The Self-Destruction of Neymar

one of the most tragic tales in football is that of Neymar's the level of his talent his career has been unfulfilled someone who isn't just a typical footballer but a once- in-a-lifetime Entertainer Neymar is the most skillful player in history you cannot touch him on his day you can't take the ball off him on his day someone who could light up the pitch with Unforgettable moments yet also leave us questioning what could have been Neymar could have been the third best player of all time if he had actually been able to commit to that work

ethic was he simply unlucky with injuries or did he play a part in his own downfall he has been in some ways His Own Worst Enemy Neymar's career is a mix of Brilliance and controversy which is worth analyzing deeper to understand more it's crucial we start from the very beginning because in a country full of alltime greats like Pelle Ronaldo and Ronaldinho Ney was destined to carry the torch for Brazilian football Neymar is the next great hope for a nation that Demands a prodigy every generation it's part of our tradition it's part of our our

mentality the 17-year-old Rising Star Neymar Neymar D Silva Santos Jr the 17-year-old simply known as Neymar is the Star Striker for Santos football club Neymar's performances at 17 had already caught the attention of many top clubs elsewhere Chelsea have made a 20 million bid for the exciting Brazilian Striker Neymar I don't know nothing about this because uh I I can say about uh Neymar is a fantastic player but we he not a Chelsey player now Neymar however was committed to honing his craft in Brazil he's just signed a 5-year deal with Santos to W of

Chelsea but Neymar still had his chance to impress in front of a larger audience and then Neymar unmarked in the Box free header but what a finish and first cap for his national team he scored a goal in his very first match but it was in 2011 when Neymar truly announced himself on the world stage a breathtaking solo goal earned him the coveted puscas award Neymar Neymar but despite this win as well as scoring over 100 goals for Santos everyone knew that Neymar was meant for the world stage Neymar is still a very young player

but we all have a lot of confidence that he pretty soon is going to be the best in the world I think as a fan and someone who I've followed quite closely and seen the talent he's got I'd love to see him come to Europe maybe the Premier League who knows when he comes to to Europe everybody will will have a better idea what I'm saying and five seasons and 136 goals later Neymar knew it was time to finally leave his home country Neymar has agreed in principle to join Barcelona on July the 1st Neymar

was greeted by over 50,000 fans at the camp new as he completed a 57 million EUR move from Santos Neymar's first test to justify his price tag came at the 2013 confederations cup which he passed in flying colors four goals including one in the final against world champions Spain helped Brazil win the tournament he's proven without a Shad of a doubt ahead of his move to Barcelona that he can cut it against top level opposition he really Has Lifted this country at this point it's clear that Neymar would have a successful career for Barca however

his first season wasn't exactly how he envisioned it it's not been hugely impressive in his first season in Barcelona not bad this dude he didn't necessarily do the greatest for Barcelona in his first season in La Lia last year with only nine goals he's not the same league as Messi I don't think that it's fair on him he's still a young boy he needs to grow seven out of 10 probably for his first season but it does take players quite frequently a time to adapt to a different country a different continent but you need to

give him time in the space Neymar didn't exactly find immense success in his debut season for Barca but the Brazilian knew it was soon time for his turning welcome to Brazil where World Cup 2014 is well underway 2014 Neymar returns home for The World Cup here he felt much more at home with the opportunity to be the main man I I really think Neymar is in for a big big tournament I think he's a great player Neymar's the face of the team he's going to get the headlines because he's one of the best players in

the world he's not shown it yet in Spain but I think this will be a platform and in next year you see him brilliant but still the pressure to succeed continued the hopes of a Nation rest on this young man's shoulders the team is counting on his goalscoring genius to win matches high expectations for his very first World Cup but for Messi and Neymar they're the big two who uh who are expected to carry their entire country very big responsibility Brazilians began wondering can this kid really reach pelle's Heights soon enough we got the answer

