Twenty one year old Neymar could be the most favorite player for Pele, but it is also true that he is his biggest critic as well. Like, until few weeks ago, Pele was placing him in parallel to Messi or Maradona, but now; he himself is criticizing his style of play citing he tries to do too much when he is on the field. Pele has lots of expectations from this youngster, and as he is doing, Pele doubts he can lead Brazilian attack in 2014 world cup. Pele gave an interview recently where he talked about Neymar, his playing style, and what he is lacking at the moment. He admits Neymar has to deal with his tens of sponsorship deals, and since he is young right now, he is not able to make a balance between his on-field and off-field lifestyle. He said, “There’s an awful lot of confidence in him but he’s just an ordinary player when he plays for Brazil. Everything is based around Neymar, but he’s a player who doesn’t have international experience. He’s an excellent player but doesn’t have experience of playing abroad. Everyone thinks he has to solve all the team’s problems but he’s not prepared to carry that burden.”
Pele also advises him to prepare for global playing conditions since playing atmosphere is much different in European countries than in Brazil. EFA’s 150th year celebration match between England and Brazil proved his point where Neymar proved to be an average player. Actually, the biggest problem in his playing style looks to be holding the ball. He often found losing temper and then he hits a long free kick; hence Pele recommends him improving his ball control. He added, “All the free kicks, penalties and corners are taken by Neymar. Every time he takes a free kick, that means he is out of the game for one minute. He spends too much of the time out of the game… he should be just outside the penalty area to collect the ball, dribble, use his skill. Muricy Ramalho has a lot of responsibility. It’s difficult to take on Neymar. Neymar has to pass the ball more, and play for the team.”
He also warned him of being disappeared from international football if he doesn’t take care of his shortcomings seriously. Pele is the legendry soccer starlet who sees his own clone in him and that is the reason he is so concerned about him.