No he isn't. One could say he is just maybe on par or a little better (or a little worse) than Hulk, but both Rooney and Villa are absolutely better than him. Don't I think Neymar will reach the level of Messi, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho? Well, it's hard to say how some 20 year old talented player absolutely couldn't reach any level as "anything is possible" but I'd say it is very unlikely that he will ever reach that level. That is not to say I don't believe in him having a great future, but just that there are thousand very talented youngsters and "next great players" for every Messi, Ronaldo and Dinho. In top 5 already? Please...
the thing is that his body of work for a 20 year old is more or less on their level already when those players were his age. even messi, for example, really only broke out as a lethal scorer and the player he is at 21. neymar just scored his 100th goal yesterday for santos. i mean, even if you halve that total (or reduce it by .33) to account for a lower level of competition, a 50-66 goals tally for a player who just turned 20 is really quite phenomenal.
Neymar has done superbly so far, no doubt. A player of his age couldn't have done significantly better. The thing with him IMO is that some super talented young players perform years and years in the highest level, some don't. I'm not saying at all that Neymar won't, but I'm saying that he is yet to do it and it is not given that his future will be the "best case scenario" as it is not the only scenario possible and we can't know the future. I think another very important thing concerning Neymar is that people expect the impossible from him and it's not helping him one bit. Dude is so new to the top football - few seasons at Santos, some caps with Brazil - and people are already comparing him with Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Messi. Not a nice situation pressure-wise, especially with the World Cup coming in Brazil. Neymar plays so well nowadays, yet people expect him to somehow be radically better in the very near future. Not easy.
Neymar is at his best when the pressure is at the highest. People talk about his body mass being small. NEYMAR NEVER GETS HURT! When have you ever seen Neymar miss a game out of injury - NEVER. Neymar is built from steel. And this when he gets hacked from behind about 15 times a game. The only way to stop Neymar is hacking him. As Leonidas just stated, Neymar scores his 100th goal on his 20th birthday, and at this rate, 1,000 goals is very probable. The stars are over Neymar. Unquestionably a top 5 player in the world today.
I'm just going to throw my amatuer opinion in the ring for this one: If there were some super draft and every team had to start from scratch, there is no doubt that Neymar would be taken in the Top 5. However, if this hypothetical draft was only for next season, as in the top players at this moment, I have a very hard time seeing Neymar in the top 20. Off the top of my head, I would rather have the following players for 1 season over Neymar. I just feel he isn't ready yet to be considered top 5. And its not a knock on him, as he is extremely young. Messi, CRonaldo, Xavi, Rooney, Suarez, Ibra, Hulk, Ozil, Sneider, Silva, RVP, Benzema, Muller, Soldado, Di Maria, etc. And this isn't taking into account defensive guys as I think we all know Thiago Silva is the more valuable player.
There are also the likes of Balotelli, Iniesta, Aguero, Mata, Robben, Ribery. He has to prove himself if he actually to be listed above these players.
Agreed. I'd say RIGHT NOW he is somewhere in top 15-25 if you'd form a poll and ask, say, all the national team coaches and captains. As for Brazil fans and Santos fans, they obviously see him in better light (as is natural - you always see your own in better light no matter who you support). But the fact that he is so young means he has potential to become better than he is right now, which is the opposite case when you consider players like Xavi, Forlan, Eto'o etc. Yeah I get that some players shine when pressured, but no one benefits from impossible pressure - like when you are asked "single-handedly" to carry your team to win in whatever situation just because you're "the best". As for his body being small, I too think it's not a problem. Easy guess still to make that he will get some muscles in the next few years just because it could benefit him even further. As for getting injured, that's just speculation. Dude's 20. Hope he has good luck in the future, as one needs it as, say, 15 years continuously top level football is heavy on the body no matter who you are.
No way some of these players mentioned are above Neymar. Not even close. Neymar has magic that these players can only dream of having.
Neymar is a great young talent maybe the best 20yr old in the world right now and he has a bright future. Hopefully it will all materialize to his fullest potential but right now he is just that a great young player with potential. And i disagree with you on the first part about hulk, neymar is not on his level. And hulk is on the same level as rooney and david villa and maybe better. There is nothing rooney or villa can do that hulk cant, while hulks pace and dribbling and passing is far better than both of those players.
I agree with you that Hulk is great player and underated by a lot of people, but I wouldn't go as far as saying he's on par with Rooney or Villa a year ago. Hulk is the better scorer than Rooney, but theres so much more to Rooneys game that Hulk doesn't do. I don't like Rooney at all, but the dude is a GREAT all around player. A player like Rooney is so much more valuable to a team than a player like Hulk. As far as Villa goes, he has just done so much in his career that its kind of not fair to compare him to Hulk who is just starting his Selecao career.
Rooney has a high work rate but other than that he doesnt do anything special, he's valuable to his team because he's english and plays for manchester united. Business wise he's valuable considering there arent many great english players and they can promote the shit out of him. But he's not a better player than hulk.
