A measured point here is that Neymar has always been a player who attracts noise, so in one sense this is not surprising at all. The problem is that it now feels like the noise has become the whole identity, and that is why even a strange little 1v1 story gets massive traction. It is not even just about him being annoying, it is about how every tiny side issue grows into a whole circus around Santos and then people end up talking about helicopters, artificial turf, journalists, and some random challenge instead of the football. And then you remember he is 34, which makes the whole thing even stranger, because this is the stage where most players are trying to manage their legacy carefully and he is out there behaving like a lad who has just discovered online banter