World Cup 2018: Neymar can be a Brazilian legend - but he must look at Rivaldo and Ronaldinho as examples

In his latest column for The Independent, Frank de Boer looks at how, for all his talent, Neymar is letting himself down with his playacting

If Neymar continues playing as well as he is now, he will be seen as one of the legends of Brazilian football, along with Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho, who all won the World Cup together in 2002. But I would like to see Neymar act more maturely, and cut out his ridiculous behaviour when he gets kicked.

We all saw Neymar’s reaction when Miguel Layun stepped on him when Brazil played Mexico last week. When I was a player, if someone stepped on me I’d just say ‘hey, what are you doing, you’re not supposed to do that’. Maybe I’d get the referee’s attention. Just a normal reaction.

But what Neymar does is ridiculous. Players who dribble a lot at high speed are always going to get fouled. But Neymar would get more respect if he behaved like Lionel Messi does. He gets fouled a lot but he doesn’t complain, doesn’t roll around 20 times like that. I don’t think Neymar understands that everyone is laughing at him. He’s making a fool of himself.

Neymar should remember that’s a role model for young children all over the world. It’s not the example that you want to see. But hopefully VAR, and the fact that referees can re-examine every action, means that he will cut it out in future.

Or look at Ronaldinho, another legend of Brazilian football. Ronaldinho didn’t cry when he got kicked. But I do think Neymar and Ronaldinho share the same desire to attract people to football, to give something to the audience, something unexpected. After all, these are the players that people pay to come and see.

When I watch Neymar I often think about Rivaldo, who I played with at Barcelona.

Rivaldo was a really fantastic player, with great individual skill, he was strong and fast, he could head the ball. I remember one season at Barcelona he got 23 goals and 23 assists. Neymar is different: he has more individual skill, he dribbles better.

Watching Neymar reminds me of some of the problems we had at Barcelona fitting Rivaldo into the team. Rivaldo used to play on the left, like Neymar does now for Brazil. As I’ve written before in this column, I always think it’s best when the most talented players play in wide areas, rather than as a number 10.

Brazil's forward Neymar celebrates after scoring against Mexico (AFP/Getty Images)

Because in wide areas it does not matter so much if they are not doing all their defensive work. If they are playing centrally then the whole team has to fit in around them, and that can often affect the team’s defensive organisation. Especially if everyone moves just to make space for that one special player, then the players will be out of position when they lose the ball. It disrupts the defensive organisation.

I remember with Rivaldo, he always wanted to play in the middle, even though he was playing so well on the left. And I think Louis Van Gaal’s big mistake as Barcelona manager was when he caved to media pressure and public pressure and gave Rivaldo what he wanted, and moved him into the middle. It disrupted the whole team.

But it is a difficult balance fitting such a brilliant individual into a team. Players don’t mind if one individual has his own style, like Neymar does, but he has to deliver. The problem is when his actions come to nothing, and don’t seem to benefit the team. If you do a dribble, 23 stepovers, but then cross it straight out for a goal-kick, then there is a problem. It’s all about the result.

Brazil's forward Neymar celebrates after scoring the opening goal (AFP/Getty Images)

And it means that the star player must have a very good relationship with the manager and his teammates. Look at the example of Messi. Because he delivers every single time, his teammates respect him so much, and accept that is why they have to work harder than he does.

The manager must know that he cannot give the star player everything he wants. There is such a thin line there. If you give the player everything he wants, while the other players are managed more rigidly, in straight lines, and then the star makes a mess of things, it’s very hard for a manager.

But I do think Neymar could be crucial to Brazil beating Belgium on Friday and getting into the semi-finals. I have been very impressed with Belgium, they have great pace, power, options from the bench. But against Japan I thought they were sloppy when building up the play from the back. They lost concentration at dangerous moments.

If the Brazil front three focus on pressing the Belgium defence then they could cause them problems. But I don’t think, from what I have seen so far, that Neymar will play like that when Brazil don’t have the ball.

That Brazil front line - with Gabriel Jesus and Willian - should not get too distracted by the Belgium wing-backs Thomas Meunier and Yannick Carrasco. They should stick to the Belgium back three and try to create 1v1 situations, so they can use their skill. Or if Neymar drops back towards midfield to pick up the ball, and Toby Alderweireld follows him, then there will be space in behind for Gabriel Jesus to exploit.

Belgium will always want a spare man in defence, one of the centre-backs who can assess the situation and cover wherever he is needed. But to stop them from having that spare man then the whole front three need to be engaged with the Belgian back three at all times. If Neymar stays focused he can move one step closer to history.