The current FC Barcelona team is full of young talents who are playing at a very high level despite being very young. Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi are the two clearest examples of such players, as they are both playing a very important role in the Barcelona first team.
For a club with the history of Barcelona, it is not really strange to see such young talents proving their quality at the highest stage. But there is no doubt that every individual player has a different story, and these young players today are facing quite different challenges from the players who began their professional careers some years ago.
This phenomenon was discussed by the veteran Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski as he talked to The New York Times. As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the Polish striker compared his growth as a player to that of his current teammates like Yamal:
“The time when we lived without social media. We are athletes, but in the end, we are also human. We have emotions too, and we also know that maintaining a strong mentality is very important because now it’s easy to say something on the Internet in a way you wouldn’t say in real life. Unfortunately, you can’t live in this time, in this world, without being mentally strong.”
The veteran striker went on to discuss how social media is also leading to physical issues for these youngsters:
“There are young players who have already suffered many injuries at an early age. We can’t expect players to play at the highest level for 10 years in the future due to the mental toll, including social media. It’s very tough.”
There is no doubt that with social media, players are exposed to a higher level of fair and unfair criticism today, which can have a significant and negative impact on one’s mental health. Hopefully, Yamal and his age fellows will learn to cope with this problem soon, to avoid its negative impacts.
