Neymar’s Accumulating Injuries Taking Their Toll

Neymar Jr, one of the worlds most famous athletes, is on the verge of becoming a player that is regarded as one defined by "what could have been". The Brazilian winger is arguably the most skillful player on the planet yet he hasn't quite met peoples expectations. Neymar, a player I fell in love with after the 2014 World Cup, is on the brink of becoming irrelevant.

The 2014 World Cup was Neymar's tournament in my opinion. Forget James Rodiguez, Neymar had the weight of his entire country on his shoulders as a young man and he delivered. The young Brazilian star led Brazil valiantly but a back injury against Colombia in the round of 16, would sideline him for the quarterfinal matchup against Germany. A game that Brazil would lose 7-1 on their home soil. The absence of Neymar weighed heavy in the minds of all who watched and it left them with a feeling of "what if".

BBC

As a football fan, I thought Neymar's tenure at Barcelona would never end. I thought he would take over for Messi after Messi retired or began to slow down. Instead, Neymar stunned everyone and left Barcelona for Paris St. Germain for an absurd amount of money. Now, after two seasons at PSG, Neymar has little to show for it and there are two reasons.

Bleacher Report put out a tweet yesterday that said that Neymar had been sidelined due to injuries 18 different times over the past five years. Neymar definitely seems to be getting hurt much more frequently than other players and I think it's because of his playstyle.

Neymar's playstyle is that of an in your face winger. He posses the ability to make defenders want to retire after falling victim to humiliating skill moves. Although Neymar is a world-class trickster, don't be fooled. He’s a world-class goal scorer and passer. He's much more than a tricky winger. He's one of the world's smartest players and he can hurt opposing teams in an abundance of ways. Regardless, his emphasis on skill moves definitely makes him a target and he may need to change his playstyle if he wishes to stay on the field. His reliability is in question and for PSG, that has to be a huge concern considering they paid a fortune for his services.

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So will Neymar have to go to the drawing board and rework his entire gameplan? I don't think so. But he needs to find out how to be more reliable. Regardless of Mbappe's rise to fame, this is still Neymar's team but it won't be for long if he can't stay healthy.

Neymar can silence all the haters next season with a deep Champions League run and a domestic league performance in which Neymar absolutely loads the stat sheet. For now, Neymar seems to be heading in the wrong direction as he's set to miss Copa America after suffering an ankle injury. Perhaps his tenure as one of the worlds best is over, and there's many off the field issues that Neymar is subject to including allegations of sexual assault. Perhaps Neymar will be the undoing of his own greatness, but if the allegations are proved to be untrue, Neymar must find a way to lead PSG and Brazil or his tenure as one of the world's best, will come to grinding to a halt.