Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams: Barca's template for success
The driving force for Spain in its conquest of Euro 2024 came in the middle of the field with Rodri. However, the end product focused on two players on either wing, Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams. Yamal emerged as a star despite being 17 years old. He has shown his ability with Barcelona, but doing so on the European Championship stage was a different task. Nico Williams, playing on the left wing, was an electric dribbler who scored a pair of goals. That was enough to court the interest of Barcelona to pair the two up at club level.
In the Catalan club’s eyes, there would be no reason the two cannot repeat their successes from Germany on the club level. The only issue is bringing Nico Williams to the side. Lamine Yamal is an academy graduate who is ready to commit his future to the side. Nico Williams plays for Athletic Club, but Barcelona is ready to pull the trigger to bring him to Catalonia. Barcelona remains confident in signing Williams as he remains their top transfer target. Yet, Athletic Club manager Ernesto Valverde wants Nico Williams as the key to the future.
The future is an area that Barcelona wants Williams for, too. Gone are the days of the Catalan club spending too much money on big names. Nico Williams would be a young player who can develop with the likes of Pedri, Gavi, Pau Cubarsi and Lamine Yamal. Despite only bursting onto the stage at Euro 2024, Nico Williams would be the oldest of that young crop of Barcelona stars at 22. That youth would be pivotal to future success at Barcelona.
Williams and Yamal would be top winger duo at Barcelona
Moreover, there is no reason to see why it would not work. With Spain, Luis de la Fuente used Nico Williams on the left and Lamine Yamal on the right. Their ability as dribblers and crossers allowed Spain to advance the ball quickly and effectively. Modern statistics uses one area called progressive carries. It helps measure instances when a player dribbles the ball more than five yards in the opponent’s half. Nico Williams was joint-top of all progressive carriers at Euro 2024 with 32 in six games. Lamine Yamal had an impressive 31 in seven games. This shows that down both sides, Spain had someone to advance possession.
Hansi Flick would deploy the two in the same way if he had the option. With Williams down the left and Yamal down the right, Flick would be able to spread the play out. With Bayern Munich, that generally resorted to wing-backs. Alphonso Davies, another pacy option with the ability to get dangerous balls into the middle, worked down the left. Benjamin Pavard generally preferred defensive work, but he still marauded forward when called upon.
Williams and Yamal would be far more attacking and direct for Barcelona. While one may carve down his side, the other would make a darting run into an open area. Take the opening goal of the Euro 2024 final. Lamine Yamal’s mazy run around the England defense eventually allowed Nico Williams to find a pocket of space. Yamal picked Williams out with a simple pass, and Williams scored. The nature of the two’s dribbling ability makes attacking easier. Additionally, it frees up the other to make more off-the-ball runs.
Fitting with a central striker
Dribbling is flashy and exciting, but it may not be the most important part of their games for Barcelona. A side that has traditionally used passing as a means for success can now look to crossing. The challenge therefore is finding the right central striker. For Spain, that was Alvaro Morata, who admittedly had a quiet tournament. Regardless, consider the two wingers’ knack for cutting onto their favored foot and lobbing a ball into the middle of the box. Yamal’s three assists before the final came from left-footed crosses on the right side of the field to players in the box. One was a looping ball to the back post, one was a cross to the near post and the third was a pass across the box where Dani Olmo came running in.
Barcelona will likely get one more strong season out of Robert Lewandowski. His successor could be Fermin Lopez, who played as a striker for Barcelona in his maiden season last campaign. However, Hansi Flick may want a stronger, more physical option to be on the end of the work of Williams and Yamal at Barcelona. They can deliver success for more than a decade, as Euro 2024 provided a hint of.
PHOTOS: IMAGO