Neymar, talent and arrogance

If humility continues to chase Neymar, it'll never catch him. Life has given Neymar Junior a kiss on the lips, providing him with the natural talent to play football in every way possible. He's got supreme quality, has the ability to get the people out of their seats and is pure Samba. Nobody questions his football nor his desire to be the best in the world. If he needs to sacrifice himself to return early from an injury, he'll do it. If he needs to compete with one leg, he will. And if Brazil need him, he never hides. They adore all of the qualities of their great champion. However, there have been some instances with his attitude which spoil his image and the magic he possesses. Neymar is stepovers, nutmegs and faints but also insults, dives and protests. In the first three, glory. In the second three, abjection.

Two faces which belong to the same player. Neymar can dribble past his own shadow, do incredible things with a ball and beat whichever defender stands in his way. All while insulting, provoking, faking or humiliating his rivals. That is, if he isn't remonstrating to the referee. With VAR, diving is going to disappear and Neymar has two paths: adapt or relapse. His immense ego extends to cheques his football still can't cash but one day his actions will alter the way he performs. The aspects of him which don't appeal: the show never stops, the circus around him, his extravagant hairstyles, his mannerisms and his 'likes'. His followers, his entourage. He's naturally saleable, his entreprenurial mind, being a great footballer from the waist down and a cash register from the waist up. Neymar is excessive and he runs the risk of being devoured by his own personality. For an unbearable prosthesis that he keeps feeding: that of a spoiled, petulant, badly raised child. And nobody is as empty as one who fills themselves up.

Everything with Neymar is hyperbole. His class and the circus which follows him. His football and his show. His dribbles and his way of insulting others. His happiness with the ball and his childishness without it. Only when he's got the ball at the feet is he a giant. Without it, he feels smaller by the second. They say that the greatest enemy of talent is arrogance. If he doesn't respect everyone else, nobody is going to respect him.