How Camp Nou will receive the ‘Justin Bieber of football’

The La Liga 2012-2013 season isn’t over yet and Barcelona have already completed their first signing, and that too a big one – Neymar da Silva. Just the fact that Sandro Rosell and co swooped in as soon as the transfer period opened and completed this transfer so soon, tells us how highly he figures in Barca’s future plans. So what exactly does this transfer mean for Barca and its players? Who is leaving and who is staying? Is Neymar going to turn out like Robinho – the Brazilian sensation who flopped in Europe? These are the questions that are doing the rounds, so let’s try and add some answers to the chatter.

Firstly, Neymar is someone who had two of the biggest clubs in the world at his door ringing his doorbell every other week for over a year. It was reported that Barcelona had already laid a down-payment, but Neymar and his representatives chose to play ball and were always pretty coy about where “the next Pele” is heading. Anyway, the fact that both Real Madrid and Barcelona wanted his signature tells us that he is a special player.

Now, for all us European football watchers, the easiest way to watch Neymar is on Youtube. But the problem is that those videos most likely feature the awesome trickery and outstanding gameplay of the South American Footballer of the Year. In short, only glimpses of what he can offer during an entire game, not how consistent and focused he is during the entire game. This is something that will be put under the scanner when he faces more organized and tactically-aware European defenses that will frustrate him. In other words, he sure has many aces up his sleeve, but what matters is whether he can draw them at the right time – on those big European nights, the knockout matches, when defenses are water-tight, because that is what Barca needs right now.

With his skillful wingplay and ability to score from outside the box, Neymar should be able to help Barca in that aspect. Barca, over the years, have been playing through the middle of the park more and more. When a pass is played out wide, it results in either a pass back into midfield or a horrible Dani Alves cross. That is because players like Sanchez and Pedro are there to cater to the needs of Messi, rather than take a player on and go for goal. This is something that comes naturally to Neymar, so hopefully he will make Barca more potent in that way.

Brazil’s international games have seen the youngster playing on the left with the role to cut-in. It is the striker’s role that becomes crucial in such cases; as for Brazil, with the current choices of Fred and Danio, Scolari’s instruction to the forwards is for them to  stay at the edge of the box when Neymar cuts in, and hence allowing him to get a good punt at goal. This allows Neymar to utilize one of his main strengths and thus makes the team pretty much centered about his abilities.