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When Neymar’s move to Paris-Saint Germain was announced, it caused a wave of shock that stupefied all of Europe. Nobody expected the Brazilian to end his Barcelona career so abruptly. After all, he was the heir apparent to Lionel Messi – the Kublai Khan to Messi’s Genghis Khan.
Okay, that analogy may have been a bit overboard, but the point remains: Neymar left almost every Barca fan in a state of dismay. But why? Why didn’t he do what was expected of him? The answer: the Ballon d’Or.
One of the reasons why the Brazilian left the Catalan outfit was to get out of the shadow of Lionel Messi. The Argentine still has 3-4 years left in him, which is too much of a time for a 25-year-old to wait. Regardless of how good Neymar played, Messi was always going to be the star of the team.
So, he had to go. At PSG, he will now be the main man and his bid to win the Ballon d’Or will be stronger as a result. However, he is not going to win it immediately – at least not for his performances in the 2017-18 season.
And here are 5 reasons why…
#5 PSG's Poor defence
For all the attacking talents that Paris-Saint Germain has, their backline looks heavily depleted with the decline of Thiago Silva. The Brazilian was, reportedly, crippled mentally before the second-leg against Barcelona and, hence, PSG lost the game 6-1 and their defence was heavily criticised.
Thiago Silva might have been the best defender in the world at some point of his career, but with a mental state like that, he can’t be relied upon anymore. The approach of the Parisien outfit in this window has been reminiscent to Real Madrid’s in the first Galactico era.
Florentino Perez churned out a lot of money on attacking players, but didn’t focus on the defensive aspect of the team. Nasser Al-Khelaifi seems to be doing the exact same thing as he is set to sign another forward in the mould of Kylian Mbappe while disregarding the state of the defence.
And – this is zillionth time I have used this quote – defence wins you titles, which is why PSG…
#4 Can’t win CL
With a defence as weak as that, it is almost impossible for the French giants to win the Champions League – something which we saw last season when they blew a 4-0 first-leg lead against Barcelona.
That humiliation might have played a huge role in PSG’s current strategy in the transfer market as they have gone gung-ho this summer. However, they still don’t have the required players to win the most prestigious competition in Europe.
Apart from Neymar, no player in that squad has won the Champions League in their respective careers. So there is a dearth of winning experience. This might be helped with the arrival of Neymar, but one player can’t carry a team within just one season.
This is not to say that the Brazilian won’t win the Champions League ever, but just a mere conclusion that there is a good chance that it might not happen this season.
#3 Winning the French league is not enough
Monaco have been scavenged, ripped apart and totally eaten by the big vultures of European football. If both Kylian Mbappe and Fabinho leave, then they don’t even leave a trail of a team that reached the semi-finals last season.
As it is, Monaco are already out of the race for the French league. Added to that, PSG have further strengthened their attack and are almost certain to win the league come May next year. However, it is not going to be enough.
For what it’s worth, French Ligue 1 is still 5th placed in the European rankings and doesn’t command the same amount of respect like the Premier League and La Liga does. Hence, winning the Ligue 1 doesn’t really amount to much and certainly doesn’t give enough of a push to Neymar’s Ballon d’Or credentials.
And we already knew this – that winning the league alone won’t be enough to push him to the top echelon of individual glory – didn’t we?
#2 Needs to win WC
Since we are talking about the Ballon d’Or award that will be given for the performances of this season, we have to bring the World Cup 2018 under consideration since the performances of the players in the most elite tournament of them all will be evaluated when honouring them with the grandest individual accolade.
The World Cup next year will be played in the cold surroundings of Russia – something that Brazilians aren’t really suited to. It’s true that Brazil have the honour of winning the tournament outside their continent more than once, but Russia is a whole different ball game altogether.
Which brings us to the next point: there are better international teams than Brazil.
For starters, Spain, Germany and France all have better squads than the country that inspired Joga Bonito. Add the cold conditions to that and Brazil are going to find it very hard to win the World Cup.
#1 Messi-Ronaldo not finished yet
And, of course, how can we forget the two phenomena that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are? It would be completely inscrutable to count them out of consideration just because Neymar is now going to be the star man at his new club.
Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are continuously banging them goals in like it’s a child’s play for them. Both are in their 30s, but there is seemingly no stopping them. Added to that, they play in more established teams and a more reputed league which, as a result, gives them a better chance at winning the Ballon d’Or for their performances this season and in the World Cup.
Yes, yes, I know. Messi might not be able to play in the World Cup and has to ensure qualification first, but it seems unlikely that Neymar could topple both these players to win the most prestigious individual honour in football – something for which he left Barcelona to join PSG.