Neymar scores twice in the first half scoring his third and fourth goal of the tournament helping Brazil beat Cameroon 4-1 as he advance to the next round and Neymar showed that he is on the for the big he's a player for the big occasion on a positive note most of the big stars have really turned up haven't they um Neymar scored four goals but it was in The Knockout stages where the pressure reached boiling point because Neymar needed to score an important penalty to send Brazil through that much pressure on young shoulders had to score

Neymar it's a stumbling run but nothing stumbling about the I I don't think this is a guy who feels the pressure and responsibility Hope was in the air as Neymar helped send Brazil to the next round little did the fans know these hopes would soon be dashed in the last few moments that Neymar the star stke Striker is ruled out of the rest of the tournament he picked up a an injury to his third vertebrae in his back it's it's fractured a tragedy for the home nation he leads them in goal scored shots on goal

chances created and I think it's a real real blow for Brazil massive blow for Brazil and all of a sudden you're thinking well how are they going to do it now can they still do it Germany delivered a Hur wrenching blow in the form of a 71 Annihilation it's hard to describe in words what happened to Brazil on Tuesday when they lost 71 to Germany in the World Cup semifinals the dream was over but Neymar still had unfinished business for Barca great news about him today he's been declared fully fit from the back inury that

he got against Colombia this is where it gets interesting though because with new signing Lu Suarez in the team everything seemed to click this almost telepathy between them that's been in evidence throughout the season is still there naar Messi and Suarez I don't think I'd sleep too well at night before and it's all about how you can neutralize their front three movement of Neymar Suarez and Messi Neymar Suarez and Messi they interchange people can't defend them because you don't know where they're going to be phenomenally gifted fun three arguably the the most talented fun three

that's ever existed in World football 120 goals for MSN as they laid claim to a historic treble for Neymar he doubled his gold Tally from 15 to a staggering 38 the Brazilian had announced his presence in La Liga but there was still one man that continued to be in all the headlines Neymar knew he had the ability to be the star man and in The Following Season he got his opportunity the headline though has to be Leno Messi suffering an MCL tear in a Barcelona win over Las palas on the weekend Messi will be out

for 7 to 8 weeks since Lionel Messi got injured everyone in Barcelona was expecting Neymar to shine the Classico is in a couple weeks time could Neymar Step Up in Messi's absence we soon got our answer at the moment who needs messy when you've got these two and he excelled into that he took the responsibility once again Neymar broke the 30 goal Mark with Barca contributing to another league title but is that all he wanted because it was soon becoming clear that Neymar's career was being overshadowed by two men Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo Barcelona's

Messi City Madrid is Ronaldo's City every other footballer is in Messi or Ronaldo's Shadow but there was an argument to be made that Neymar would soon hold the coveted Balon door eventually Neymar's got a lot of years ahead of him and even though Messi still at the the height of his powers he will start to deteriorate eventually and Neymar's just coming into his Prime at 24 years old he could well pass the Caps record of 142 as well and when it comes to the Balon door the only question is how many Will he win Neymar

put talks of him leaving tobet as he pledged his loyalty to Bara until 2021 and he's going to be earning around 25 Millions per year in the Champions League he had a chance to show everyone how dedicated he was to the club because in the first leg of the last 16 tie against PSG Barcelona were embarrassed 4-0 it was going to take a special player to step up and help complete one of the biggest comebacks in champions league history Suarez scored goal number one and Messi number two now it was time for Neymar to shine

in the 88th minute upsteps Neymar to bring Bara one step closer but he wasn't finished there in minute 91 he scored a clinical penalty to bring the team within one goal of Victory with the ref ready to blow his whistle at any moment Neymar's pass had to be inch perfect and inch perfect it was Neymar was undoubtedly the differen maker to help Bara make a miraculous comeback but what preceded wasn't what Neymar had anticipated Neymar scored one off a direct free kick one off a penalty and he assisted on sergy Roberto's goal and the one

picture everybody saw was lonel Messi doing that it's messy in the newspapers it's Messi completed the comeback it's not Neymar and I believe that that was the day that Neymar looked at Barcelona and looked at Messi and said that as long as I'm at this club I can't be the best player in the world he has to leave Barcelona because I feel like he's always going to be under Messi Shadow and he's not going to be appreciated for the evident Talent he has Neymar has moved from Barcelona to Paris San man for a staggering 2000

