2015 draws to a close and VAVEL UK present our first ever Top 50 Players in the World.
Voted for by both editors and writers at VAVEL UK, we have produced a refined list of the best players of this year. Today, we'll reveal the 10th best player of 2015 with Number One on January 1st, New Year's Day.
Keep following to see who has made it and who hasn't. There were some lengthy discussions over who slipped into this list.
You can see the Top 41-50 here. You can see the Top 31-40 here. You can see the Top 21-30 here. You can see the Top 11-20 here.
And so, for the second best player in the world, Neymar.
2 - Neymar (FC Barcelona/Brazil)
It was almost a special 50 goal season for the Brazilian standout Neymar as he came up just short with 49 goals for FC Barcelona. He also added seven assists for the Catalans last season as they went on to win the treble under Luis Enrique. Neymar did the most damage in La Liga with 22 goals in Spain. This year Neymar has been on fire for Barcelona as the absence of Lionel Messi for a month as given him more reins and a bigger role in attack. He has scored 16 goals for the club so far and he has also assisted 10 times, a total already higher than the one he had last year. Although his time with Brazil in the Copa America tournament ended horribly, Neymar has bounced back with a solid performance for Barcelona this year.
Standout performances
Although Neymar had some great moments last season like scoring two against Bayern Munich in the away leg of the Champions League semi-final or the thrid and final goal in the final against Juventus, it was La Liga where he made his mark.
With Lionel Messi injured, Barcelona had to rely on both Luis Suarez and Neymar to lead them to victory without their leader. Both players stepped up as Barcelona stayed afloat and even embarrased Real Madrid in El Clasico with a 4-0 drubbing in Madrid.
Neymar's finest moment came against Rayo Vallecano when he scored four goals and had an assist in a 5-2 win.
Possible areas to improve
One possible area for Neymar to improve on would be his defense. He has gotten better at tracking back on defense but there is still some work to be done. But given Barcelona's style, he is not on defense much as the Catalans control possession. Given that his left back Jordi Alba has a lot of pace and can get back quickly, Neymar may be given an excuse of not tracking back but more defensive help is always good.
Sometimes his attitude can get in the way and the tendency to dive has gone down but it hasn't gone away completely. His attitude got him in trouble with the likes of Atletico Madrid as not everyone appreciates the flair that the Brazilian brings to the game so toning it down might be best for him.
Quotes
When asked about the Brazilians form this year, Luis Enrique told reporters (via the Daily Mail) : "He is a very special player, a unique player. He has been great all these years. Obviously he is still developing, but he has been fantastic ever since he came to Barcelona."
When asked about Neymar's performance against his team, Villarreal manager Marcelino García Toral told reporters (via Sport-English) : "He's growing as a player, he's still young and he is the most decisive player in the league."
What's in store for next year?
It's more of the same from Neymar as he will look to lead Barcelona to the first back to back treble in history. He will look to be more of a playmaker to others this year and he has already showing signs of that with ten assists so far.
He is a future mega-star and is the future of world football after Messi and Ronaldo eventually retire. The world is yours Neymar.
