For the past two weeks, communication around Neymar's injury has combined silence, cacophony and an element of mystery and incomprehension. Everywhere, from Yoyo, the club where he celebrates his birthday on February 2 with great fanfare, up to the advertising campaign in Düsseldorf (Germany) this Thursday, February 13, passing through the Camp des Loges, the player appears on social networks smiling, happy, biting with pleasure in life. Far from the image that one can have of a player suffering from a chondro-costal lesion since February 1, which prevents him from playing until now.
It all started on the eve of the trip to Nantes. Thomas Tuchel at a press conference omits to mention the case of the Brazilian, yet already injured. The club discloses a group for Nantes with its procession of absentees including Neymar. A package on the sly. It is stipulated that the attacker “has a chondro-costal injury which occurred at the end of the first half of the match against Montpellier. It was confirmed by the examinations carried out today (Editor's note: February 3) . "
This is the only official communication regarding the most expensive player in history. No unavailability is mentioned, unlike the following player: “Abdou Diallo injured his right thigh this Saturday, his unavailability is estimated between 3 and 4 weeks. "
A struggle for influence
In Dijon, Wednesday, Tuchel took refuge, this time, behind the medical opinion to explain the absence of number 10 in Burgundy. Before not being "100% sure" that his star will be operational for Dortmund on February 18. A way for the coach to protect himself in the event of a poor performance in the Champions League? Or the famous squabble between the technical staff and the medical sector in force this season as last year, despite the change of main doctor (Eric Rolland yesterday, Christophe Baudot today)?
This Thursday, the technician calmed the game: "We decide together," says Tuchel. There are many parameters to take into account. There is the opinion of the doctor, the opinion of the coach, the opinion of the player. It is also necessary to know if the player will evolve without worry. It's not complicated. It is complex but at the end of each complex situation, there must be a simple solution, a clear decision. That's what happened. "