What next for Marko Marin?

Known for his acceleration, dribbling, agility, creativity, versatility, technical ability and as an assist-maker, many called him the German Messi when he played for Germany U21, but since then there has been a downfall in his form. Marko Marin looked promising when he played for Germany U21 but now he seems to have lost that magic he once possessed. He was way better than Ozil when those two played together but now Ozil has moved way ahead.

He began his footballing career as a youth player, first with SG 01 Hoechst and then with Eintracht Frankfurt. Come 2005 and he moved to Borussia Monchengladbach‘s academy team. He was so impressive that a year later (at the age of just 17), he was offered a 3 year contract and also promoted to Borussia Monchengladbach’s reserve team! Another year later he made his professional debut for Borussia Monchengladbach against his former club - Eintracht Frankfurt. Moving to Werder Bremen on June 24th 2009 changed his career. The German impressed with the national team and was brought to the 2010 World Cup despite being only 21 years old. Marin was coming off his debut (and still his best) season at Bremen before the tournament (6 goals, 14 assists), playing with Mesut Ozil and helping Bremen to a third place finish. Later, Ozil left for Real Madrid and was not adequately replaced by Marin, who tried to do too much at times, which resulted in some selfish tendencies!

Having a look at his performance last season at Werder Bremen, it’s quite shocking! He made just 16(5) appearances last season but still managed to score once and assist 5 goals! Being a follower of the Premier League, the first thing that’ll come to your mean mind is “that’s better than Stewart Downing!” Well in fact, it’s 100% true. But compare that to his first ever professional senior career season (with Borussia Monchengladbach ‘B’ team) and you’ll see it’s quite the same. He made 16 appearances in his first ever season but managed to find the net 3 times! But the main reason why he made just 16 appearances is because of his injury that sidelined him 6 times last season!

Strengths:

Dribbling - This is his main strength. He’s quick and he can control the ball very well. This is (in my view) why many call him the “German Messi”! He can run around defenders and leave them confused but not as much as Messi though. Marin completed 45 dribbles in 16 appearances for Werder Bremen while at Chelsea, Ramires had the most dribbles last season (around 60+), having played more than 75% of Chelsea’s games last season.

Key Passes - This guy is absolutely accurate when it comes to making the forward moves. He makes such super passes that any striker would love to play in front of him.

Position - Right Wing, Central Attacking or Left Wing, assign a position to him and he’ll play to his full potential. A player of both feet, it makes it easy for a manager to choose if any of the other mid-fielders are not available.

Weakness:

Aerial Duels - Being 5’7”, one cannot expect Marin to win all the aerial duels. He’s quite weak at that and hardly goes in for any. He is more of a player who likes to ball on the ground rather than in the air.

Defensive Contribution - This guy is so offensive that he hardly comes back to help his defenders. He likes to stay up the field and doesn’t get back to his own box. If Chelsea are to “park the bus” this season, this guy is not the one for Roberto Di Matteo to look up to!

Others:

Selfishness - This has been one of his “bad” habits on the field, I think he’s not going be that selfish once he starts to play at Chelsea. He was completely unselfish vs Seattle Sounders and probably will continue to be the same for his entire career from now on.

Though the dubious Goal.com gave “diving” as his best attribute, I completely disagree. As far as I have seen him play, he tries to escape all the tackles opponents try on him and once he’s brought down, he tries to get up on his feet as soon as possible and start running with the ball again!

If he recaptures his old form, Chelsea will have a TOP player in their suqad. But will he recapture that form and reach the potential he once promised? I do think so. He’s still a good player nonetheless.