A behavioural analysis of Neymar that isn't about diving, crying or faking

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Everything wrong with Neymar:

a behavioural analysis that isn’t about diving, faking or crying

Adlul Kamal

Published originally on February 11, 2019 at mindgoat.ca

He was the chosen one to become the next best player in the world, but after 8 eventful years in his career, Neymar is chasing Messi and Ronaldo for that elusive top stop. Although Neymar's career has been riddled by injuries his own behavioural issues did not help his cause. In this article, we take a look at how Neymar’s own behavioural issues have attributed to the lack of progress in his career.

Neymar: the Chosen One

He was the chosen one by many to replace Cristiano Ronaldo and Leonel Messi as the best player in the world (The Telegraph, 2011). Fast forward 7-8 years, whether you blame it on the multiple injuries, behavioural issues, continuous legal battles, or the refusal on Messi and Ronaldo’s part to give up on their reigns, Neymar’s crowing as the King of Football has been long delayed as we are still left wondering why he hasn’t won the Ballon d’Or even once. There is much debate about his current rank as a footballer – some ranks him right after Messi and Ronaldo, while some places him behind the likes of Luka Modric or Kylian Mbappe for his failure to meet the expectations. There is, however, no debate over a few things regarding Neymar – he is still one of the most talented players in the world that any team would love to acquire, and he is possibly the most famously hated athlete in his sport, if not all sports, for the last few years. While Football has seen many famous divers and cheaters throughout history (e.g. Maradona’s hand of God), never have we seen anyone drawing more negative attention than Neymar, especially since the 2018 World Cup when he became an internet sensation for his diving and overreaction to injuries.

But just how justifying is Neymar’s behaviour?

While Neymar can only blame his own actions for much of the criticism, what is astonishing is the magnitude and longevity of the anti-Neymar sentiment among fans. This will be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t necessarily see Neymar’s diving tendency completely unwarranted. While I never encourage, endorse, or promote any form of cheating in sport and life, I would still argue that certain elements of his motivation to dive is quite vindicated. Yes, Neymar is possibly one of the biggest divers in football today, but he is also one of the most targeted players in the world who is, more often than not, kicked, kneed, and roughed up by defenders who cannot keep up with his speed and dribbling skills. While his unsportsmanlike tendency to dive is well documented, what many people fail to observe is that he has been a frequent subject of punishment and injury at the hands of opponents who could not stop him fair and square. Hence, I don’t really blame Neymar for finding ways to protect himself, be it through diving, overreacting from being taken down, or advocating referees to protect him from being fouled, especially considering he was nearly paralyzed during a 2014 World Cup game when he was left with a broken vertebrae after being kneed to the back by Colombian defender Camilo Zuniga.

So, what is Neymar’s biggest problem?

This leads us to our main discussion. While many would blame this on his diving or faking tendencies, or his overly emotional personality, i.e. he cries too much too often, these are not real factors that has been holding him back. So, why have we not seen Neymar win the Ballon d’Or at least once? And, why is he still trailing behind Messi and Ronaldo after 8 years? The biggest enemy to Neymar’s career progression lives within himself, and they include his lack of emotional intelligence, immaturity, and failure to understand and prioritize his goals.

Neymar secured too much recognition and money too soon

Although it is not always so easily visible, his performance and behaviour would often indicate signs of complacency. He was already one of the most famous and richest athletes in the world even before winning a major tournament like World Cup or a European club title. This may have nurtured a form of complacency within Neymar, even at an unconscious level, which may have impacted his motivational climate. In other words, Neymar may have lacked the adequate sense of urgency to win a World Cup or a Ballon d’Or because he was already as famous and rich, if not more, as Ronaldo, Zidane, Messi, or Cristiano Ronaldo who are all far more accomplished than Neymar.

Failure to cope with pressures of expectations

It would be unfair to say that Neymar did not earn any of his early recognition because his performance at youth level was quite unparallel to that of his peers (Transfer Mrkt, 2019). But as one would imagine, such wealth and stardom at an early age did not come without a price, and in Neymar’s case it came in the form of pressure of sky-high expectation, and constant media scrutiny (Bellos, 2014). Although Neymar deserves a lot of credit for managing his career whilst surviving the weight of relentless expectation to perform (because let’s face it, anything short of winning a world cup is a failure to Brazilians), his numerous outbursts at games would suggest he is not above and beyond being human, and is perfectly capable of crumbling under pressure even if from time to time.

