Motivation and ambition: Neymar Jr on his start to the season
The Brazilian forward sat down with PSG TV to go over his superb opening to the 2022/23 campaign which has seen him blend inspiration with industry.
The heat of the summer has given way to the first signs of autumn in France and the World Cup is looming large, but Neymar Jr. has been constant from the start of the season...constantly impressive, that is. "I don't think there is a new Neymar. I think just that things have dropped into place. I'm having a very good start to the season, like when I came here and in my first two or three years," he told us.
The Brazilian certainly has set the bar high. He started strongly, racing out of the blocks with a stellar display in the Trophée des Champions. Collectively it was the first trophy of the season, and individually it was the maiden display in an impressive collection that would quickly grow with his two goals helping bring Nantes to heel.
"I'm very happy. I'm really happy to start the season with goals, assists, helping the team as best I can, and hoping to have a great season and keep going like this until the end," he explained.
A LIGHTNING START
His immense talent has been allied with unerring consistency this season, allowing him to score or tee up someone else to find the net on a regular basis. He has been involved in no fewer than 31 goals in his last 19 starts with Paris, only failing to be involved in a goal in one of those games.
When Neymar plays he's happy, and when he's happy, he is a menace for opponents. He leads the way in Ligue 1 with 9 goals in eight games, giving him a goal involvement every 53 minutes. Little wonder he was named the division's best player for August.
"On and off the pitch, I'm someone who'll do everything to help my teammates, to win. I'm very competitive," said the number 10, whose words are backed up by the statistics. He has nine assists this season, seven in Ligue 1 to lead the division's assists chart too. The pick of them though surely came in Europe and his lob for Kylian Mbappé to score the first goal against Juventus, which was named the UEFA Champions League Matchday 1 goal of the round.
"I feel a more complete player now, because I can defend, attack or score goals, make assists, whatever you like. I think I'm now more complete than before."
We've lapped up the dribbles, the goals, the passes, the assists, the tricks and the tackles, with the Brazil international playing his part in a high-functioning team: "I think everyone helps. Of course, I know I'm not an extraordinary defender, but I at least try to help my teammates however I can."
Joga Bonito!
Neymar Jr has shone domestically and internationally. For his country, he produced two assists in the recent win over Ghana before taking on Tunisia at the Parc des Princes where he also scored for the Seleçao.
Same thing in the Champions League with three goal involvements in three games: an assist against Juventus, a goal against Maccabi Haifa, and another assist vs. Benfica where the team had to dig deep to repel their hosts.
"The Champions League is a very difficult competition," Neymar told us. "We know there are great players, big teams, and there are times in games when you have to suffer. So to win, a team must be able to suffer, learn to suffer, suffer in a way that they don't concede a goal, not give their opponents any space. But I think it's normal to suffer in a game, in a competition that is at such a high level. So it's a good thing that it comes now, because it's like that we'll prepare ourselves for the knockout stages."
The result is that Neymar Jr has 23 goal involvements in just 15 games for club and country this season, 12 goals and 11 assists. He's also unbeaten with both, which fuels the biggest of ambitions.
"I'm very happy to have started my season well, whether it be with Paris Saint-Germain or the Brazil national team. The aim this year is to win with both teams, to win everything with Paris and Brazil. We have a World Cup coming up and we know just how difficult that competition is. But I have a dream of winning it, just like the Champions League will be soon in Paris, I'm sure of that."
And he could carve out some history for himself too. He's got 75 goals for his country, just two shy of Pele's long-standing record, and he's already gone fourth on the Club's all-time scoring list, passing Pauleta wsh 111 goals. And there is surely so much more to come if his start to the season is anything to go by!