Former Barcelona youth coach hails academy gem – ‘Completely different from the remaining’

Javier Saviola was a key member of the Barcelona youth setup not too way back.

Serving because the assistant supervisor in Barça U19, the Argentine had the fortune of witnessing a lot of Barcelona’s present-day stars up shut and private, together with Lamine Yamal.

Yamal was beneath the tutelage of Saviola for a quick interval within the Barcelona youth setup. The truth is, the Argentine, in a current interview with SPORT, has admitted that Yamal was totally different from the remaining.

Saviola on Yamal and different Barcelona prodigies

“We noticed Lamine as totally different from the remaining. If you see gamers like Lionel Messi, who I had the chance to see once I was 12 or 13 years previous, you understand it instantly, since you’ve been in soccer for a very long time,” he stated.

Saviola served as an assistant supervisor for the Barcelona U19 squad between 2022 to 2023. On this one 12 months, he was in a position to monitor Yamal fairly carefully.

“When a participant this younger reveals various things, particularly qualities which can be unusual at that age, you realize there’s one thing particular. And with Lamine that occurred to us,” he stated.

“We weren’t fearful about his footballing aspect, however about methods to handle him, as a result of we knew that sooner or later he would have an important probability of constructing it to Barça’s first workforce,” he added.

Saviola additionally talked about different Barcelona academy skills who confirmed distinctive expertise alongside Yamal. He even went on to hail Xavi Hernandez for his eager eye.

“Together with Yamal, there have been additionally Hector Fort and two or three different gamers. It was actually an distinctive course of that even Xavi detected immediately and requested us for references about him,” he stated.  

Saviola heaps reward on Lamine Yamal (Photograph by Angel Martinez/Getty Photographs)

Persevering with, Saviola stated: “From there, we started to work with them, and for us, it was a supply of satisfaction, as a result of we managed to get 5 or 6 gamers to crucial groups at such a younger age. 

“Seeing them succeed with the instruments we tried to supply them with was an enormous accomplishment. Truthfully, it was a unprecedented job,” he added.

Saviola will not be the one one who has heaped reward for Yamal, because the winger has additionally acquired excessive reward from Atletico Madrid trio Julian Alvarez, Robin Le Normand and Conor Gallagher lately.

Saviola on Barcelona’s season thus far

Other than speaking concerning the early improvement of Lamine Yamal and different younger skills, Saviola additionally provided his ideas on Barcelona’s season thus far.

“I give Barça loads of probabilities. I’m liking them quite a bit they usually’re buying virtues that they didn’t have earlier than, reminiscent of defensive solidity. They’re doing an important job,” he confessed.

“Within the first leg towards Benfica, they performed a big half with 10 gamers and knew methods to cope and overcome a really difficult scenario. That’s the place you see the actual groups,” he added.

Lastly, the Argentine highlighted Barcelona’s workforce spirit and togetherness, admitting that it may go a good distance in serving to the workforce succeed.

“Soccer-wise, Barça are doing very nicely this 12 months. All of the gamers are at a really excessive stage, which is tough to realize in a workforce since you normally have two or three who stand out from the remaining.

“However what we see on this Barça is their very sturdy beginning eleven, after which some gamers on the bench who they could even be above,” he concluded.