Neymar has struggled to understand his own priorities

Neymar’s career has been filled with uncertainties, drama, and chaos – there is always speculations about Neymar’s next move. While this is not unusual for rumours to circulate around famous athletes, it seems Neymar is quite confused about his own personal goals and priorities. He joined one of the biggest Club in the world in Barcelona, to play alongside one of the biggest footballers in the World, Messi, and despite the success, he was not happy in Barcelona after some point. It was reported that he did not want to play second fiddle to Leonel Messi, and he wants his own team (McCauley, 2017). Hence, in 2017, he was transferred to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in a world record fee of €222 million (BBC, 2017), which many viewed as an attempt to get away from the shadow of Messi that would increase his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or. While Neymar clearly found his own Dominion in PSG, as he was the biggest star in the entire league, not just his team, he soon became unhappy playing in the French League which is considered to be of lower quality compared to Spain, Italy, Germany, or England. Not surprisingly, rumors started circulating about his move back to a Spanish Club (Díaz, 2018).

Such uncertainties have not helped Neymar’s career as he continues his search for career defining moments to cement his legacy. Neymar needs to reflect on his goals and prioritize accordingly, because right now he looks utterly confused as to what he really wants to achieve. He wants to win a World Cup which is the only thing that does not conflict with anything. Everything else seems to be befuddling – he wants to score lots of goals, win matches and more trophies, nothing wrong with that, but he also wants his own team where he won’t have to share the spotlight. So, he gets his own team in PSG where he would have a better chance of making his case as the best in the world, but wait, he now wants to do that while playing for a big club in a big league, and that is not an easy equilibrium to balance.

Neymar’s Immaturity and lack of emotional intelligence

Apart from faking injuries Neymar’s other famous trademark is crying – he cries when he wins, he cries when he scores a goal, he cries during the national anthem or even while giving interviews, Neymar probably has a crying video on YouTube for every type of human emotion. Although Neymar’s emotional responses could make him an interesting subject of study for biopsychologists, critics and fans have always seen his emotional behaviour a sign of weakness. I am not one of those critics, I don’t believe crying makes one soft, or it is a sign of weakness or poor emotional intelligence. If crying is the most spontaneous way his body responds to a life event, then crying is what Neymar should do, as should the rest of us.

But even when you take away the crying, Neymar has displayed many other sings of immaturity and poor emotional intelligence which has hurt his teams, his own performance, and his career growth over the years. During his first season in Paris, Neymar had a conflict with teammate Edison Cavani when the duo clashed over whom to take a penalty kick. This was an incident that was well covered in the media and an indication of Neymar’s lack of maturity.

As for his emotional behaviour, there is nothing wrong with crying after a game whether you are celebrating a hard-fought victory or grieving a tragic loss, but there is no excuse for a professional athlete for failing to control own frustration during games or reacting in exaggerated ways that can influence the outcome of games, and Neymar has had numerous such emotional outbursts in competitive games, as well as, off the pitch settings on numerous occasions which have cost him dearly.

Neymar Vs. Costa Rica at 2018 World Cup

In a 2018 World Cup first round game, Neymar’s skills, and emotional intelligence were thoroughly tested by the Costa Rican defense. This was a critical game for Brazil who lost two points in their first game against Switzerland in a 1-1 draw. From an unbeatable goalkeeping performance by Keylor Navas, a frustratingly defensive tactic by Costa Rica, to time wasting and faking injuries by Costa Rican players, Neymar’s patience was put to the test in this game in so many ways. It was almost obvious that the Costa Rican game plan was to waste time and frustrate the Brazilians every way possible, and for the better part of the game this strategy proved to be very effective.

On the 80th minute of what had been a very frustrating scoreless game for Brazil, Costa Rican defender Johnny Acosta fell after being hit by the ball on his stomach during a Brazilian attack, although replays showed that Acosta may have been faking the injury just to waste time. Keen on continuing the play Neymar was trying to move the ball forward, but the referee had stopped the play by then. A frustrated Neymar punched the ball very hard in a moment of severe resentment which did not sit well with the referee, and he was given a yellow card for poor sportsmanship (Marca, 2018).

Although Brazil went on to win the game 2-0, and his yellow card did not make a significant difference in the end, Neymar came very close to suspension throughout the rest of the tournament as receiving two yellow cards would equate a one-game suspension. In the crucial quarter final game against Belgium, Neymar was close to seeing the second yellow card of the tournament for potential diving, which would mean missing the semi-final (Wilson, 2018). Brazil never made it to semi-final, but one can imagine the significance of a scenario of Brazil playing in the semi-final without Neymar. This is a lesson for every footballer in the world – never pick up an unnecessary yellow card that is preventable because you never know when you will get that second yellow card that may not be so avoidable.

2015 Copa America

In a 2015 Copa America game against Colombia, Neymar was red carded for kicking the ball deliberately at a Colombian player, which caused an outbreak between the players resulting in a 4-game suspension for Neymar and subsequently missing the rest of the tournament (BBC, 2018). In Neymar’s absence, Brazil were eliminated by Paraguay in the quarter finals and Neymar missed valuable games at a time in his career when he was healthy and seemed to be in excellent rhythm. Here’s another lesson for the youngsters – never miss games for reasons that are preventable, e.g. suspension stemming from your own bad behaviour, because you never know when you might have to miss games for unavoidable reasons, such as injury, which is what happened to Neymar in the years to follow.

