Another German Adventure into London: Marko Marin and how can fit at Chelsea FC

Chelsea's first summer recruit: Marko Marin

With all the talk about whether current Chelsea caretaker manager, Roberto Di Matteo, will be given a permanent job next season, the media’s heads were turned to prospect of Chelsea summer signings. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that absolutely no one saw this transfer coming, even within Germany there were no rumours emerging before hand. An immediate question that does come to mind is who actually gave the go ahead for this signing. Some might argue that Marin, like Torres and Shevchenko before him, is an Abrahmovic ‘Superstar’ signing but to call Marin a superstar is highly exaggerating his performances over the past two seasons. While it is true that he was rated as one of the best young players in Europe a few years ago, he has not managed to work on that potential after the exit of his partner in crime at Werder Bremen, Mesut Ozil.

It was in that single season he shared with his German compatriot that Marin moved onto the upper echelons of super-stardom in Germany and his name became well known throughout Europe, and it was with very good reason. With six goals and 14 assists, Marin enjoyed a highly successful first season after moving away from his youth club, Borussia Monchengladbach, during which he even managed to outshine Mesut Ozil. Marin and Ozil where two parts of a highly successful three man attacking midfield used by coach Thomas Schaaf during that season, the third piece to the puzzle being Aaron Hunt. All three were comfortable in each others position and all depended on one another to perform at their best so when Mesut Ozil left for Real Madrid the system fell apart and neither Hunt nor Marin have ever been able to get themselves back to the level of performances they displayed during that one glorious season.

A new lease at life for Marko:

It’s surprising to see that even though Marin had not been enjoying a fruitful last couple of seasons we see a major European club like Chelsea swoop for the youngsters; even if the protracted 7-8 Million Euros does not show up as much of a gamble. That being said, this move is certainly a gamble for Marin who desperately needs to get his stumbling career back on track and while there is always a chance that the youngster will regain his lost 2009/10 form and win back his doubters, there is also a possibility that he’l find trouble adjusting to the new team and league and find himself with little playing time, further dropping his reputation. Whatever the case may be, a move away from Werder Bremen is the right choice for an ambitious player like Marko with his current club side continuing to slide drift from the one he joined as a budding youngster looking for consistent European football.

How will Marko fit in at Chelsea?

Mata and Sturridge will be vital towards Marin’s form.

There is little question as to where Marin will fit into the Chelsea system. Being a left winger ever since his early days at Borussia Monchengladbach and looking at the current lack of a quality left winger for the Blues, it seems certain that the diminutive player will slot right in alongside central playmaker Juan Mata and right winger Daniel Sturridge in Chelsea’s current 4-2-3-1 (eventhough the formation will definitely depend upon the manager for next season). With an immediate look at Mata and Sturridge, one can clearly see the resemblance in their playing style to that of Mesut Ozil and Aaron Hunt, respectively, with the Chelsea players being slightly more direct, an early plus point for Blue’s fans.Juan Mata and Mesut Ozil:

Even though Marin has been brought in there is no doubt that Juan Mata will be the most important player within the Chelsea first team. Having shown no fuss adjusting to the rigors of the Premier League, Mata has flourished in his first season at London, albeit for a Chelsea side on the dip after failing to fully replace their aging stars with more quality players. Juan Mata is a player who does share quite a few characteristics with Mesut Ozil tactically, both initially made their name as left wingers though their best positions were always recognized as that of a central playmaker and both have grown into world class players playing in that position for one of Europe’s biggest clubs. An initial look at both their heat maps in important games will show their preference to move about from central positions; for Mata we look at his performance against Napoli in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 clash while for Ozil we look at his home match vs Bayern Munich during his final season at Werder Bremen, playing alongside Marko Marin.

The constant movement towards the left and right from both players was a vital ingredient for their teams attacking success during the two matches but with this shifting from left to right (less towards the right for Mata, it should be noted), there has to be another player willing to take up the position left vacant from the central player. While Chelsea currently have that problem with the lack of form from players such as Malouda, Ramires from the Napoli match and Kalou, the Bremen side from the 2009/10 season certainly did not with Marko Marin showing quality down the left and shifting towards the center. While Marin has, and rightfully is, labelled a left winger, he showed tremendous versatility in his positioning and in his ability to be a threat from those various positions.

From the same match, we can see the movement Marin showed in unison with Ozil, and, as we’l later see, Aaron Hunt as well. Though he was a left winger, he showed a lot of inclination to move into central positions when Ozil would see himself shift to the left.Daniel Sturridge and Aaron Hunt:

Even though Aaron Hunt wasn’t given as much publicity as his two other German compatriots during that season, he was none the less an extremely important member of that side who contributed to much of Bremen’s good form. While he was playing much as a midfielder during that season, he was brought up through the Werder Bremen youth system as a forward and was highly thought of as the long term replacement of Miroslav Klose since Klose the technical ability play deep and bring others into play. After a fantastic start to his career, the progress of Hunt was cut short with a string of injuries and temperamental behaviour. Daniel Sturridge himself is certainly very similar tactically as he himself was thought of as a forward while at Manchester City but has seen himself restricted to a role down the right wing, a role in which he has done well.

Here is where we can see a clear difference, while Aaron Hunt had shown a lot of versatility, like Ozil and Marin, Sturridge was a lot less inclined to move towards the left of midfield and preferred to stay either right or centrally like a more traditional wing-forward. That should not be much of a problem though for Chelsea as long as Sturridge continues to look to attack the by-line by attacking the opposition wing backs with his speed and dribbling ability. Even then it could be said that Chelsea have lacked a winger who could rotate positions with Sturridge, unlike Hunt who had Marin, because we have seen Sturridge play left like the recent match against QPR, so the possibility of more rotation is there to be taken advantage

Lately we have seen quite a lot of Bundesliga players cross the channel into the Premier League, most have been successful. There is always the suggestion of players from foreign leagues struggling to cope with the pace offered within the English game, especially when discussing a player with the slight stature of Marko Marin. David Silva and Juan Mata, two similarly short players, were also questioned because of their physique but they have since their moves shown that a little bit of sublime skill and trickery can be enough to make it. Marin has had a bit of exposure to Premier League football, last season he played two matches against Tottenham Hotspurs and impressed on both occasions, enough for Spurs to consider Marin themselves.

It is strange to say this for a player aged just 22 but this transfer could be a make or break situation for Marin. For so long people had picked him as being a future star for Germany and a big European club but since 2010 he has seen his place in the Germany squad knocked back and the chances of that ‘dream’ transfer fade away, atleast that was thought. For Chelsea, there is little risk, 7-8 Million Euro’s is of little value in today’s market and if they don’t end up getting a superstar player they might’ve hoped for, they can atleast use Marin’s usefulness as a squad player, given his versatility of playing on either wings and as a playmaker. If Marin does fit in seamlessly into Chelsea’s 4-2-3-1 system, which he should, then Chelsea might just have picked up one of the great transfer deals for the summer.