Are Neymar, Messi truly a match made in Barca heaven?

In 2011, Barcelona were still Pep Guardiola’s team. They were the best team in the world. They were the tiki-taka kings. But they were still prone to the occasional lapse. That year in December, in the El Clasico, no less, goalkeeper Victor Valdes committed one such lapse. He attempted to pass the ball, not clear as most goalkeepers would have. It was intercepted and Real took the early lead. But Barca continued to play as they always have. No wild slam down the field — slowly building it up with short, quick passes and great movement — eventually winning the match 3-1. After the game, Guardiola said. “The perfect image of this game was that after the goal Víctor Valdés continued playing the ball. Real Madrid steam-roll you. Most goalkeepers would boot it. But Víctor kept playing the ball.” [caption id=“attachment_819527” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Brazil’s 21-year-old wunderkind Neymar Da Silva is going to join Barcelona next season. Getty Images[/caption] That is what Barcelona believe in. Guardiola is long gone but the beliefs remain and so do many of the players. They still play the same brand of football. But now that belief might need to change. Brazil’s 21-year-old wunderkind Neymar Da Silva is going to join Barcelona next season – and he isn’t like Lionel Messi or Andres Iniesta or Xavi; well, he’s probably nothing like anyone you’ve seen before. And if Barcelona wants to make the best of him, they will need to change tactics. Last season Neymar enjoyed his best year, scoring 43 goals in just 47 games for Santos – it’s the kind of year that we’ve seen only the likes of Ronaldo and Messi have with any consistency. It also means he will need to get a decent share of the ball. And that’s where the problems will start. When Barcelona are playing well, almost everything goes through Messi — so how will Neymar fit into the mix? Then, there is the question of positioning. With Santos, Neymar often drifts in and out of position – much like Messi and Ronaldo do for their respective teams. He would then dribble past the opposition and set up something. It’s not planned. It’s instinctive play and it’s driven by the individual. But will Barcelona, the team, allow him that kind of freedom? Can Barcelona have two roaming players in the team? The legendary Dutch star Johann Cruyff, former coach of Barcelona, feels the move is a mistake. “I wouldn’t put two captains (Neymar and Messi) on the same ship,” Cruyff said, according to Marca. “We must learn from the past.” And he makes a valid point. In the past, Messi didn’t quite hit it off with the likes of Samuel Eto’o or even Zlatan Ibrahimovic. They were supremely talented too but Messi was the main man and that didn’t go down too well with them. Neymar is one of the biggest stars to emerge from Brazil in recent years and it won’t be long before he wants to call the shots – as he did at Santos. According to a report in the Guardian, Neymar will join the Catalan club in a deal understood to be worth close to €60m. Now that’s big money and a big risk. But if it does come off, then there will be no stopping Barcelona. It’s a dream partnership no doubt but sometimes dreams turn into nightmares. Barcelona will have to be very careful to ensure that the Neymar-Messi partnership blossoms into something really special. It has the potential to do just that, but the path will be anything but easy.