From the back to the striker, Neymar is busy! Score goals and organise a grab

When the AFC Champions League limited the number of foreign players played, Milinkovic and Neves could not play, Saudi Arabia national team captain Faraj was sent off in the first half, and Riyadh Crescent, who did not have a midfielder, relied on Neymar alone to support the operation of a team.

Although the first goal came a little late, but with a perfect shot with his left foot, Neymar used this way to open his AFC Champions League account, which will make countless fans who love him feel sincerely happy.

01. Faraj was red carded: A big impact on the Riyadh Crescent midfield

a. Neymar's football: running combined with passing

This Riyadh Crescent midfielder was supposed to be a combination of Milinkovic's and Neves. However, because the AFC Champions League is a 5+1 (1 Asian foreign aid) registration limit, they have reserved 4 foreign aid spots for the front court, while keeping Koulibaly.

The reason for this is also confidence in the captain of the Saudi national team, Al-Faraj, and hopes that Neymar will take on more promotion and organizational work.

From the position of the attack, it can be seen that Neymar often stands symmetrically with Farage, while one of Michael and Malcolm adducts and brings the same full-back forward.

Using Neymar's dribbling and passing, the Riyadh Crescent opens to push forward, or give Faraj space to hold the ball and pass in the centre circle (at this point Neymar will move forward without the ball).

Neymar made a lot of off-ball movement, catches and tandems in the game, while delivering a lot of penultimate passes.

These are not directly in the technical statistics after the game, because there are no assists and key passes, but they are a great help for the team's offensive opening.

As can be seen from the camera, Neymar, who holds the ball in the middle line, relies on his own passing and movement to instantly advance the ball to the front of the opponent's penalty area.

At key moments, Neymar was not greedy for work, and Michael who was on the flank in time brought a chance to score. However, Mitrovic was whistled to be in an offside position, and the goal was invalidated, but it is a pity that this time it can be recorded in the history of the AFC Champions League with a beautiful team cooperation.

b. Faraj's value is not small

Faraj is the captain of the Saudi national team and the core of their organisation. This time the AFC Champions League appearance, he was also eager to do something, but unfortunately, in the 38th minute, he who originally wanted to persuade him, participated in physical contact and was sent off with a red card.

Before leaving, Farage's success rate of passing and long passes was still very good, while only conceding four possessions, which also showed his value.

Riyadh Crescent's first goal, Faraj played a big role. He crossed the ball to right-back Black and pierced the opposing wing.

It is worth noting that Neymar's position at that time was to go to the position of the front waist.

It is even clearer from the camera that the starting point of the attack comes from Neymar, who is parallel to Farage.

Through Neymar's pass to Farage, and then he inserted himself forward into the front of the box, Faragi can get more space to handle the ball. After a beautiful overhead, flanker Black crossed and helped Mitrovic score with a header.

After Faraj was sent off, Neymar even frequently returned to the single back position.

Because Kanu is not good at playing the ball and organizing, the burden of attacking forward is completely on Neymar.

02. Neymar organizes the attack: The data does not really reflect his value

a. Complete a lot of offensive instigation: because he's playing at the back

Despite playing away from home, Riyadh Crescent nearly doubled its opponents in possession and shots.

This was also when playmaker Faraj was sent off and Malcolm was in poor form in attack. Neymar still did a lot to organize the attack.

This kind of shifting the ball to the flanks should have been Farage's job. But because the latter was sent off, Neymar must do it well.

Michael's skills are okay, but the habit and rhythm of stopping the ball is still far from that of European teams.

In the case of a lot of space and Neymar's passing arc is relatively stable, he still needs to stop the ball in place and cannot take the initiative to take the ball down. Fortunately, the follow-up ability to have the ball is not bad, but unfortunately the bottom return pass was still cleared.

Looking at the attack this time, Neymar's long pass to Black in front is still so accurate and beautiful.

Unfortunately, the latter escaped the defense and crossed and still could not find Mitrovic.

b. Neymar back in the front: a game-breaking effect in the middle

Neymar's current tactical positioning is the front back, just according to the needs of the team, determine his own depth of retreat.

Neymar's passing creativity and ability to initiate consecutive attacks in front of the box are his core competencies.

This time, after Neymar gave the ball to the flank, he took the ball in the middle for the second time and sent a wonderful pass to Michael who inserted the ribs in front.

Unfortunately, the latter faced the goalkeeper and failed to seize the opportunity, and Neymar also missed an assist to score.

Let's look at this wave of attack, Neymar took the ball from the outside and hit the wall to cooperate with the arc position in front of the penalty area.

A beautiful heel pass and the situation cleared up. Unfortunately, Neymar has swam to a good open position, but Michael chose to shoot from distance instead of passing.

03. The first goal is here! Position adjustment due to Neymar's physical downturn

a. Neymar goes forward: immediate gains

As Neymar gets older, he also has a low physical condition period during the match (usually between 55-75 minutes of the match).

Dawasaari replaced Malcolm, who was in poor form, in the 56th minute, and let him play behind Neymar for a while, allowing Neymar to "rest" in the forward line, which contributed to the latter's goal.

Neymar's forward thrust is beautiful, his passing from the front of the line is crisp, and his downward movement is sharp.

It can be seen that Neymar has increased with age, although the absolute speed is not as fast as before, but the choice and decisiveness of movement are also getting better and better.

The shot of this ball is very difficult, on the one hand, it is quite far from the goal, and on the other hand, it is against the left foot.

As a result, Neymar scored his first goal since joining Riyadh Crescent with a high-quality shot that the goalkeeper could not match.

Let's look at this wave of offensive and defensive conversions, Koulibaly broke the ball and then carried the ball forward to advance most of the court.

Neymar headed into the box after receiving the ball on the flanks, but unfortunately his right-footed push hit the post unluckily and missed the chance to score.

b. The tacit understanding with teammates needs to be improved

The victory in this game can be said to be very Neymar Brazilian national team-style, but there is still a lack of luck from the passing achievement.

Neymar's passing is the most unquestionable, but whether teammates can make better use of it requires more tacit understanding and patience.

Overall, when the number of Saudi players increases, the fit between them and Neymar is not very high.

Before the end of the first half, Neymar took a good quality free kick this time, and if his central defender Blakes can get out of the way in time, it may be a dead corner into the net.

Stuck in the other party's wall, but eventually really become a human wall, which is somewhat laughable.

There is also Shahrani, who moved the ball to the back of the penalty area this time, and Asia's top left-back with the reputation of "Saudi Marcelo", this time the ball was a bit embarrassing.

It should be said that Riyadh Crescent's wingers have good skills at their feet, but in terms of the rhythm of receiving and stopping the ball, it is still almost interesting to play with the European way of playing, and the pace needs to be more relaxed.

Conclusion:

After Neymar arrived in Riyadh New Moon, he was indeed not the most engaged, and he rarely risked being kicked and dribbled with strong shots.

However, connecting the team through passing and moving is Neymar's most basic style of play, and these are enough to take Riyadh Crescent's attack to a big level.