Neymar has opened up on the cordial relationship among MSN behind the scenes, is this one of the reasons the trio are so lethal?
Neymar joined Barcelona from Santos in 2013 and has since won two league titles, two domestic cups, the Spanish Super Cup, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup with the Catalans. At 24 he has already won more than most players win in their entire career and a big part of this has been down to the relationship he shares with his fellow forwards, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
Neymar took some time to adapt in Spain and only managed 15 goals in 41 appearances for Barcelona. He has since been brilliant and is recognised as one of the best players on the planet. He scored a hugely impressive 39 and 31 goals in his next two seasons but has had a slightly interrupted season this term, having missed games through suspension and injury.
Although Neymar has been an unequivocal success since joining Barcelona, there was a time where he lost belief in himself. And that is when Messi’s advice helped him get back on track :
Neymar never looked back from then on and once Luis Suarez joined from Liverpool in 2014, the world was in for some absolute brilliance.
It is clear from Neymar’s comments that there is great respect between him and Messi. But it is not just the two of them. The chemistry between all three strikers is there for all to see on the pitch.
It is very easy for egos to clash when three superstars share attacking duties but this has not been the case for Messi, Neymar and Suarez. They trio are as happy to assist one another as they are to score goals and seem to be happiest when they have pulled off one of their trademark lethal combinations with one another.
This is a trio that clearly values the many over the one, and it is stories like Neymar’s that make it easy to see why. From the outisde, it always seems like the three are friends both on and off the pitch and Neymar has said that is exactly how it is :
“I think it’s about the care, respect, friendship and happiness that we have for being together,” he said. “Training together every day, helping one another on the pitch — we’re making history and I hope it can continue for many more years.” he said.
It also helps that they are at a club that plays the kind of football Barcelona does. All three are comfortable with almost any style of play. If it’s a counter, they all possess blistering pace and the kind of first touches to ensure the attack blasts opponents away.
If they are camped out on the edge of an opponent’s box and are trying to prise the defense apart, all of them have the kind of movement and ability to play quick flicks and one-twos that happen before the defence has time to react.
And, of course, all 3 of them are capable of feats of individual brilliance. Suarez’s tenacious, pit-bull like direct running is enough to terrify defences all on it’s own.
Neymar can blind defenders with a trick and get past them with ease when needed. Messi is capable of things only Lionel Messi is capable of. All three can instantly change a game on their own, and their finishing ability ensures that they are also able to clinically finish off chances created by another’s brilliance.
This chemistry both on and off the pitch has led to some astounding statistics. As of October 2016, Barcelona had scored 367 goals in all competitions. An incredible 264 of those had been scored by either Lionel Messi, Neymar or Luis Suarez.
The trio had all scored in the same game on 16 different occasions. Barca had, at that point, won 81.3 per cent of their games in which MSN had featured in the starting XI, while in the Champions League they had scored 83.3% of the club’s goals – 50 out of the overall total of 60.
Of the three, Messi had scored the most goals with 104, with Suarez netting 94 and Neymar 66. Suarez topped the assists rankings with 48, with Messi coming in second at 47 and Neymar third with 34.
This season, the trio have already scored 41 goals and bagged 21 assists, with only 56 cumulative appearances between them. That makes it an involvement of 62 goals in 56 games.
These are the kind of stats that have left most veterans of the game dumbfounded and it is clear that there is something special between the three.
There is not a defence in the world that can hold them at bay on their day, and with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez still only 29, they have a few more years together – especially with Suarez signing a new contract with Barcelona and Neymar committing to the Catalans earlier this season.
They are definitely one of the best – if not THE best – attacking trios in history, and if you believe Neymar it is all down to the relationship among the three, although their prodigious footballing talent probably has something to do with it too.
