It's better to watch Ganso in his club games rather than Brazil games. I think the only Brazilian who consistently performs better for country than he does for club is Robinho. In club football, Ganso and Neymar are probably the equivalent of Fabregas and Nasri respectively in terms of the relative influence they have on the Santos offense. Ganso is the more consistent player and more of the orchestrator. Neymar is very much a Robinho who drifts in and out with moments of magic.

The Brazilian League is extremely poor though, so it's not the best way to judge a player. Neymar has seemed able to reproduce his brilliance at international level, Ganso has not, and that tells me a lot. Maybe that will change as he improves and matures, but I personally don't think he's going to be anything really special.

The Brazilian league isn't extremely poor. It would rank as a top five league in Europe.

I watched a fair bit of Neymar last season, and I drew the conclusion that it is extremely poor. Technically outstanding, but in every other way, poor.

It isn't, though. Not even close. This is a bit tedious but you just need to look at all the players they produce and how seamlessly they step up when they arrive to Europe. The leagues in both Argentina and Brazil are quality. They're better than Ligue 1 and, in respect to Campeonato, probably better than Bundesliga too.

Well, like I said, that's not my experience of it. Defensively and tactically, I think both the Argentinian League and the Brazilian League are very weak.

Ricky, I thought you said you didn't watch leagues outside England.
When you have the chance, watch some of the games involving bigger teams in Brazil. There are a lot of games featuring lower-placed teams that are televised for some reason. A lot of what you see is the equivalent of watching Valenciennes vs Ajaccio. Try to watch games amongst Fluminese, Flamengo, Corinthians, Sao Paolo, and even Vasco.
The top teams, especially Corinthians and Sao Paolo, play exquisite football. I'd agree with Klaus that the Brazilian national league is as good as or better than the French league.

I watch games here and there to see certain players. I watched maybe 7 or 8 Santos games during last season. Some were in the Brazilian League and some were in the Copa Libertadores, where I also saw a couple of the top Argentinian teams. Also watched a few Velez games to get a look at Ricky Alvarez, so I have a pretty good idea of what the level's like.

For example, some of Alvarez's Velez team mates wouldn't get into Wigan's team, and they are the Argentinian champions.

I'm with Ricky on Neymar. I'm hoping that roadkill haircut of his means one of the rich clubs splashes big on him instead of Hazard

i've seen neymar for about 5 mins all in all, but i think he'll be great.

Klaus wrote:

It isn't, though. Not even close. This is a bit tedious but you just need to look at all the players they produce and how seamlessly they step up when they arrive to Europe. The leagues in both Argentina and Brazil are quality. They're better than Ligue 1 and, in respect to Campeonato, probably better than Bundesliga too.

Better than Bundesliga? Not a single chance