Neymar lauds Tuchel, insists best is yet to come

Neymar heaped praise on “winner” Thomas Tuchel and warned the best is yet to come from Paris Saint-Germain as they seek Champions League success.

The Brazil star produced a below-par display in PSG’s opening Group C loss to Liverpool, the Ligue 1 champions falling to a 3-2 loss at Anfield. 

Thomas Tuchel’s side host Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday, having seemingly shrugged off the disappointment of that Merseyside reverse by winning three consecutive top-flight matches.

And Neymar echoed the sentiments of his coach, who suggested the former Barcelona forward had not yet hit his stride, the 26-year-old insisting the whole team were still short of their best form.

@neymarjr : “Je ne suis pas à 100%, un peu comme tout le monde. Nous sommes en début de saison, le haut niveau européen arrivera plus tard. Chaque match, chaque jour, chaque entraînement, je cherche à m’améliorer.”#PSGlive pic.twitter.com/BkG2IEjxKO

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) October 2, 2018

“I agree with the coach. I’m not 100 per cent, nobody is at the beginning of the season,” he said.

“The high level will come between February and March when the best matches are coming. We will improve in each training session, each game.

“We must always be attentive to everything, every minute of every game.That’s what we are looking for this season.

“We want to make a great PSG.”

Tuchel has deployed the world’s most expensive player in a number 10 role and Neymar said he is content with playing there.

“It’s different. I like to play there. I can dictate the match, help my team-mates,” he added.

“[Lionel] Messi plays like that at Barcelona. My function was different there. Here, I like to have the ball. I’m very happy to play like that.”

With so many attacking options at his disposal, Tuchel revealed he had numerous systems that could incorporate all of his headline names and he wants to see a positive response on Wednesday.

“It’s very dangerous to have Neymar, [Edinson] Cavani, [Kylian] Mbappe and [Angel] Di Maria together, it’s very important for the club and the team they play and work together, that they win together.

“There are several systems with them four, that’s not a problem.

“As a famous athlete said, the defeat is undervalued, because you can learn so much from a defeat.

“The important thing is the reaction and so far it is particularly positive. “