Comparing Neymar's 2013/14 Stats with His 2014/15 Numbers for Barcelona
Neymar finished his second season at Barcelona with some very impressive numbers, indeed.
Right from the word "go," the Brazilian was hugely impressive in both his general attitude to work and his application.
After taking a full season to acclimatise to his new surroundings, his performances in 2014/15 were more akin to those from a player who had taken all before him in the Brasileiro.
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A penchant for showboating had all but disappeared, although it did rear its ugly head in the Copa del Rey final, leaving Athletic Bilbao players none too happy.
However, such occasional instances should in no way detract from what Neymar brought to the party overall.
Let's take a look at how well Neymar fared, with all stats supplied courtesy of WhoScored.com and Squawka.
Goals Scored
With such a huge weight of expectation on Neymar's shoulders upon his arrival in Catalonia, it was perhaps inevitable that the youngster would fall short of those expectations in his first full campaign.
The odd injury didn't help his cause as he struggled for any sort of consistency.
That said, 15 goals were a reasonable return, given the variables involved.
Within the first 11 games of 2014/15, Neymar had already notched 11 goals in all competitions, and a decisive and incisive work ethic had replaced a reticence to be involved at the sharp end.
The youngster was now taking on board more responsibility in possession, and it paid immediate dividends.
"Neymar stats under Tata Martino vs. under Luis Enrique. See the difference? pic.twitter.com/9aqn5G1pSJ
— InfosBarcelona (@MadridistaVines) June 10, 2015"
Over the course of the season, Neymar contributed handsomely to the goals-scored column, finishing with a fantastic 39 goals, including strikes in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the Champions League.
He finished the competition level with Lionel Messi on 10 goals—the first time that two players from the same team have reached double figures in the competition in a single season.
Assists
"Neymar | FC Barcelona | 2014/15 | - 39 goals - 7 assists - 81.3% pass success - 3 trophies #fcblive
— Nasir (@nasirinho) June 12, 2015"
It may surprise many that the improvement in this aspect of Neymar's game was marginal.
Although he appeared to be involved in some form or another in the big moments of most games, his seven assists in 2014/15 were just two more than he had during the previous season.
This stat perhaps acknowledges a selfish streak in front of goal and places Neymar only joint fourth alongside Ivan Rakitic in this aspect of play.
Given that even Xavi, in roughly 800 fewer minutes of match time, managed more assists (eight), this is an area that manager Luis Enrique will be looking for Neymar to address in 2015/16.
Tackle Success
His 37 tackles completed from 75 attempts gave Neymar a 49 percent success rate in 2014/15.
Those numbers represent an upgrade on his first season for Barca, when he managed 25 tackles from 53 attempts, giving him a 47 percent success rate.
Luis Enrique should be pleased that the Brazilian is getting more involved in this area—22 more tackles attempted over and above his output in 2013/14 represents a decent improvement.
Discipline
This is one area that still lets Neymar down.
Five yellow cards in 2013/14 would probably be considered an acceptable level, given the amount of close attention the player is subject to.
In the heat of battle, it's inevitable that he will react sometimes, especially if the officials are prepared to allow certain challenges to go unpunished.
But nine yellows in 2014/15—almost double—show a lack of self-control and maturity.
Chances Created
Adept at attracting defenders toward him, Neymar has the intelligence in the final third of the pitch to know when to release the ball at the most optimum point of a move.
To that end, he created 54 chances in his first season, second only to Messi.
Although there was the slightest drop-off to 52 chances in 2014/15, it was still an enviable return. Only Luis Suarez and Messi provided more during the course of the season.
Pass Accuracy
Although Neymar's pass-completion rate is far from poor, it is an area that he needs to spend some time on.
Pre-season would be an opportune time to get up to an acceptable standard, given that his totals are down from his debut season for the Blaugrana.
During 2013/14, figures of 84.4 percent domestically and 86.4 percent in Europe were more than adequate; however, the drop-off to 81.0 percent domestically and 82.3 percent in the Champions League is a big downward curve.
Winning Record
Figures in parentheses represent substitute appearances, and these figures include all games played in La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.
| Appearances | Won | Lost | Draw | |
| 2013/14 | 28 (8) | 25 | 6 | 5 |
| 2014/15 | 47 (4) | 42 | 6 | 3 |
In summary, Neymar still needs to refine some areas of his all-round game, but he has seen a marked improvement overall.
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