Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Giovani Lo Celso has been on the receiving end of some heavy criticism for his performance in Wednesday’s 3-1 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.
The 21-year-old Argentine was awarded 3 out of 10 by Le Parisien, and just 2 out of 10 by France Football. But to the extent that such a judgement is justified, much of the blame must surely be attributed to the coach.
Lo Celso is a left-footed playmaker of undoubted promise – indeed, on Wednesday he hit one glorious long ball for Neymar. He made his name back in Argentina with Rosario Central as an attacking midfielder, the man seen as the principal source of supply for the strikers.
European football often does away with South American midfield specialisation, and expects those in the engine room to do a little bit of everything. It was inevitable, then, that when he came to Europe Lo Celso would have to take on more defensive responsibilities. But to play him deep, close to his own penalty area against Real Madrid was inviting trouble. Over the past two months, Lo Celso has been asked to operate in this role. But it is one thing to do it in the French league, and another thing entirely against the reigning European and world champions.
His lack of defensive nous was thoroughly exposed. Madrid drew level from the penalty spot after Lo Celso had committed a panicky foul in the area – far from the only anxious moment he endured close to his own goal. But coach Unai Emery was asking for trouble by selecting Lo Celso to carry out a role to which he is not yet fully accustomed in the biggest match of a young career. It was an accident waiting to happen – which hopefully will not derail the career of a talented player. Lo Celso should be able to pick himself up, dust himself down and attribute a bad night to inexperience.
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Neymar, though, does not have the same excuse. True, his performance against Real Madrid was certainly not disastrous. He always carried a threat, and showed flashes of his incomparable talent and acceleration. But he also came a long way from passing the test set by the force of his own ambition.
Neymar did not join PSG to play in the French league. The clear objective was to be the main man in a club looking to win its first Champions League title – and then star in Brazil’s quest to win their sixth World Cup. To do that he needs to dominate the big games, bend them to his will and leave his mark all over them. It is a huge ask – but in his first major test in a PSG shirt, Neymar was not equal to the challenge.
Real Madrid, with their narrow midfield, gave him space to pick up the ball and run with it. And the Brazilian’s end product got worse as the game wore on. He is so technically brilliant, and sees things so quickly, that he has many options open to him – and pressure makes it harder to choose the right one.
And as soon as he gets frustrated, he is liable to look for fouls. He is often on the receiving end of rough treatment – as has been the case with all such skilled performers who have ever played the game. But there are also times when his diving can be embarrassing. And whether he is fouled or not, his habit of leaping high into the air before going to ground inevitably irritates the opposition. The emotional tone of the game rises; he then gets caught up in the mood and finds it hard to control himself. Last Wednesday he picked up a yellow card for a wild tackle, and come the end of the game he was probably only one more extravagant dive away from a red.
Last week, an article in the Spanish press accused Neymar of defying the rules of professional conduct and living ike an adolescent on perpetual holiday. This is very harsh. So far there are no signs of his off the field lifestyle having a negative effect on his physical performance. He's now 26, the age at which Ronaldinho was already past his physical peak. Neymar, though, has lost none of his astonishing burst of acceleration nor the capacity to sustain his pace over long distances.
Where the ‘perpetual adolescent’ tag might be better applied is towards his mental approach. There is still too much of the brittle, spoilt kid about him. Now that he is 26, perhaps the best thing he could do would be to remove the suffix from the back of his shirt. Time to stop being ‘Neymar Jr.’ and show that he has what it takes to be the boss with the seniors.
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