Messi, CR7 fair enough, but Neymar is better than Rooney, Suarez, Ibra, Hulk, Ozil, Sneider, Silva, RVP, Benzema, Muller, Soldado, Di Maria. Neymar is defiently in the TOP 5 today, if Neymar wins 2012 Olympics and Copa Libertadores, then this will defiently be the TOP 3 list. 1. Messi 2. Neymar 3. CR7 Right now its this, or maybe Neymar is #4 or #5 1. Messi (Maybe Neymar in a couple of years) 2. CR7 (Neymar very, very soon) 3. Neymar
- there are other players in the world than attackers (and you have to include them when you talk about "the best players") - Neymar IS that good right now if you're a biased Neymar fan, otherwise no way. He simple hasn't done enough to earn such high position. Doesn't play against the toughest opposition in club football, didn't even participate in the World Cup, has only played serious top level football for like few years. Dunno why u insist on thinking he's something he clearly is not. (btw, I like Neymar and am not trying to underestimate him)
What does Messi and CR7 do? both have not won a World Cup and play poor for their National Team, and of course they are going to play good for there club because, there are only 2 good teams in Spain La Liga which are obviously Barcelona and Real Madrid, the rest of the teams are on the same level as Brazil League team. Messi and CR7 are playing against the same level teams Neymar does, but the difference in that their playing with majority World Class players. Imagine if Neymar had Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas at Santos, then he will be scoring much more with alot more support because the players hes playing with are on his level. My point is that Messi and CR7 are playing with the best teams against poor teams that are equal to Brazi League teams, while Neymar is playing with teams that are on the same level as him If Neymar joins Barcelona or Real Madrid he should play much better because he will be around better players.
Both have scored incredible amounts of goals and helped their teams in many other ways in the toughest club competition level for years and seem not to be slowing down. Neither have won the World Cup, but both have been the best player in their national teams in the recent years. As for "the rest of La Liga" not being super good, I kinda agree and it's hurting Spanish club football a lot (although I don't think the reality is THAT black and white). I don't think that is entirely true, as eg. CR7 has to face Barcelona in La Liga, but also the other top European clubs in the Champions League, which is the toughest club competition in the world. Clubs like Bayern Munich, ManU, ManCity, Milan, Chelsea, Arsenal, Inter offer real tests and are all better than Santos. Neymar with those Barca guys? But also against CR7, Thiago Silva, top Premier League clubs etc? IMO the very reason why he should move to Europe asap is that he belongs to where top club football is played. I can see Neymar doing well in Europe, while not being so clearly "the star" of his club as he is in Santos.
I respect everybody opinion and everybody entitled to there own but we have to be realistic. Outside of Brazil fans and Santos fans as someone said Neymar is not viewed that high. Also, winning a international trophies is not the measuring stick of a great player. Roque Jr is not a better defender than Maldini just b/c he won a World Cup. btw, you can't say if he had xavi and iniesta he score boatloads of goal. Barcelona system is not easy to adapt too ask Ibrahimovic who is wonderful player in his own right. David Villa has struggle as well in that system. So, it speculation at best.
It is ludicrous to make statements that Neymar has not proven himself because he does not play in Europe. Bullshit. As I have stated, there is no tougher competition than traveling to La Paz, and play at 4,000 meters above sea level, at 100 degree temp, on a shit field, filled with 100pct packed stadium of Bolivian fanatics. Man U never did it and they will never agree to do play under those conditions. So what Neymar has achieved in the Libertadores alone, not to mention the other titles and reaching 100 goals on his 20th brithday, are already trendous accomplishments. Some of these other players mentioned that are suposedly better than Neymar, people may have been wathing them play high on pot. And to compare defenders to Neymar is ridiculous. When we talk about "top 5" we talk about attacking players.
No one is saying that Neymar hasn't proven to be very good. Just that other players have done things that righteously earn them a position above him. You can prove, of course, yourself outside Europe if you want, but it's twice harder to earn global recognition as you meet the toughest clubs in so much rarer basis. You think it's easier to win Real Madrid in Bernabeu or Barcelona in Camp Nou?
You need to read the rest of the sentence which I repeat: and play at 4,000 meters above sea level, at 100 degree temp, on a shit field, filled with 100pct packed stadium of Bolivian fanatics. Man U never did it and they will never agree to do play under those conditions.
it's still early. and yeah, the pressure thing is tough. he definitely feels the weight of the expectations. to neymar's credit, he's shown up and played well on big stages. and he's also failed at big stages. really no different from a lot of good players early in their careers. we'll see. just has to keep his head on straight.
The test of a football team/player is to win matches, not winning matches in bad conditions. You become the best by beating the best, not by beating someone else in poor pitch somewhere in the mountains. Totally agreed.
I wouldn't consider the game against Barca as a failure on Neymar's part. No way. Neymar did what he could with a defensively week Santos team playing against one of the greatest teams of all times.