Analysing Neymar's Early-Season Form for Barcelona
Neymar hasn't been himself this season, yet.
Assuming the Brazilian star's natural level is now the way he was performing in the second half of last season, he has a lot more to give.
Between January and May in the 2014-15 campaign, Neymar was incredible, a genuine difference-maker for Barcelona.
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Among several other impressive contributions, he scored in both legs of the quarter- and semi-finals of the Champions League, as well as netting during the final itself.
Neymar played a key role as Barcelona won the treble, and alongside Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, he formed one of the most fearsome attacking tridents in football history.
But this season so far has been stop-start for the 23-year-old, showing his ability in flashes but rarely for long periods of time.
He has scored four goals in eight games, which is not a bad return, but two of those strikes came as consolation during defeats and another in a 4-1 rout of Levante.
Only his strike against Atletico Madrid, a game which Barcelona won 2-1 in the Spanish capital, can be said to have had a tangible positive impact on Barcelona's points total.
Neymar isn't the only one who is struggling. Bar Sergi Roberto, no Blaugrana player will believe they are playing as well as they can yet.
The team overall has several problems. One of the biggest is the number of goals they are conceding.
Another is that they have been unable to win a game by more than a single goal, bar the home victory over Levante. And these numbers will be of concern for Neymar.
The statistic comes as a surprise, given they were so potent in front of goal last season and not much has changed in terms of the starting-line up, particularly in the attack.
Of course, Messi's injury has affected the team during the last three matches, but the problem started before that.
The Argentinian being out of action means most Barcelona fans would expect Neymar to step up and fill the gap, as least as well as anybody could try to.
However, coach Luis Enrique spoke out to state that he would not be asking the forward to try and adapt his game to bear more of the load.
"Only a journalist could ask for Neymar to improve. It's impossible for a coach to ask it. We all step forward. Neymar does Neymar, he does it well," he said, per Sport.
Lucho is afraid of putting too much pressure on his star, but Neymar’s performances for Brazil show he can take the strain.
There, he is representing a nation of millions and managed to drag them to the World Cup semi-final almost single-handedly in 2014, before he was injured and unable to help as Germany sent Brazil crashing out.
In the games against Las Palmas and Bayer Leverkusen—both of which Barcelona won 2-1—Neymar wasn’t particularly impressive.
But during the 2-1 defeat by Sevilla, which was his 100th game in a Barcelona shirt, he was excellent.
Neymar took control and helped create several chances for his team-mates as well as scoring himself.
He buzzed around the field, testing goalkeeper Sergio Rico on several occasions, as well as hitting the post, before eventually scoring a penalty.
Despite Barcelona losing the game, it was Neymar’s most promising performance of the season, and the supporters will be praying he can keep it up after the international break.
He wasn’t with the Brazil squad, as he was serving the remainder of a suspension, so has been resting and is now back in training with Barcelona.
Neymar’s early-season form can be partly attributed to a misfortune he suffered at the start of the current campaign, when he was diagnosed with mumps before Barcelona played in the European and Spanish Super Cups.
It kept him out of those competitions and also off the field for Barcelona’s La Liga opener against Athletic Club, in Bilbao.
When he returned, he made a slow start.
He scored a brilliant free-kick during an impressive display against Atletico, but his form after that tailed off.
Neymar never really found his stride against Roma in the Champions League, before scoring against Levante and Celta Vigo, despite failing to come close to his best level in either clash.
Then came Messi’s injury, early in the clash against Las Palmas, and it was Suarez who stepped up and helped Barcelona win the game.
The Brazilian was poor against Bayer Leverkusen, and it left everybody wondering what was going on with him, including Sport's Miki Soria. He wrote:
"Starting on the left wing, Neymar was one of the Barcelona players more involved in the game, but beyond the urge to be a key figure, he was too individualistic with the ball at his feet, losing possession 19 times during the match. He rarely got past the first line of defensive pressure.
...
Neymar seemed anxious and even overwhelmed by the pressure on him. He was calling for the ball but doing badly with it. It was not his best day.
"
After the game, Neymar criticised Barcelona’s supporters, per the Daily Mail, though he also admitted he knows they expect more from the squad: "It is difficult when the fans are not with you, but we know they want more from us."
Luis Enrique leapt to the Brazilian’s defence, per AS (h/t Goal). He said:
"For me, Neymar did a good job against Leverkusen. The media has somehow created the idea that Neymar must do something extra now that Messi is injured, but it is not like that. It is not like the other players can just relax when Leo is there. We are a team and everybody always has to give 100 per cent.
Of course, we would love it if all our players were on top of their game, but they all give everything for the team and are doing a great job. They cannot just step up their game because Messi is not there.
"
Despite his performance against the German side, the real Neymar emerged against Sevilla, which leaves things intriguingly poised for the return to domestic action this weekend.
Another reason he may be below his best is because, per EFE and Sport, a large amount of his assets have been frozen. The article read:
"A Brazilian court has frozen around 47 million USD worth of Neymar's assets, alleging that the Barcelona star is guilty of tax evasion. A tribunal in Sao Paulo claimed on Friday that the Brazilian international evaded somewhere in the region of 18 million USD in taxes between the year 2011 and 2013.
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However, Neymar doesn’t seem to be flustered by these type of events. Shortly after it was revealed he had his Porche confiscated, per Folha De Sao Paulo (h/t ESPN), he posted a picture of Instagram of himself sat on the roof of a new Ferrari (h/t Superdeporte).
Neymar is a showman and that was some way to show he was back on top. Now he has to produce a similar response on the football field as Barcelona look to improve, heading into the second portion of the season.
He’s not been awful, by any means, but if we are to believe that he is going to be on the Ballon d’Or podium along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, Neymar needs to blow off the cobwebs and start to shine once more.
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