Analysing Neymar's 2014/15 Contribution for Barcelona

After a relatively disappointing first campaign for Barcelona, Neymar needed to reproduce his international form at club level during 2014/15.

The justification for an alleged €86 million transfer spend would be goals and assists aplenty, and a marked improvement in general play.

Thankfully for the Catalans, the Brazilian scored highly in all departments.

Neymar played a full part along with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in becoming La Liga's most successful front three with 122 goals between them at the end of the season, a frankly astonishing statistic.

His performances were generally sharper than they had been before, his contribution in each game more measured and his output more prolific. 

A fully paid up member of Barca's treble winners, let's break down the various facets of Neymar's game in 2014/15. 

All stats have been supplied courtesy of WhoScored.com and Squawka.

Goals Scored

Tap-ins, worldies and curlers, Neymar scored them all.

A Brazilian goalscoring masterclass throughout the season meant that Neymar was a deserved second behind Messi with 39 goals in all competitions.

Coming in just 47 appearances, Neymar's quality in this area was self evident from the beginning of the campaign.

A Champions League final goal will surely have been a personal highlight, but Neymar's prowess was never better illustrated than when scoring the two goals against Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of the quarter-final or against Atletico Madrid in a man-of-the-match Copa del Rey performance. 

Assists

With good numbers across the campaign, it may surprise a lot of people to note that Neymar only managed seven assists for Barca in 2014/15.

Improved performance levels and goalscoring ability clearly hasn't led to an upgrade in assists terms.

There's little point denying that it's an area that needs to be looked at but just a tweak here and there is required.

Neymar played some of his best-ever club football last season and to completely rein that in would be of no benefit to the player personally or to the team as a whole.

Chances Created

Only Messi (93) and Suarez (57) have a better total chance creation record than Neymar across the season.

In fact, when it comes to key passes made, the Brazilian can actually boast the second-best record in the team with 45 from his 52 chances overall.

Perhaps the most beautiful part of the Messi-Suarez-Neymar triumvirate was bearing witness to the joy that each other had when playing the killer ball to another for the score.

When you consider that most attackers live and die for goals, it says something about the special nature of the relationship.

Tackle Success

Although not known for the more robust side of the game, Neymar is learning quickly how to look after himself and the lack of histrionics should be welcomed.

Fifty-seven percent duel success overall is the same as Messi and only slightly behind Xavi Hernandez, the outfield player with the best figures in this regard.

From a tackling perspective, 37 won from 75 is a passable figure, given Neymar's placing on the field and 104 successful take-ons out of 201 attempted potentially needs addressing given that it should be meat and drink for the Brazilian.

Twenty headed duels won from 43 isn't the best but then Neymar hasn't really been renowned for his aerial prowess. 

Pass Accuracy

There has been a huge drop off in Neymar's accuracy compared to the previous campaign.

Although he has played more games and arguably been more heavily involved in the big moments of a game, the fact remains that his passing has been a little off.

At 81 percent in La Liga and 82.3 percent in the Champions League, the Brazilian has the third-worst statistics in the entire squad.

Clearly there is huge room for improvement here, and Luis Enrique will need to work on this aspect of Neymar's game during the pre-season and over the course of 2015/16.

Discipline

Ten yellow cards across the season is another area where Neymar needs to improve.

Only the back four and Sergio Busquets have a worse disciplinary record than the Brazilian and given their various roles in the side, their transgressions are only to be expected.

When you consider that many of Neymar's cards aren't related to fouls on the opposition, it hints at a continued immaturity.

He needs to be able to rid himself of a perceived need to "get involved." 

Winning Record

Figures in brackets represent substitute appearances and these figures include all games played in La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

Neymar: 2014/15

	Apps	Won	Lost	Draw
2014/15	47 (4)	42	6	3