‘If I watch the game I will call him a donkey’: Brazil head coach Tite blasts managers who play Neymar out wide as he declares the PSG star the ‘solution’ not the ‘problem’
- The Brazil coach gave an interview in which he discussed Neymar’s importance
- Tite says that Neymar is too creative to waste out wide at this stage of his career
- He says that he will make more mistakes in centrally but it is worth the upside
Tite has labelled managers who deploy Neymar out wide as ‘stupid’ as he says that the mercurial Paris Saint Germain star remains the ‘solution’ not the ‘problem’ for his national side.
The Brazil head coach, speaking to the podcast Sexta Estrela, said that Neymar’s creative qualities make it baffling as to why a manager, nowadays, would select him out wide.
Neymar will make mistakes in the central areas, Tite believes, but that these are offset by his creative output and the benefits that brings the team.
Tite has said any manager that plays Neymar out wide at this stage of his career is a ‘donkey’
He said: ‘He is not a problem, he is a solution. Sometimes they say that there he will make more mistakes.
‘His position makes him make more mistakes, because when he does it creatively, he will be decisive,’ he added.
‘If a coach selects Neymar from the side of the team, if I watch the game I will call him a donkey. A player with these qualities, putting on the bandwagon, greatly restricts creative capacity.
The Brazil head coach says what Neymar brings to the team from central areas is invaluable
‘Creativity is not constancy, it is eventuality, it is circumstantial. He will make more mistakes, yes, because his creative capacity and the place he is in demand it.’
Neymar’s role under Tite has changed since the manager took over the Selecao in 2016 with the player having grown into a player who enjoys more touches on the ball.
At the 2018 World Cup, Neymar enjoyed 395 touches of the ball across Brazil’s run to the quarter-finals where they were eventually beaten by Belgium.
Meanwhile, at last year’s Copa America tournament, where the Selecao were beaten by great rivals Argentina in the final, Neymar’s touches went up to 438 but his carries across the tournament went down.
Neymar’s role within teams has changed since his move to Paris Saint Germain in August 2017
Carries are more likely to be carried out by players out wide, with forwards deployed more centrally more likely to be asked to knock the ball off to surrounding team-mates or go for goal themselves.
Tite himself noted this in the podcast, saying that he has spoken to Vinicius Junior about his role in the current Brazil side being similar to that of Neymar’s in 2014.
The 2014 World Cup, up to Neymar’s tragic injury sustained against Colombia, was characterised in part by the majestic young Brazilian picking the ball up on the left and darting past defenders.
The legendary Brazilian’s role in the Selecao’s 2014 World Cup side was one of coming in off the left hand side
Tite said: ‘We were in training, I said to Vini: “You are the Neymar of 2014, because the Neymar of Barcelona and the national team at that time was Neymar on the side, today he is in the centre.”‘
Brazil are currently favourites for the Qatar World Cup having brushed aside all before them in a usually tricky South American qualification process.
Brazil have Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon in their group with their tournament kicking off on November 24.
Tite noted how Neymar’s position on the field of play had changed since he had left Barcelona
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