By Jude Ogbonna
In the wake of Neymar scoring his 50th International goal for Brazil, Soccer In-depth's Ifeanyi Onyejegbu is of the opinion that Neymar has now become a footballing great. Outlined below are arguments against this notion, explaining why it is both hasty and inaccurate.
The title of this article presents an ambiguity in that the term 'modern' is a relative one. While this ambiguity might have posed a problem for other topics of discussion, it will not do so in this case. This is because no matter the period in time that one chooses to take into consideration, Neymar is not a footballing great. Due to the opinion of this writer that comparing players playing in different positions on the field is a futile exercise, only offensive players will be mentioned whenever the need to do so arises for purpose of analyses.
To qualify as a great from a footballing point of view, one must have achieved great feats, and must have done so for a substantial amount of time. Neymar has not yet managed to do both. Neymar began his professional career at Santos, one of the most prominent football clubs in Brazil, whose rich history has had a tremendous relevance in world football. Domestic football in Brazil however has significantly weakened since the late 1980's, when the country's best players began to ply their trade in Europe. Whereas in the past, players like Garrincha, Pele, Didi, Socrates, Zico built their careers and attained legendary status on home soil, the league is now in part a feeder of young talented players to Europe, and on the other hand a home to players who could either not cut it in Europe, or who are spending the twilight of their careers there, after spells in Europe or elsewhere. Hence, while Neymar was successful at Santos, including winning a Copa Libertadores title and the South American footballer of the year twice, we may not take his time at Santos significantly into account in this debate.
Neymar arrived in Barcelona in the summer of 2013 in his first stint in Europe. It took Neymar time to adjust to the rigours of football in Spain, and it was not until his second season that he found his footing. After a first season that was average at best, he found the back of the net 39 times in all competitions in his second season and ended the year with a third-place finish in the Balon d'Or award (the award lost a lot of its prestige since its partnership with FIFA in 2010--which changed the rules to include national team captains and coaches as part of the voters, a result that introduced a great deal of bias into the voting process--culminating in a decision for the award to part ways with the world governing body this year). Neymar also had a strong third season, helping Barcelona to a league and domestic cup double. A point to note from Neymar's performances at Barcelona is that he plays in an attacking three with two of the best attackers of the decade in Messi and Suarez. The Catalan side's successes are mainly due to the collective brilliance of the trio, and while he looks every bit his part as a member of the trident, he is being outscored by Suarez, while Messi is the undoubted star of the show.
Some of Neymar's most recent compatriots at Barcelona, namely Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo, all made superior impacts during their times at the club, and nearly singlehandedly at that. Ronaldo immediately took the entire league by storm on arrival, and set a club record in his first and only season at the club for most goals scored in a single season, a record which stood for 14 years until it was eventually broken by Messi. Ronaldinho meanwhile inspired a team that had not won a single tittle for 6 years to back to back league titles and a Champions league glory. Rivaldo did not only settle for a spot on the podium, but also went on to win the Balon d'Or--as did Ronaldo and Ronaldinho during his time at the club, when the award had not lost its prestige, and was also a lot more competitive than it has been in recent years, as he beat out players like Zidane and Ronaldo to the gong. Kaka another Brazilian great in recent memory, was one of the finest midfielders in the world throughout the best part of the 2000s, his peak arriving in 2007 when his virtuoso displays that led to AC Milan winning that years Champions League title remains arguably the greatest individual performance in the competitions history. He also won the Balon d'Or award that year.
Proponents of the notion that Neymar is a modern-day great often point to his record with the national team to drive home their point. Neymar recently scored his 50th goal for the national team, and while that is a remarkable achievement for a 24 year old, looking beyond the numbers tells a different story. A majority of his goals for Brazil came in non-competitive fixtures, and he has only managed 11 strikes in competitive games, about a fifth of his goal total. Neymar hopefully still has a lot of games left to play to score more competitive goals, but this further buttresses the fact that the argument of him being a great is still very much a premature one. Another argument in favour of Neymar is the fact that he led Brazil to her maiden Olympics victory in the men's football event this summer. One needs to understand that this feat is great only in the context of Brazil having never won the title previously, and nothing more. The Olympic event is afterall, an age-grade competition and not a priority for many countries. Germany, who was Brazil's opponents in the final, did not even go to the tournament with her best eligible players, as players within the required age limit such as Julian Draxler, Joshua Kimmich, and Leroy Sane all played for the senior side at the European Championships. The Olympic event lacks the competitiveness and the significance of the senior-level international tournaments. Brazil is regarded as a powerhouse in football by virtue of the five World Cup titles that she won, and the Olympic victory in the summer did not change that status.
The tendency to hype Neymar is perhaps being brought about due to the dearth in quality of Brazilian players in recent years. For several decades, Brazil continuously churned out numerous offensive players of genuine world class quality such as the players mentioned earlier, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Kaka, who all met the twofold conditions of performing great feats for a substantial period of time. Neymar might be the best among the present crop, but calling him a great for this reason may merely be to make up for the psychological void of being used to having a great Brazilian player in every generation. Greatness is not relative to time, and to lower the standards and regard Neymar as a great would be both patronizing to the player himself, and a great disservice to football in general. Neymar may not be a footballing great at the moment, but he could yet become one some day, and luckily for him, time is still very much on his side.
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