How to capture Lamine Yamal's Dribbling ability

Why is Lamine Yamal so undefendable? While he's exceptional at virtually everything with the ball, there's one skill that separates him from even elite dribblers: his ability to beat opponents when the ball has no momentum.

Most players excel at take-ons when they have space and momentum – receiving a pass and using that inertia to glide past defenders – or dribbling while running with ball at speed. But the truly special players can beat you "da fermo" (from a standstill) – creating something from nothing when the ball is essentially stationary.

This is Yamal's superpower.

Defining the Impossible

To quantify this elusive skill, I developed specific parameters for "standstill take-ons":

• Distance criterion: Take-on occurs within 4 meters of the previous action ending

• Speed criterion: Previous action performed at less than 1.5 m/s

• Success definition: Player retains possession and moves the ball forward

These thresholds help isolate moments where players create magic from static situations.

Yamal's Dominance in the Data

Last season, Yamal attempted more standstill take-ons than any player in Europe's top leagues. However, he completed just 28.4% of them successfully.

That low percentage isn't a weakness – it's context. Yamal consistently attempts these take-ons in the tightest spaces against multiple defenders, often in situations where forward progress it’s really difficult to make happen.

The Normalized Picture

When we control for position clusters and normalize per 98 minutes played, Yamal's outlier status becomes even clearer:

Attempts per 98 minutes: 1st place
Successful attempts per 98 minutes: 8th place
Success rate: Among the lowest in the top 10

Crucially, Yamal has by far the most minutes played among top-10 performers per successful take-ons per 98, demonstrating remarkable consistency in attempting these high-difficulty skills.

Value Creation Beyond Success Rate

Raw success rates only tell part of the story. When measuring value created after standstill take-on attempts Yamal is:

Value per 98 minutes (all attempts): 19th place
Value per 98 minutes (successful attempts): 16th place

This suggests that Yamal attempts an outrageous amount of those difficult take-ons, and still produces a lot of value. Again in the list above you can see he’s the only one that played more than 4000 minutes in the same team and a handful hit the 3000 minutes mark. He’s incredibly consistent in that skill at that age.

The Broader Landscape

I can say to you that players that are really good at this can create a good amount of value after a good amount of attempts, as you would expect. For example, Nico Williams is 2nd for attempts per 98, 35th for successful attempts while 14th and 15th for value created after the attempts.

Elite Attackers

Examining other clusters of players reveals interesting patterns:

Jamal Musiala emerges as the perfect comparison - ranking 1st for attempts and 13th for value created. His combination of volume and efficiency showcases elite standstill dribbling.

Hamza Igamane (5th for value, 2nd for attempts) also demonstrates shows this rare skill set.

Midfield Magicians

In central areas, standstill dribbling can be a really valuable skill to help breaking compact defenses:

Romain Faivre (Brest) - Classified as CMR (midway between a winger and central midfielder), high attempts but lower value
Quinten Timber - More balanced profile (17th attempts, 14th value)

The Recruitment Angle

While you wouldn't sign a player based solely on standstill dribbling ability, it serves as a powerful indicator of:

• Technical mastery under pressure

• Spatial awareness in tight situations

• Confidence to attempt low-percentage plays

• Game-breaking potential in crucial moments

Players who excel at this skill often possess the self-sufficiency to create chaos and disruption single-handedly – invaluable traits for breaking down defensive blocks.

Beyond the Numbers

The ability to dribble from a standstill represents football's purest 1v1 artistry. It's where technique meets courage, where spatial intelligence meets split-second decision-making.

Yamal's willingness to attempt these plays at such volume, despite lower success rates, reveals a player unafraid to fail in pursuit of breakthrough moments. In modern football's increasingly compact defensive structures, this fearlessness becomes a strategic weapon and it’s no surprise to see so many of the most coveted and exciting players of the world in these lists.

The same could be said as tho who are the players that create the most advantages on the pitch for their teams, did you notice there were Real Madrid and PSG players + the Spain National Team wingers as recurring names?

The Bottom Line

Lamine Yamal's mastery of standstill take-ons explains why he feels unstoppable even when seemingly contained. While other metrics capture his overall brilliance, this specific skill reveals the technical foundation of his game-breaking ability.

For recruitment teams: players who excel at standstill dribbling often possess the technical security and spatial awareness to thrive in the most pressurized moments. It's a skill worth isolating and valuing, even if it doesn't always appear in traditional statistical profiles and certainly is not the single most important metric.