By Faisal Uddin.
Neymar; another talent from Brazil. And, of course, as a
Brazilian you will expect him to be more hyped (player like ‘Phenomenal
Ronaldo, ‘Beast Carlos’, ‘Elastico Ronaldinho’ can be thanked for this).
For a long time, we are hearing a possible move of Neymar to
Europe. Now, let’s see how he will fit, and
which Europe league…
At first I will rule out any move of Neymar to Italy and
Germany – Clubs in countries just don’t have the money to buy him (Bayern do,
but they have already spent a lot of money this summer and it is unlikely that
they will spend around 65mE on another player). Even if they do, there is a
very slight chance that Neymar would go there, especially with Clubs like Real
and Barca’s interest in him.
Now, onto the Premier League.
Only 2 Clubs in this league have the money to sign Neymar;
Chelsea and Manchester City (though, both unlikely to sign him as City have
spent a lot over the past few years and Chelsea spent a lot this year – and FFP
comes into play in a year’s time). If he joins one of these Clubs, however, I
believe that he will initially struggle and will take time to settle to the
physicality of the Premier League.
Many may argue that players like David Silva, Mata and Cazorla
didn’t take any time to settle to the game in England, so Neymar can too. Well,
here we need to consider the position they are playing in. The former two are
midfielders, and Neymar is an attacker – someone who makes a lot of box runs to
score goals.
The battle in midfield is to win the ball, but the tackles
in the box area are really the hard ones which the defenders execute as the
last attempt to stop the attacker. This kind of last attempt tackle is usually
done with full force, whereas the tackles in midfield aren’t as hard as this.
This is not to say that Neymar won’t succeed in the Premier
League – in fact, he will. But it will take him some time to settle to the
League and do what he does best – make runs inside the box from the left and
score.
The best move for Neymar, at this point of time, would be
in Spain. Why? Not because of Real Madrid and Barcelona, but this league is
somehow similar to Brazilian League; less physical, lots of passing, quick
build-up, few direct/aerial balls.
Now the question is which Club: Real Madrid or Barcelona?
Real Madrid
Anyways, if Santos do change their mind and sell Neymar to
Real Madrid, I believe that he will have to adjust his playing style a lot in
order to gel into Real’s quick-attacking style of play.
Neymar keeps the possession of the ball for a long time;
this habit of his sometimes interrupts the flow of game. Mourinho just won’t
tolerate this, we all saw how Cristiano changed under Mourinho – ‘The Only one’
won’t let the flow of game to be disturbed just for the sake of some dribbling,
even if they are jaw dropping.
And, of course, Neymar will have to forget about his love
for the smell of ‘Grass’, Mourinho has allergy with grass – the way Cristiano
and Di Maria have reduced their diving habits under Mourinho is a testament to
that.
There is another problem. Neymar has a habit of going down
to almost wing position to collect the ball and then run fast towards goal. Can
you people guess who does that at Real Madrid? Yes, you are right; it’s Cristiano
Ronaldo - the Complete Package.
So, it’s very, very unlikely that Neymar will actually move
to Real Madrid till Mourinho is in charge. And even if he does, he will have to
make a huge change in his style of play and even then he will have to play
second fiddle to Cristiano.
Barcelona
As of now, a move to Barca seems like the most likely thing
to happen with some reports even claiming that a deal has already been accepted
between the two Clubs and Neymar would move to the Catalan Club in the summer
of 2013.
If he does moves to Barca, here is what I think would be the
result.
Barcelona
have a slower game play. Their key thing is keeping possession. They do back
pass and circulate the ball among them just to keep the ball; sometimes, in
this sense, Neymar’s habit of keeping ball won’t disturb the flow of their game
too much.
As a Brazilian, he is good in tiki-taka style and if you
have seen him play for Santos,
you would know that he is a very good passer of the ball.
First problem he will face is smaller circle to play than he
is used to in Santos.
As I mentioned before, he has a habit of going down and collect the ball and
make sole run towards the goal. This habit of him won’t be accepted in Barcelona, simply because Barca
are more efficient with Xavi and Iniesta collecting the ball and spraying it
around or making a defense-splitting through-ball.
Some people may argue Messi too does this kind of run, but
so far from my observation Messi doesn’t go that down as Neymar, and he does
some passing during his run. And also, Messi is Messi – the biggest fish in
Barca, Neymar has a long way to go to reach his level.
Second problem will be the little Magician, Messi. Neymar
can’t play as main attacker in Barcelona
as long Messi is on pitch – just ask Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Virtually I feel there
is no main attacker in Barcelona
except Messi, all others seems to be playing in a supportive role in order to
get the best out of their best man.
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| Future Team-Mates? |
Messi’s unbelievable skills and records gave him this
privilege. So, Neymar will also have to be in supportive role, which of course
will limit his freedom and reduce those dazzling dribbling in the D-box area.
In recent history, we saw many great strikers failed to play
the supportive role (especially in Barca) – when their freedom reduced. As I
have mentioned above, Ibrahimovic failed to do so and David Villa took a lot of
time to adjust to that role.
So only time will tell how Neymar will play the supporting role.
It’s a big question, so big that it can determine his future in Barcelona if he moves.
3) All Argentine players will have to consult with Maradona before transfer, and clubs will have to take whoever he recommends.
