OVER HYPED NEYMAR NEEDS TO PROVE HIMSELF IN EUROPE

Neymar finally gets the chance to prove himself in Europe

We have seen it many times before. Talent coming out of South America especially Brazil and with headlines screaming; THE NEXT PELE blazed across newspapers and websites. These were so in the cases of Robinho and Alexandre Pato and others such as the bulky Adriano (remember him?), Afonso Alves and Fred Concalves.

The Brazilian league has spun out so many talents over the years who may very well shine in just two or three seasons in Europe but eventually fade out. I have no reason to believe that Da Silva Santos Junior aka Neymar story should go differently.

Adriano Leite made a mock of  himself in Europe

The Brazilian league is no doubt rich in talent but over the years I have noticed their products have a rather quick expiry date. Robson de Souza aka Robinho was my first little observation. The next Pele has he was fondly referred to back at Santos was making waves with his dazzling skills and the Brazilian press wasted no time in blowing his talents out of proportion so much so that the European heavyweights had to pay attention. The likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and others came circling but he ultimately moved to Real Madrid in 2005 for 24 million Euros.

Robinho was a laughing stock on European soil

At Madrid, he showed flashes of his ability in his three seasons but was rather inconsistent and a bit too playful. Madrid sensing an opportunity to make some cash sold him to oil money rich Manchester City for 32.5 million pounds in 2008. The best thing Robinho ever did was score a free kick in his first game against Chelsea and since then became a bit unruly breaking club rules and displayed a number of indifferent performances on the field. 

Injuries also didn't help his cause He was loaned to Santos then sold to Milan where his form has not picked up and now Milan want to offload him. This is a guy that is just 29 and a couple of years back was referred to as the ‘next Pele’!!! A joke, right? Moving on………..

Braziliant! Neymar can not be assessed just on home soil classics

Along came Neymar. The Brazilian wonderkid came as a sort of shining light for Brazil’s upcoming world cup hosting in Brazil and the nation so desperate to retain it. Brazil lacking any player that was really on form had to look for a source of inspiration and that person was Neymar. The Mohawk rocking youngster was already making waves at Santos as usual and scoring buckets of goals. At Santos, he scored 42 goals in 60 games in the 2010 season as Santos achieved the double. A rather surprising number of goals for such a young player I reckon.

Neymar was unstoppable in the Brazilian league

These are reasons why I question the strength of the Brazilian league!!! All the while the Brazilian press typically made all the right noises about a new kid on the block and him being the next superstar. I watched a couple of his games where he seemed mediocre at best but with such noise coming out of Brazil, Barcelona snapped him up for 48.6 million pounds, an outrageous amount for such young player and relatively untested outside the comfy confines of Brazil. He may have had a reasonably good Confederations cup outing but that is just a tournament of 5 games and nothing compared to the rigors of Europe.

Good boy gone bad: Neymar can be strong headed and arrogant

I am not part of the Neymar bandwagon. Maybe because of the observations with Brazilians and their tendencies to fizzle out after a couple of seasons or become unruly and lose sight of being a professional footballer. Neymar certainly fits the bill. 

He is known to be strong headed and a bit arrogant and with such a personality, one can easily see problems as the likes of Lionel Messi and co thrive in a peaceful environment. He may be the one player that may come along and disrupt the pretentious harmony that Barcelona wants us to badly believe and this certainly will not go down well with the Blaugrana hierarchy.

 He needs to be consistent, fit and hungry for success. He needs to able to fit into Barcelona’s philosophy of team play ahead of individual brilliance and most importantly how he gets along with the senior players of the club. All this would make him the complete player and for all the noise about his talent, I don’t think he is the Barcelona type. He looks like an individualistic player who thrives on media attention and will not tolerate correction from team mates. 

Can the star in Neymar eclipse Messi's golden star? 

The first two seasons may be rosy for Neymar but after that I wouldn’t be surprised if injuries or inconsistent displays set in. He may not even get along with the clear star of the team Lionel Messi and I predict them clashing. Most importantly I see a dip in form because for me he has a tendency to be inconsistent and fizzle out of games. European football is rather stressful and whether he can keep up with football action week in week out remains to be seen.

The La Liga season kicks off pretty soon and the world is waiting with baited breath what Neymar Jr brings to the table. For me I don’t expect much. I will only be too happy for him to prove me wrong.