Former Brazil international Leonardo has claimed Barcelona forward Neymar lacks the maturity required to be captain and leader of the national team.
Leonardo, who played for the likes of AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain
before embarking on a brief, generally unsuccessful stint in
management, has long been a vocal critic of the 23-year-old striker –
despite Neymar's prolific goalscoring record for the Selecao since
making his debut back in 2010.
The former Santos star was named captain of the national side
following last summer’s disappointing World Cup, but Leonardo does not
believe he has the leadership characteristics required of the role.
"Neymar is a great player, but he doesn't have the maturity to
lead Brazil and take the team by his hand,” Leonardo said, speaking on
SporTV.
However, the 45-year-old acknowledged that Neymar has time to
develop those qualities – admitting that he had been impressed by the
youngster’s capacity to learn and develop new attributes already during
his fledgling career.
Leonardo added: "I criticised him a lot when he played in Brazil.
"He took the ball and only wanted to dribble with it and make
the difference. Today, he can also play without the ball. I didn't think
he could do that - it is a question of mentality.
"Previously he didn't take free-kicks. Now, he's a big threat
from set-pieces. There are a multitude of things a great player can
improve on."
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