Neymar’s inconsistent form means he still can’t be put in the same bracket as Messi or Ronaldo

Barcelona, a team that threatens the world with its attacking prowess and tiki-taka football has been failing short on one account lately. Once decimating opponents at will, the journey of the Barcelona attack, carried by the MSN trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar has had one of the wheels go off lately.

Time was ticking and it was back in October in a Champions League clash against Manchester City that Neymar Junior found the back of the net. There were a round of tough games and rather easy ones as well and with each passing game, there was hope of the Brazilian starlet breaking his hoodoo and getting back to goalscoring ways. But time went on, the wait increased and the goal eluded the youngster.

A penalty to end a drought

It was finally on January 11 that the drought came to an end. Barcelona took the field while facing Ath­let­ic Bil­bao in the return leg at Camp Nou. Finally, Neymar, after a gap of a little over three months, found the back of the net.

Luis Suarez had found the back of the net for the hosts early on in the game and it was Neymar next on the scoresheet. The joy was not just of going 2-0 up but also the fact that Neymar had finally got the monkey off his back and saw the back of the net after a long lean patch.

But if one looked closer, it was not really the ideal way to get going. Neymar had struck a penalty to add another goal to his tally. Lionel Messi had backed off and given Neymar the opportunity, by trying to get his teammate’s confidence back.

Just like winning, goalscoring is a habit and once one gets into it, the autopilot gets him further goals and confidence and self belief keeps on cooking inside, leading to better and fruitful performances.

Form issues?

Comparing Neymar to Messi and Suarez, Neymar has far lesser goals. While Messi has 26 goals in all competitions, leading the way, Suarez has bagged 16 goals while Neymar is far behind with just seven.

Even comparing his currents stats to his previous stats, Neymar this season racks up far below the Neymar of last season. The 24-year-old has about one-third of the goals compared to his tally last year and has raised a worrying alarm.

According to Luis Enrique, the Barcelona coach, “he’s a fundamental player for us, not just going forward, but also in defence and I am happy with how he’s playing. He’s an ambitious player and his objective is to improve his numbers and I am sure he will.”

“We have to look at the amount of assists he created in other seasons [as well as goals] because this season he’s created a lot, surely more.”

Neymar’s mental strength is an issue

The coach though is unperturbed by the number of goals scored and content with Neymar assisting more. But is Neymar happy with the situation? There seems to be frustration and a sense of urgency on his face to score. The way he latched on to take the penalty on Wednesday night was for all to see.

The fact that Neymar ranks high on the assists meter is well taken but he is clearly off the pace in recent weeks and is seemingly jittery. To add to that, a forward’s role is primarily to score. In a partnership as in the case of Barcelona, there is a strong need of dividing work, which includes scoring goals.

Consider a situation where Suarez and Messi misfire as well for a couple of weeks. With Neymar in this form, it would hurt Barcelona strongly.

This is not new to Neymar. The Brazilian wonderkid in the past as well has been caught in lean patches. In terms of mental strength, Neymar seems to fall short of the levels of a Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

Even at a rejuvenated Barcelona with Suarez in the mix, Neymar has played second fiddle with Suarez or Messi taking up prime positions.

Another major reason for the stutter could be talks surrounding his future with big clubs like Manchester United, Paris St Germain among those interested to acquire the services of the Brazilian. Handling such issues must not come easy. Has it been preying on his mind?

It was about three years back that the legend of the game and arguably the best footballer ever Pele had commented on fellow countryman Neymar: “He’s got a huge responsibility and his greatest concern is to change his style, change his haircut.”

“Every match we have outside the country, he doesn’t perform well. Everyone thinks he’s supposed to be the answer to every problem we have in the national team [but] Neymar is not ready for that much weight, he can’t do it.”

Those are harsh words. For all the criticism, Neymar is still incredibly talented and has gone to the next level with Barcelona. But his patches of inconsistency surely put him back when it comes to discussing the list of greats.