million the overwhelming emotion that we feel is definitely betrayal fans are very angry with n m coming away from Barcelona and Out of The Shadow of other players might help him but for me it was a surprise it was a shock cuz the thought process is he can't become the world's best player if Messi's there as well I didn't expect it came out of the blue but Neymar has to live up to the hype and the 220 million transfer free they paid for him refusing to be in the shadows of Messi any longer Neymar's Journey

as a PSG player commenced despite being in a lesser League Neymar made it clear early on that he was there to give it his all the Brazilian has been in superb form and plays with freedom in the front three dribbles one against one no one does that anymore EX Messi scores 30 40 goals every year Neymar is way too good for the French league the golfing class between him and anybody else General his dribbling his change of pace and his ability to turn a match on its head within a split second Neymar got what he

wanted he was the poster boy of the entire league but this pursuit to be number one came at a massive cost Neymar out of the Champions League second leg against Real Madrid with a metat tassel injury Neymar suffered a serious injury keeping him on the sidelines for 3 months unfortunately for him this injury was only the beginning he missed another 28 games in The Following Season leaving PSG without their key player for the important matches the team desperately needed someone to step up in his absence and who better than Killian mbappe but the real star

of the club right now is kilan mbappe and when Neymar wasn't there that Cavani wasn't there mbapp did very very well if indeed Neymar's motive was to be the man the guy away from Messi and then this is going to be my team and I'm going to carry this team well it's impossible to do that when you're not there as Frank just said when the team needs you the most for his Club Neymar was slowly losing fans but for his country everyone still believed in Neymar to deliver them hope at the 2018 World Cup Neymar

got his chance at Redemption I think Neymar's had a little bit of time to recover he looks fit he looks hungry looks determination so they're going to be the tournament in Russia however didn't go as expected everyone knows he wasn't good he looked tired he was slow just off the pace his attitude was poor I know he's getting fouled but it just you can tell that wasn't the real name off numerous times just looking to track three or four players over just to build his skills compilation in YouTube or Neymar do he's di like an

Olympic swimmer blood less of that stop it Neymar just stop what you're doing and just play football I just don't I don't get it replay showed Neymar Just collapsing to the ground under no touch whatsoever it's all neyar no it is cheating it is that simple again the minest of touches and theym he didn't know nothing nothing today the next p whatever it might be he failed miserably in that way and he's not a kid either he's going to be 30 by the time the next world inar in 2022 and like you kind of think

Neymar still is a younger but 27 in his prime should have really gone into this tournament and being the star of the show is is absolutely 100% about him not maturing time was quickly running out for Nar to fulfill his potential but injuries continue to plague the prime of his career he's 27 years old he should be moving the ball early and then getting it back not not letting people get close to him this guy invites it so he shouldn't complain when he gets kicked but how much does this get all brought on by Neymar

himself teasing The Defenders fans wanted Neymar to take his football more seriously 2 years later they got what they asked for neyar was determined to bring the Champions League home to Paris he's electric he really is and he is a Difference Maker because at his very best he is a top tier talent but he's also the the passion that he showed the communion with the players and also with the fans at the end it mattered to him tonight maybe it was a personal thing maybe all the attacks on Neymar he's taking it personal he says

you know what I'm going to carry this thing this is why he came to the club he wanted to be the big star the number one not in the shadow of Messi or Suarez and he he is now and this is the kind of game where he has to be the leader and he has to deliver and put on a good performance to send these team through because it was only Neymar that was carrying them it was a different type of Neymar a new Neymar this isn't about de this is about neyar his awareness is

that ability to just do things off the car and Neymar will have to prove that uh paid him a lot to to win it so he's going to give everything the 2020 Champions League final PSG taking on Bayern Munich the Champions League was Within Reach but in the 59th minute all hopes were crushed very very good run from PSG and Neymar and the rest of the team but ultimately like I was alluding to the best team in Europe won but what I would say to Neymar is why are you crying now what what are those

