5 reasons why Neymar will not be a Ballon D'or contender next season
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…