Messi: I have no problem with Neymar

   

The Argentine insists he gets on with the Brazilian "on and off the pitch" and stresses there has been no great upheaval under new coach Gerardo Martino. Barcelona star Lionel Messi has made it clear he has had no problems with Neymar since the Brazilian's €57 million move to the club.

The Argentine ace started a game alongside the 21-year-old for the first time on Wednesday, with both players getting on the scoresheet in a 7-1 thrashing of Thailand, and Messi insists that any speculation of unrest between the pair is pure speculation from the media.

"There’s no problem between us; these are things that come out of the press," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur "We get on with each other on and off the pitch and we’re getting to know each other little by little. We haven’t played much together. But he’ll bring a lot of joy to the club, to us and to the people."

Messi went on to explain the impact of new coach Gerardo Martino at Camp Nou, revealing the former Newell's Old Boys coach is keen for the team to improve their pressing game once more in the 2013-14 season.

"He is telling us that we need to get back to being who we have been for the last few years," Messi explained. "He wants us to create more pressure and work on recovering the ball as quickly as possible. We’re out to do that.

"We’re still getting to know each other. Every coach has his own things. He hasn’t come to change anything, just to get back what we lost a little last year."

Barcelona face a Malaysia XI on Saturday in the latest leg of their lengthy pre-season tour, but Messi believes their work this summer will pay dividends come the new campaign. "I don’t know whether it [the tour] is the best way to prepare or not, but it’s what we’re doing," the 26-year-old said.

"We’re working very well. There are a lot of events and there’s a lot of travelling. We train when we can and take the matches very seriously. "The games help us to get into our rhythm, it’s good preparation and we’ll come into the season in good shape."       

   
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Barcelona risk ruining Neymar, says Ramalho

The gifted attacker's former boss has voiced his concerns with the Blaugrana's plans to improve his physique by placing him on a weight-gaining programme. Former Santos coach Muricy Ramalho has hit out at Barcelona over their plans for Neymar to gain weight to boost his physical prowess.

Barca doctor Ricard Pruna said earlier this summer that the 21-year-old must gain weight in order to reach his peak physical condition, after the Brazilian was diagnosed with anaemia following his €57 million switch to Camp Nou.

Ramalho, however, believes the Blaugrana are risking damaging Neymar's long-term effectiveness, claiming it could lead to a serious injury like that suffered by compatriot and former Barcelona star Ronaldo. "If Neymar puts on weight, they’re going to take away everything that’s best about him," Ramalho told Jovem Pam.

"They’re going to take away his speed. With small players such as Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta and [Lionel] Messi at Barca, I never imagined that they would do this.  "If he puts on weight he could suffer a knee injury, like what happened to Ronaldo. It’s a dangerous business."

Neymar scored his first goal for Barcelona earlier this week in the 7-1 friendly win over Thailand.       

   
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Mike Idoko praises Stephen Keshi for building local players' capacity

Coach Stephen Keshi has been commended for giving players in the Nigeria Premier League opportunity to fight for a place in the senior national team.

Since Keshi's ascent to the managerial position of the national team, players like Godfrey Oboabona of Sunshine Stars and Enugu Rangers' Sunday Mba, who was recently named into the prestigious Goal 50, have become a key part of the Super Eagles.

Coach Stephen Keshi has been commended for giving players in the Nigeria Premier League opportunity to fight for a place in the senior national team.

 the Ondo State Football Agency executive director, Mike Idoko believes Keshi’s success story with the Super Eagles can be hinged on the fact he never overlooked the local-based stars stating that it takes a lot of confidence for a national team handler to take such a risk.

“I must commend Stephen Keshi for being fearless. He took a risk former managers, even the foreign ones, couldn’t take. I think he must have borrowed a leaf from [Clemens] Westerhof because he took time before building the USA '94 team which we have not been able to assemble up till now. The NFF also must be commended too because if they had not given him the chance, Keshi wouldn’t have been successful,” said Idoko.

“All our boys now go to the Super Eagles to fight for a place because it is glaring that they are no longer training materials like they were in the past where the foreign-based were picked ahead of them. At the Africa Cup of Nations, he took along six players which has not happened before,” he added.

The football administrator, however, warned him not to be carried away by the home-based performances stating he must select players that will stand the test of time.

“If this trend continues, the league will experience rapid growth but the coach should be careful on his choice of local based talents. He must look at their age and ask himself if those players can play for a long period of time,” concluded Idoko.