direct question [MENTION=19867]Barcalove[/MENTION] did i ever say that ? and if not who are you referring to ? thanks.
[MENTION=11986]footyfan[/MENTION]
I do think that suarez was better than neymar this season. That's slightly different than saying suarez had the better season since neymar played more games, and yes he was crucial when suarez wasn't there.
I've been saying all season long (well not really but the better part of it) that neymar is clutch as fuck. He did miss many chances, from what i recall around as many as suarez, but he scored nearly all of them when it mattered. And waddaya know, that's neymar's top job since Messi time and again outbalances the team to feed those awesome long balls to the left side. So we certainly don't disagree here. (btw i caught only glimpses of our liga win at the calderon)
Would be interesting to see some shots per game stats here (though position is equally as important) but i'd bet that suarez attempts less shots/pg. Which doesn't mean suarez can't fend for himself, a lot of his goals have been class finishes etc. Few have been tap ins. These generally fall to ney who is often better positioned, storming in on the left side of the box (and ney justly gets credit for his good positioning too).
Anyway. That's 13 more goals from neymar, with around +350 mins of playing time and one penalty (two attempts
).
Suarez has 14 more assists.
From what i've seen with my own eyes, and (lastly) based on the numbers, I say Neymar simply has more of a finishing role than suarez, the latter being very invested in that hustling, back-against-the-goal and rarely in position to finish of counter attacks. So these numbers kind of explain themselves, and the idea that one has much superior stats to the other is really ridiculous.
So to answer you directly, it's on his "all around game" (e.g., all the rest) that i think suarez tips neymar, just as you think the reverse, but we can agree that the difference is pretty small and subjective. Neymar's been ball hogging, leaned too much on messi, sometimes attempts unnecessary dribbles. Suarez does not get as many touches on the ball (i think) and thus has less opportunities to screw up as well, his main weakness has been poor first touch and short passing. These are the flaws I see in the two players and now that the season is almost ended my opinion is that suarez has less things to improve. Anyway, it's close. Neymar's style of play is also arguably more frustrating.
It's not important to me at all to convince people that I'm right on this. But seeing how badly some argue for neymar makes me cringe. Haven't seen such poor advocacy for suarez, and all the better.
Both are world class and will face sky high expectations next season
