Messi likely wouldn’t have won most of his international titles (WC, Olympic gold, 2 CA titles) if not for his right-hand man, Di Maria.
This begs the question: who should have been Neymar’s right-hand man since he burst onto the scene back in 2010/2011, to help him and take some of the pressure away? I will list some names, all of whom ended up being massive disappointments:
-Ganso: Ideally, as his Santos teammate for a few seasons, he should have been the perfect player to partner with Neymar. While they did play together twice (2011 CA and 2012 Olympics), that was it, and nothing for the last 12 years, thanks to Ganso’s constant injuries and inconsistent form.
- Oscar: We already saw what they can do together when they partnered and led Brazil to a great 2013 CC title. They also played at the 2012 Olympics and 2014 WC, and never since. But unlike Ganso, Oscar's situation was mostly self-inflicted, choosing to play in China and being neglected by coaches. He would have been a great partner at the 2015 CA as well as the 2018 WC.
-Pato: One of my absolute favourites, but also one of the biggest disappointments for Brazil in the last two decades or more. He also played at the 2011 CA and 2012 Olympics, but that was it. When you think about it, the 2011 CA and 2012 Olympics combined some great names (Neymar, Oscar, Ganso, Pato, Moura, just to name a few), but Menezes being the coach, he messed up both of them.
To think about it, Vinicius may already be luckier in that he has a good partner in Rodrygo, but so far the two have only been good club teammates and not so much at the national team. The same may end up being the case with Endrick if he ends up getting Estivao on the national team in the next few years.
You just can’t do it all alone, no matter how good you are. I think the best help Neymar got was in 2018 with Coutinho and Firmino, and even that proved to be inadequate.
This begs the question: who should have been Neymar’s right-hand man since he burst onto the scene back in 2010/2011, to help him and take some of the pressure away? I will list some names, all of whom ended up being massive disappointments:
-Ganso: Ideally, as his Santos teammate for a few seasons, he should have been the perfect player to partner with Neymar. While they did play together twice (2011 CA and 2012 Olympics), that was it, and nothing for the last 12 years, thanks to Ganso’s constant injuries and inconsistent form.
- Oscar: We already saw what they can do together when they partnered and led Brazil to a great 2013 CC title. They also played at the 2012 Olympics and 2014 WC, and never since. But unlike Ganso, Oscar's situation was mostly self-inflicted, choosing to play in China and being neglected by coaches. He would have been a great partner at the 2015 CA as well as the 2018 WC.
-Pato: One of my absolute favourites, but also one of the biggest disappointments for Brazil in the last two decades or more. He also played at the 2011 CA and 2012 Olympics, but that was it. When you think about it, the 2011 CA and 2012 Olympics combined some great names (Neymar, Oscar, Ganso, Pato, Moura, just to name a few), but Menezes being the coach, he messed up both of them.
To think about it, Vinicius may already be luckier in that he has a good partner in Rodrygo, but so far the two have only been good club teammates and not so much at the national team. The same may end up being the case with Endrick if he ends up getting Estivao on the national team in the next few years.
You just can’t do it all alone, no matter how good you are. I think the best help Neymar got was in 2018 with Coutinho and Firmino, and even that proved to be inadequate.