Scouting Report: Has Chelsea Loanee Marko Marin Failed at Sevilla?
Chelsea's Sevilla loanee, Marko Marin, wants to extend his temporary stay at the La Liga club into a permanent one, per Estadio Deportivo (h/t Sky Sports). So here is a scouting report on the 25-year-old German international's season atย Sevilla thus far.ย
Marin'sย Identityย Crisis
Marin's playing style revolves around explosive bursts, elongated dribbles and sidestepping tackles,ย which open up opposing defences.ย
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Sevilla managerย Unai Emery has predominantly playedย Marin as a deep-lying forward in a 4-4-2 or a central attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1.ย
If you are aย Bundesliga aficionado, you will know thatย Emery is emulatingย formerย Werder Bremen managerย Thomas Schaaf's ill-fated tactical ploy in movingย Marin, a winger, centrally.
It was the 2011-12ย Bundesliga season andย Schaaf developed tunnel vision in setting the team up to makeย Marin be Mesut Ozil-like, which, in turn, would beย Schaaf's "look-at-me" moment.ย
In aย 4-1-2-1-2 formation,ย Schaaf had a triumvirate of midfielders to complimentย Marin:
- Philipp Bargfrede, a pure ball-winner, who accumulated 103 tackles and intercepted 102 passes that season.
- Clemens Fritz, the Germanย James Milner, a versatile and selfless footballer willing to do the grunt-work.ย
- Aaron Hunt, an all-round player, who could create his own shot and was ironically a better incisive passer (2.7 key passes per game; pass that leads to a shot) thanย Marin, the No. 10 (1.9 key passes per game).ย
| League Only | Assists | Ranking | Key Passes Per Game | Ranking |
| Marin 2011-12 | 5 | 36th | 1.9 | 17th |
| Marin 2010-11 | 9 | 8th | 1.6 | 18th |
| Marin 2009-10 | 10 | 3rd | 1.7 | 17th |
Marin was one of theย Bundesliga's most dangerous wingers, consistently getting past the full-back, forcing the centre-back to come forward and then playing in a wide-open teammate, who would take up the vacant position left by the centre-back.ย
It was a simple but effective mode of operation that nettedย Marin easy assists.
But his key passes per game was never at a world-class standard since he did not have theย foresight of anย Ozil to consistently create shots for teammates.ย
Schaaf inexplicably persisted withย Marin as the focal point of the team, despite him being unable to consistentlyย conjure up assists.
He rapidly lost confidence, which is evident when heย made 23 passes in 74 minutes duringย Werder's 4-1 defeat toย Bayern Munich in 2011.ย
Not only didย Schaaf forceย Marin into a new position, but the winger-turned-playmaker was burdened with the expectation of carrying the team.
If you are asked to pinpoint one decision that precipitatedย Marin's fall from grace, it would be him collapsing under the pressure when given the keys to the team byย Schaaf, which wasย exacerbatedย by an injury-riddled campaign.ย
Now that is the context behind Emery making the bold choice to playย Marin centrally.ย Even in games where you think he has played substantial parts out wide, when you look at his averageย positioning, it is central.
Hamstrung Campaignย
Marin's start to his debut Chelsea season was hindered by a hamstring injury, per PremierLeague.com, a problem which has plagued the German's career and threatens to take away his best asset: pace.ย
His early impressions forย Sevilla were positive, specifically in a 3-1 defeat toย Atletico Madrid.
His dribbling opened up space forย Diego Perotti, who received a layoff and proceeded to unleash a rocket-like shot pastย Atletico Madrid's Chelsea loanee, Thibaut Courtois.ย
Marin was a constant threat toย Atleti, jinking past right-back Juanfran , cutting in and forcingย Courtois into a good save.ย
In another play,ย Marin dragged severalย Atleti players out of position and played inย Sevilla right wingerย Vitolo, who muffed his shot.
Marin was so confident that he wanted to replicate Perotti's goal by taking aย shot from miles out, which again was denied byย Courtois.ย
Marin finished the game with an assist,ย was second in dribbles (four; one behind Perotti) and had the most shots on target forย Sevilla (two).ย
After his first four combined La Liga and UEFA Europa League games for Sevilla,ย Marin had three assists (one vs.ย Atleti, two vs. Estoril).
In theย Europa League game againstย Estoril,ย Marin completed eight of 11 dribbles, per Squawka, drawing comparisons toย Barcelona deep-lying forward Lionel Messi.
"People love me in Spain," Marin said, perย Hannah Duncan at the Metro. "I've already been likened to [Lionel] Messi."
Then came anotherย hamstring injury, per Tom Conn at InsideSpanishFootball.com, which meantย Marin was back to square one.ย
Since then, he has been trying to recover his early form forย Sevilla.ย
Minus the odd moment of brilliance like aย pin-point cross toย Sevilla central midfielderย Ivan Rakitic, who scored a stoppage-time winner in a 2-1 victory overย Almeria,ย Marin's form has been erratic (no goals, one assists in his last 10 La Liga/Europa League games).ย
Ifย Marin had been healthy every game forย Sevilla, he may have been a breakout La Liga star considering his elite early form.ย
What Chelsea Should Do Withย Marinย
Marin's transfer value has not increasedย exponentiallyย as his season has been hamstrung.ย
Chelsea should roll the dice and loan Marin out next seasonย hoping he stays fully fit.ย
The end game for Chelsea is to find a suitor willing to put up substantial money forย Marin, a laย Wolfsburg spending โฌ20ย [ยฃ16.7] million onย Kevin De Bruyne, per the Guardian.ย
Statistics viaย WhoScored
