Messi's unselfishness proves that both he and Neymar can shine in the same Barcelona team

Andy West 23:05 23/07/2017
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  • Despite the reams of conjecture and speculation, nobody except Neymar and the closest members of his entourage really know why the Brazilian star is contemplating leaving Barcelona.

    The most plausible guess, however, is that he has grown frustrated with living in Lionel Messi’s shadow and believes Paris Saint-Germain can offer him the most attractive opportunity to become the focal point of a major European team.

    According to that theory, Neymar wants to be the top dog, the numero uno, the biggest star and the key player at club level in the same way he is with his national team. And at Barcelona, with Messi ruling the roost and set to do so until he retires, that just isn’t possible.

    There is a fair amount of logic in that argument. Johan Cruyff was among those to express his concern about the long-term compatibility of Neymar and Messi in the same team, reasoning: “I wouldn’t put two captains on the same ship.”

    Neymar certainly regards himself as a captain rather than a mere deckhand and, after spending the last four years on an extended apprenticeship learning and developing under the greatest player in the world, now he perhaps feels the time is right to strike out on his own.

    After all, Messi is showing no sign of slowing down. If anything, he is looking better than ever and the new four-year contract he recently signed at Camp Nou was further proof that he is by no means ready to relinquish his status as the most important player at the club.

    However, that doesn’t mean Neymar has to move. He can still fulfil his potential with Messi in the same team, as proven on Saturday night when – with Messi’s assistance – the unsettled star tore Juventus to shreds with a brilliant first-half performance containing two sublime goals.

    True, the meeting in New York was only a friendly and Juventus were without the majority of their famed back four. It would be unwise to read too much into the outcome.

    But more important than the result was the manner in which Barca played during the 45 minutes when Messi and Neymar were on the pitch: last season’s lethargy had been entirely shaken off, and replaced by the kind of spirit and intensity which marked the treble-winning campaign of 2014/15.

    And at the heart of everything, with Luis Suarez on the bench, were Messi and Neymar. Although his starting position was on the left wing, the Brazilian was by no means confined solely to the touchline, instead frequently cutting inside to trouble the Juventus defence with his movement and dribbling – with two of those sorties resulting in superbly taken goals.

    Regularly combining beautifully with Messi, throughout the half Neymar was always Barca’s biggest goal threat and by the interval the only surprise was that he hadn’t quite managed to register a hat-trick.

    Neymar was many things during that 45-minute exhibition of football in New York, but there was one thing he most certainly was not: in Messi’s shadow.

    And perhaps the key point to this argument is to recognise that one of Messi’s many great strengths is his unselfishness.

    Unlike many other elite players, when Messi is allowed to play in a well-functioning team he plays for that team, rather than for himself. If Neymar or Suarez are in a better position to score, Messi will pass the ball to them.

    He only lapses into attempting to do everything when the team structure is broken, as it was throughout much of last season. Then, Messi can be guilty of becoming a one-man team.

    But when he can see that the team is working – and Messi always sees these things – he is happy to slot into the role of being just one of eleven.

    Lionel Messi and Neymar

    In the early months of 2015, the height of Barca’s recent history, that is what happened. Messi was brilliant during that run to the treble, but so too was Neymar – who not incidentally finished the Champions League campaign with ten goals, joint top alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. How symbolic.

    That shows Neymar can still shine even if he plays alongside Messi, providing the team as a whole is effective.

    Over to you, Ernesto Valverde?

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