4 Areas for Neymar to Improve on with Barcelona Next Season

Neymar can look back at his contributions for Barcelona in 2014/15 with pride.

Only a handful of players in Blaugrana history have managed to score more than the 39 goals in a single season that the Brazilian amassed last term.

Add in a handful of assists and some poetic interplay, and the last campaign will go down as one of the best of Neymar's career to date.

However, there is a note of caution to be sounded. There are a few elements of Neymar's game that need a little refining and improvement.

Let's take a look.

Showboating

If there is one thing that professional footballers don't like, it's the opposition showing them a lack of respect.

This is most clearly demonstrated by showboating—the action of trying something totally unnecessary purely to undermine the strength of the opposition.

Neymar's most obvious example of this came in the Copa del Rey final in May, when he tried a rainbow flick over the Athletic Bilbao defence toward the end of the match.

It wasn't in keeping with the mood of the rest of the match, and manager Luis Enrique and Gerard Pique were right to criticise him after the game, reported by Sport.

Discipline

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Neymar needs to learn to walk away.

Nine yellow cards across the season, per WhoScored.com, was almost double the tally of the previous campaign.

The odd few were for mistimed challenges, but at least half of them—given for things such as petulance, time-wasting and challenging the ref—could've been avoided.

There's little need for the youngster to get involved. That he does shows he has still got a bit of growing up to do on the pitch.

Goals can mask the failings, and if he continues banging them in, then supporters might still be inclined to overlook this area.

But it doesn't change the fact that only the back four and Sergio Busquets received more bookings, which is to be expected in light of their respective duties.

Maturity off of the Pitch

Neymar also needs to mature off of the pitch.

Not a day goes by without an Instagram photo of Neymar acting the fool being added to the Brazilian's account.

At the very highest level, you have to remain totally professional at all times. 

Take the open-top bus tour to celebrate winning the treble. Look at Xavi's reaction to Neymar's high jinks as another guide to the sort of behaviour expected of a Barcelona employee away from the pitch.

Per Sport (h/t Tom Sheen of the Independent) Xavi noted:

"

[Neymar] was trying to take my shoes off and pushing me when I was on the edge of the bus. I said that they should stop messing about and concentrate on the people that had come out to wave as the bus passed. 

"

Such behaviour can be put down to the exuberance of youth, but it isn't readily accepted at a club such as Barcelona.

Passing Accuracy

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Neymar's passing hasn't been up to much in 2014/15.

Barcelona are known for their quick and accurate passing, so it might be a surprise to some that this is an area where Neymar needs to vastly improve.

Eighty-one per cent pass success might be acceptable for most clubs, but the Catalans demand more from their best exponents.

Per Squawka, only two players in the entire squad recorded worse passing stats than the Brazilian.

Following the unexpected curtailment of his Copa America, Neymar would do well to report for club duty early and get to work.