Willian: Brazil more than Neymar

​Chelsea and Brazil forward Willian is adamant that the Selecao are not reliant on Neymar, arguing that even the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo can struggle at international level.

After the Barcelona star's suspension at the Copa America this summer, Brazil were eliminated from the tournament at the quarter-final stage when Paraguay beat them in a penalty shootout.

His team is often criticised for a lack of star quality when Neymar is not available, but Willian says that, though Dunga's side have no shortage of elite players, they cannot be expected to perform at 100 per cent when national teams link up so infrequently.

The Copa America

Willian: "It was hard. It is always difficult to be eliminated. We always enter every competitions to win it, but things don’t always go as we’d like. But we have everything and must keep working. The important thing is to have the full trust in Dunga and the coaching staff so that we can continue doing our jobs."

The 7-1

"I don't know what happened that day, but I think we could have prepared a little more. Of course, for those who are there on the field, it is hard, and for those that are not on the field, it is easy to talk. 

“We suffered one goal after another and the situation became increasingly difficult. But I think we could have done things differently, not only in that game, but during our preparations in general. I think that it could be a little different, but now there is no way to change what happened. It is already the past. The important thing is always to think ahead.”

Are Brazil overly dependent on Neymar?

“I think that the problems with Brazil is not about the players it has. I don't think that Brazil has Neymar and nowhere else. There are many players of high quality in the team. So, I don't know why they are always talking about us depending on Neymar. Obviously Neymar is a great player, he is a reference within the Selecao today. 

“But I think we have other players of great quality. And if the player sometimes does not perform at the same level he does for his club, I think that’s natural because at our clubs we are used to playing with our team-mates who are with us all the time, training every day and playing every week. In the national team we end up getting together for a few days and we always try to do the best in the same way. And it’s normal, it is even like that with Lionel Messi in Argentina, with Cristiano Ronaldo in the Portugal team."

The differences between football in Europe and football in Brazil

"I think there is a big difference. The football here in Europe is faster, and more organized tactically. Brazil has a lot of quality players, but I think the training differs a little bit. Here in Europe, we do lots of short, tactical, technical sessions. In Brazil, I don't know how it is now, but when was there I did a lot of long, collective sessions... It was collective almost every day and we did few tactical drills."