture of everything, plus the pubalgia that I think is already forgotten. But I wasn’t happy playing and I think it showed,” he said, also referencing a niggle that once plagued fellow La Masia number 10 Lionel Messi as a budding prodigy.
“For a week or so I feel much better, it makes me want to smile on the pitch, which I haven’t had for a long time, and I’m very happy. Now I’m happy playing,” Lamine further claimed.
“People want me to score 100 goals at the age of 16, I would like to too, but it’s little by little. Scoring a goal, two… Helping the team makes me very happy.”
His relaxed, playful nature on the bench communicates this happiness has continued into March, and is a positive sign as we reach the business end of the season.
Hansi Flick is managing to keep Lamine’s feet on the ground at FC Barcelona
One interesting aspect of the video is that it takes place on the bench. With Newcastle United in a Champions League last 16 decider ahead, where he is expected to start, Lamine was wisely rested against Sevilla.
Whereas many cracks of his billing would throw a strop over this and fail to keep their egos in check, Lamine didn’t seem to be bothered in the slightest by seeing his positional rival Roony Bardghji – with whom he gets on well – get a rare first XI nod. In the tunnel, he even wished the Swede good luck.
Thus far, Flick has been masterful in managing Lamine and his rise to superstardom. Before the press, the German has known the right moment to heap praise on the Rocafonda native but also keep his feet on the ground by reinforcing the need to work hard and stay humble in order to be one of the greats.
Flick has fostered unbeatable unity in the FC Barcelona locker room
You can clearly see that this is a team where its members care about and have each other’s backs.
Despite fighting for the same spot, Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo, Lamine and Roony, or Raphinha and loanee Marcus Rashford are pleased to see their fellow man shine.
And while on the bench, big names like Lamine, Eric and Ronald Araujo understand the manager’s decisions.
They’ll accept them as professionals if he doesn’t think it’s right for them to grace the Spotify Camp Nou pitch, and wait their turn.
This is one of Flick’s greatest achievements at one of the biggest clubs in the world, and can be just as effective on the pitch as any tactical scheme.
Resembling Jack Nicholson in The Departed, Lamine jokes about being surrounded by “moles”, or those that leak information to the press as Ronald Koeman once reportedly accused Riqui Puig of doing in a fiery tirade. But it’s highly doubtful that such a thing occur on Flick’s watch.
