Pochettino comes out in Neymar’s defense after his announcement

After his troubling announcement, Neymar got a reaction from Mauricio Pochettino during a recent interview with the Spanish media.

Neymar’s recent announcement took everybody by surprise, even Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine manager immediately clicked with the Brazilian star, he has this effect on people. Quite often, Neymar gets a lot of hate from the ones who don’t know him personally. But every single person who gets to know him, speaks wonders about his demeanor. Mauricio Pochettino seems like he understands where Neymar is coming from.

All that added pressure of having to live the life of a Brazilian football star must be hard to handle. That weight has been on his shoulders since he was a teenager and it never went away. Even though he is pushing 30, Neymar has lived the life of a person with far more experience than a young man like him can experience. In a recent interview, Pochettino opened up about the possibility of Neymar’s retirement at the end of 2022.

🇫🇷 Mauricio Pochettino, en @partidazocope

👉🏻 "@KMbappe tomará la decisión que tenga que tomar, y el club hará todo lo posible por mantenerle"

🤞🏻 “No tengo dudas de que Mbappé está a ese nivel, al de Messi o @Cristiano"

📻 #PartidazoCOPE https://t.co/5xFsk0AJ5M
— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) October 13, 2021

Pochettino won’t push Neymar to continue playing.

When you hear Pochettino talk about Neymar, you can tell he understands his pain. It’s unclear to know if Neymar will change his mind about his future but his manager will be right there to support any decision he makes. For now, Pochettino needs to focus on the current season and getting the best out of the Brazilian. You never know if he will get motivated enough to backtrack on his decision to retire.

Here’s what Pochettino said on COPE: “He is a sincere man, he expresses his feelings quickly, but his mental strength, in a life that has been under the spotlight for a long time, is great. He has suffered a lot pressure since he was little. Sometimes things get taken out of context. Neymar loves football and I’m sure he will play for more years. I have no doubts.”