TH14 Comps@TH14_Comps
One last (long) word on Neymar. People say he underachieved for GOAT-level talent - why isn’t physical robustness considered part of talent? I’ve never FEARED Neymar the way I have other greats, and I think this is why:
Neymar’s relationship with the ball is unreal, and he was a great athlete - but not a GOAT-level one. That DOES limit him. Take the Copa América final vs Argentina. It was past his athletic peak, but it's widely praised and shows my 'issue'. In most clips he’s stumbling on contact, falling, or checking inside/back. You can apply this to so many of his performances. Every great gets fouled. The GOATs can ride or avoid more and drive at goal, plus do it off the ball.
Neymar can't burst through with enough directness or frequency to be the alien threat Twitter insists he is, especially vs elite, physical teams. This lack of robustness may partly explain his injuries too (not a doctor, pure guess). While his playmaking is great, sometimes unbelievable - it’s not SO great that it offsets this for me. He’s not an unstoppable ball-striker, 1v1 winger, or box threat. A nice touch followed by a foul on halfway means little. 100 touches is great, posing a threat is better.
You can rate him over likes of Dinho, Henry, R9, CR7. His floor is probably the highest. But overall, he’s in that group, not above, and for me, maybe last on the list.
Replace Henry at Arsenal with Neymar - does he take the 05-06 team (with Eboué, Senderos, Flamini backline, Reyes+aging Ljungberg attack) to a CL final? Does he offer the same unstoppable outlet that keeps opponents honest and wins games solo? I don’t see it. Not sure he wins the league in 03-04 either. Being an off the scale athletic force is such a massive plus in all conditions.
A clean, creative game with ingenuity and guile isn’t better than the capacity to run through four players to score. Messi doing both better than everyone is what makes him untouchable.
Neymar is great. Just explaining why he’s never clicked with me the way he does for others (especially young people it seems). Also he's had PERFECT conditions - stacked superteams with all timers his entire European career, often with the keys, and in an era that punishes fouls. Yet the excuses I sometimes see are hilarious. Maybe I need to watch more. But this is how I've always felt about him, and the more I watch, the more it cements tbh.