Troubling days of Paris

Since joining PSG in the French Leauge, Neymar has missed a total of 38 games in the first 2 years due to multiple injuries, which isn't his fault at all because no one has full control over injuries, but while being sidelined by injury Neymar continued to find himself as the center of conterversy of all different sorts.

During the French Cup Final in 2019, a match in which Neymar made a rare appearance in an injury riddled year, he got himself in trouble. Having lost the match in penalty shoot-out, a frustrated Neymar went on to assault (unsuccessfully) a fan for heckling him. He narrowly escaped prosecution but was still handed a 3-match suspension by the league.

There aren't many cases in history of football when a player who is already sidelined by injury receives disciplinary actions, but somehow Neymar had managed to accomplish that rare feat. During the 2019 UEFA knockout stage match against Mancester United, Neymar's role was again reduced to that of a mere spectator due to injury, and somehow he found himself in trouble again even without being in the active roster. When his team lost the game, Neymar took to the social media platform Instagram to express his discontent through insults and expletives directed towards the match referees. He was again punished with another 3-match suspension.

Sexual Assault Allegation

2019 would have to be one of the worst calendar years in the young life of Neymar Jr. If the above incidents were not enough to make it a very bad year, it was followed by an allegation of sexual assault. He was accused by a Brazilian Instagram model, who had spent a few days with Neymar after having been flown by him from Brazil to Paris. Although the charges of sexual assault against Neymar was later cleared, the incident left us with more evidence of Neymar's clear lack of judgement. First of all, the decision itself to fly in some random girl from the internet can be questioned. But on top of that, when the allegations were first brought to Neymar's knowledge, instead of consulting with his lawyers, Neymar again took to Instagram to publicly discuss the details of the whole incident, including revealing private conversations between himself and the plaintiff, and for that he was under a second investigation.

Conclusion

People still remember Maradona’s hand of god as one of the most controversial moments in football history, but people don’t remember Maradona as the guy who cheated to win. The reason Maradona is not defined by his hand of god goal is because he has recorded so many other extraordinary moments and achievements in his career that more than compensated for his cheating moments. Problem with Neymar is, he has not registered enough moments of brilliance in his career that would outweigh and offset everything negative that people associate with him. Neymar needs to realize that he is not going to be remembered as a legend simply because he is famous, and it was his alleged prophecy – he has to work just as hard as everyone else to become the best. While Neymar’s professionalism or commitment to football has never been questioned, he still needs to work on his emotional aptitude, reflect on his career goals, and prioritize his objectives. He needs to realize that the only way to cement his legacy is through performance, and not by fame and fortune. And, if he can deliver that, people will eventually forget the boy that used to fake injury, dive and cry over everything.

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References

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FC Barcelona. (2013). Detailed figures of Neymar transfer. Retrieved from FC Barcelona: https://web.archive.org/web/20150524082202/http://www.fcbarcelona.com/club/detail/article/detailed-figures-of-neymar-transfer

Marca. (2018). Neymar endured frosty relationship with Bjorn Kuipers throughout Costa Rica match. Retrieved from Marca: https://www.marca.com/en/world-cup/2018/06/22/5b2d0ee346163f7f368b4571.html

McCauley, K. (2017). Neymar wants to make his own team at PSG, not inherit one Lionel Messi built for him. Retrieved from https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2017/8/4/16071830/neymar-to-psg-transfer-news-salary-lionel-messi-barcelona

The Telegraph. (2011, December 9). Barcelona striker Lionel Messi is world’s best player says Santos striker Neymar ahead of Club World Cup. Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/la-liga/8945338/Barcelona-striker-Lionel-Messi-is-worlds-best-player-says-Santos-striker-Neymar-ahead-of-Club-World-Cup.html

Transfer Mrkt. (2019). Neymar – Career Statistics . Retrieved from Transfer Mrkt: https://www.transfermarkt.com/neymar/leistungsdaten/spieler/68290/plus/0?saison=ges

Wilson, J. (2018). Brazil knocked out of World Cup by Kevin De Bruyne and brilliant Belgium. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/06/brazil-belgium-world-cup-quarter-final-match-report

Images

Title Image: Neymar - by By Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil – http://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/rio-2016/foto/2016-08/selecao-brasileira-de-futebol-enfrenta-alemanha, CC BY 3.0 , https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sele%C3%A7%C3%A3o_brasileira_de_futebol_enfrenta_a_Alemanha_1039223-20082016-_mg_2832_01.jpg

Image2: Neymar visiting Red Bull Arena - By checkbrazil – https://www.flickr.com/photos/31508001@N06/6405830033, CC BY 3.0

checkbrazil, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Neymar_visiting_Red_Bull_Arena.jpg

Published originally on February 11, 2019 at mindgoat.ca

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