tearers going to do it was at this point where PSG decided to take a different approach we start with one of the most significant transfers in the history of football lonel Messi has tonight signed for Paris sgain officially ending his 21e stay at Barcelona how much is there a sense though that they've they' thrown everything at it now it's now or never I think there is a a feeling that that PSG are clear favorites and this really is is the time for them to finally win this trophy Neymar was no longer trusted to be the

main man it was going to be his team it was going to be his project and his success and while PSG was close they didn't quite make it to where neyar and PSG wanted to get to and that's winning champions league and so in comes lonel Messi the main question was how is Neymar going to deal being in the shadow of lonel Messi but we know in the past he dealt with it pretty well they were great on the pitch together and now just the presence of lonel Messi automatically whether Neymar likes it or not

puts Neymar again in a secondary role Neymar was back in a supporting role for Messi and things looked promising early on a 2-nil win against Man City gave the fans hope that Victory would finally arrive but that hope quickly turned into disappointment a second place finish in group play Led PSG right into the belly of the Beast eventual winners Real Madrid defeated them with ease Neymar again I say it I've been saying it for years mate he's so overrated they can't cope because they don't all defend or play as a team Neymar was name our

things which is whatever he wants the best players are not working with the team coming back defensively have you ever seen Neymar doing that once never there's been massive egos which is part of managing big clubs that are there are the players too powerful maybe in a way but at this level to carry free players that aren't going to be able to work to to the intensity that you probably need to win the tournament like the champions league is very very very very very difficult Jake if you some some of the hard work doing some

of the dirty side of of the game um he he he lets himself down and as a result lets his team down do I want four years more of Neymar the way he played yesterday how on Earth did he play 90 minutes and things went from bad to worse the FIFA World Cup gotter 2022 is finally here he turned his ankle where they're going to ass say either the swelling comes down and he can play again we may not see him again he's struggling to be fit for Brazil's first knockout game just when it all

seemed over for Neymar he was able to fully heal in time for The Knockout stages Neymar is back in trading with Brazil ahead of their game against South Korea he may not be ready but they're saying that Neymar is fit ters confirmed it all of a sudden things started to click and Neymar coming back from injury and scoring his first World Cup goal and he's now one goal away from tying pelle's record for the alltime scorer for the Brazilian national team with Neymar Neymar oh a peles goal to tie his record you couldn't write a

better script unfortunately the script writers had other plans in store and Neymar had that moment but that moment was trumped no is the World Cup dream was over and so was any chance of Neymar returning to his best really disappointing news for Neymar because he is out for the rest of the Season hard breaking news of course for Neymar to be out for the rest of the season for PSG not to be able to have that Brazilian number 10 like too many times before a season C sh by injury you know a recurring theme now

for Neymar with PSG injuries interrupting uh you know more than half of the seasons that he's actually now played with the club PSG were ready to cut ties with Neymar once and for all uh Neymar is going to stick around because he's enormous contractor nobody wants him um but he's maybe the guy that they would have minded as shift where do you sell Neymar to how do you sell Neymar Neymar to Newcastle could actually happen as well what is this all about and is this the next stage of super wealth we're told that Manchester United

have been approached by intermediaries about signing Neymar from PSG this summer but England was not the destination Saudi Arabian Club Al hillal have agreed a deal now with Paris San to sign Neymar because Neymar has shown himself to be the ultimate Vibes for he's not chasing greatness he's not chasing sit with the ronaldos and the Messi and he's here for Vibes the the level that Neymar should have been at his body's let him down to a level of course he's had injury problems but the level of his talent his career has been unfulfilled Neymar could

have been the third best player of all time potentially top two if he had actually been able to commit to that work ethic into being on good teams and being part of a really good solid Club but instead he he made some weird career choices that derailed in a way his career overall the world's most expensive player requires surgery after seriously injuring his knee whilst playing for Brazil with his ACL injury it's safe to assume that one of the greatest talents of football will never reach his lofty potential for Neymar he will certainly be remembered

for the career he could have had and not the career he did