Tite admits “concern” with Neymar and refuses to divulge what they are talking about

Rio de Janeiro, 23 Mar The Brazilian football coach, Adenor Leonardo Bachi 'Tite', admitted this Wednesday his “concern” with Neymar, but refrained from divulging the content of the conversations or advice he gives to the main star of the Canarinha because it was an intimate matter. “We have a general concern, but there are things that are very intimate, inside the locker room, something particular,” Tite said at a press conference when questioned about whether he has had a more thorough private conversation with the player about his ongoing problems on and off the court. The PSG player, who will start in Thursday's match against Chile at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Qatar, returned to focus with the Brazilian national team amid controversies and criticism, and after missing the last Canarinha matches due to injury. Neymar has been receiving harsh criticism for his poor performance since Real Madrid eliminated PSG in the European Champions League. “If a coach of mine when I was a player exposed my problems publicly, I would protest. I do with the players what I would like the coaches to do with me,” said Tite. And he affirmed that, when he is called up for the national team, Neymar has always shown his talent and professionalism. “The realities of the club are one and those of the national team are others. Several players have experienced adversity in their clubs and others come with high self-esteem. Neymar is already used to playing under pressure. We already have pressure that is ours and we are not going to bring pressure from others,” he said. He added that he is so confident in the PSG player that in Thursday's game he will line him up as a center forward, but with complete freedom to move around the court and be creative and daring. He stated that the Brazilian national team has a structure that allows Neymar to exploit all his creativity. The day before, midfielder Lucas Paquetá, a French Lyon player who is equally focused on the Brazilian national team, also came out in defense of Neymar and described as false and totally disrespectful the claims of a French journalist that Neymar “reached the limit of going to training drunk”. “It is even disrespectful to transmit information that is not true. Obviously they are not true and he didn't comment on that,” Paqueta said at a virtual press conference. “Some people say these things irresponsibly without knowing that they can end up affecting us. It is not possible that they believe in rumors that people make up and show them as if it were a totally true thing. I think Neymar is an excellent professional and I don't think he did that,” he added.