I have no problem with players (including Neymar) trying to beat a marker inside/near the opponent's box. But the great majority of his footwagging has happened out at the touchline close to the halfline, where all it does is take his teammates out of the play, kills momentum, and allows the opponent to solidify their defense. Even if he does manage to beat one marker after holding the ball for 5 seconds, he is completely contained, because any potential openings have been closed off.
I get it, he wants to be like Messi, but he's not in the same universe; his ballholding footwags are closer in effectiveness to an Alves cross than it is to a Messi take-on. Even Messi is not successful most of the time. However, Messi is usually successful in creating opportunities with his dribbles multiple times per game- if not for himself, for his teammates. Neymar simply doesn't have that kind of vision; he can only focus his attention on taking on his marker, and can't see further ahead (unless it's carrying the ball halfway across the field until Messi comes into view). Messi is ridiculously gifted in being able to shift his focus quickly from his own dribbling to the other options available. Sure, Neymar can keep working on it, but I personally doubt he'll ever be that kind of player. He even has trouble evaluating his options while counterattacking, where he has much more space and time to look.
In any case, I think he (and the team) are better off when he keeps the ball moving and does what he does best- getting into scoring positions where others can get him the ball. The more he holds the ball up, the less opportunity he has to do so.
[youtube]FchxkrkAl7c[/youtube]
That's useless showboating.
Neymar should never stop dribbling. Ever. It's his best attribute and the reason why he is on the team. You can Mourinho and scheme your team to have the perfect tactics and preparation but that goes out the window when you have multiple players who can beat multiple players on their own.
The footwaggle isn't even showboating, it disguises what he is going to do next, keeping defenders hesitant so he can have that extra second in space to create magic.
I won't bother with posting it now, but statistically Neymar is easily one of the most effective dribblers in the game with only Messi better and Hazard reasonably close in ability.
Lastly, Messi was far from the multidimensional force that he is now. With Rijkaard, he was very much like Neymar in terms of his decision making with trying to do too much when it isn't on. He would go on blind runs a lot and granted he'd pull it out occasionally because he was still genial then but Pep was crucial in expanding Messi's skill set and helped guide him into the playmaker he is now. That's what's crazy about Messi, he's practically a CAM who can score 2-3 goals a game from deep lol.
Point being, players evolve as they grow older. Neymar can go through a similar transformation and especially if he can learn to look for the killer pass more yet know when it's on for him to do it himself, taking responsibility for making something happen, that's when he will start being at Messi's level.
His improvement from this year to last was remarkable however, so it's not fair to assume he can't continue to improve in this aspect of the game. He had some crucial moments early in the season when he made something happen when we were struggling for inspiration.
