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Rodri calls for calm from Yamal
As Spain prepare for a heavyweight clash against France, captain Rodri has highlighted a specific area of improvement for the nation’s brightest young talent. The 30-year-old midfielder believes Yamal has played with a level of urgency bordering on anxiety, which has at times hampered his natural explosiveness on the wing.
“I think he needs to calm down, that anxiety that he sometimes has to prove himself,” Rodri stated in the mixed zone after Spain’s progress. “He is a very important player for us because of what he does with and without the ball and he is a very intelligent guy. It is true that he is 19 years old and that we have to calm him down in certain moments of the game.”
Wonderkid’s Form Under The Microscope
Despite being the youngest European player to win 10 major tournament caps, Yamal has faced questions regarding his goalscoring record this World Cup. The forward arrived at the tournament with a minor injury and has struggled to match the dazzling form he regularly displays for Barcelona in La Liga, often finding himself isolated from the opposition’s penalty area.
However, the teenager has maintained his confidence despite the lack of goals. Addressing the critics, Yamal remained defiant: “If we win the World Cup, I don’t think anyone will remember how many goals I scored or how many I didn’t score. If we win, we’ll all be happy. That’s all I want. I know that with my movement I pull away a lot of opponents; I can create space for a teammate. Anything I can do to help, I want to think positive, even if I can think positive. everyone is obsessed with scoring goals and we won the EC where I scored a single goal.”
Maturity beyond his years
Rodri was quick to point out that while Yamal still has tactical lessons to learn, his maturity has increased significantly since Spain’s triumph at Euro 2024. The midfielder noted that the 19-year-old is no longer a surprise package, but a regular member of the squad who is constantly looking to improve his game through feedback from the senior leadership group.
“I think he’s a player who has already shown his maturity back at the EC and now that he’s two years older, you’re not quite as surprised at what he can do at his age. He’s a very mature young man who still has room to improve when it comes to reading the game, which is quite normal for his age, but we already know the level he’s coming at and I tell him he shouldn’t always stop playing. a mistake but he’s a young man who listener who wants to learn and above all sets a real example with his attitude,” added the City star.
Semi-final showdown with France
With a place in the World Cup final up for grabs, Yamal has rejected any suggestion of intimidation. Given Spain’s successful recent history against Les Bleus, the winger insisted La Rioja have nothing to fear when they take to the field on Tuesday. He pointed to the fact that Spain have won their last two encounters against Didier Deschamps’ side as a reason for supreme confidence.
However, Rodri expects a much tighter game than the high-scoring 5-4 victory that Spain enjoyed in last year’s Nations League. “We can’t let the Nations League game, which ended 5-4 after we went 5-1 up, distract us from the reality of where we are now: at a World Cup. World Cup games are a different animal; I don’t think it will be nearly as open and I don’t expect us to get as many chances. We are going to face a much more solid team, so I expect it will be a much more solid French team to go down. another direction,” he concluded the captain.
