Scouting Notebook: U-20 World Cup Star Marcus Thuram a Rare Kind of Player

Family connections within football are always intriguing—particularly so when it comes to sons carrying on their father's name in the sport, and especially so if the father is a former elite player.

A few months ago, hysteria swept across social media as Justin Kluivert, son of the legendary Patrick, made his Ajax debut aged 17. An intelligent, tricky winger, he's already pushing for a regular berth in the side and looks likely to rise quickly through football's ranks in the same way his father did.

Now there's another father-son link to get excited about: Marcus Thuram, son of 1998 FIFA World Cup winner Lillian, is impressing at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea. The 19-year-old has this past season begun featuring for Sochaux's first team, who are in Ligue 2.

Those expecting another towering, imposing figure will be quite satisfied—Thuram is exactly that—but there's a twist. Rather than pick up his father's old defensive trade, Marcus is a forward capable of playing off either flank or as the No. 9

In France's most recent game—a 4-0 victory over Vietnam—he scored and assisted as his side cruised to victory. In both matches played so far he's operated largely off the left flank, though he does occasionally swap wings with Ludovic Blas.

This makes Thuram something of an atypical player. You simply don't see many 6'2" wingers in football. A body shape such as this will generally be moved to either centre-back, holding midfielder or striker early on by a development coach, and while he is capable of operating up top—he has done so for France's under-19 selection—he played almost all of his football for Sochaux in 2016-17 as a winger.

The keys to success for Thuram are his surprising acceleration, eye-popping ability to change direction in spite of his high centre of gravity and his understanding of how to create chances from the flank. These three things make him effective in the position regardless of his size.

Credit: Eurosport

Big-bodied, strong and willing to shift his bulk around to protect the ball, Thuram's a wide target man of sorts. Both Sochaux (in 2016-17) and France (at the World Cup) have frequently looked to him for a long diagonal switch, knowing he can bully any full-back; he's an easy way to switch the point of attack.

You can either loft it up for him to win—he'll box his man out and bring it down cleanly—or play it in behind the full-back for him to run onto. Despite his size advantage, he seems to prefer the latter, as that allows him to stretch his legs and move into advanced positions at pace.

Once he's got the ball down, that's where the surprises begin. His feet are slick and quick; he can shift the ball out fast in order to continue the attack, and he's even capable of flummoxing defenders with stepovers, feints and turns. He can bulldoze past you or run rings around you.

Now comes the tricky part for any wide man: decision-making and, subsequently, production. His stat line of one goal and one assist from just shy of 1,000 Ligue 2 minutes last season isn't good enough, but it also doesn't tell the whole story.

Well aware of the fact his aerial crosses leave a lot to be desired, Thuram plays a pretty predictable game. He'll beat his marker on the outside with speed or trickery, then hurtle to the byline and start to creep toward goal. It's a move that stretches defences from angles they struggle to cope with—where if you're an inch out of place you can be made to pay—and a low, driven ball in from here can cause chaos.

He might not get credited with the appropriate assist, but when that ball is bundled home after a couple of nicks, you can be sure who created it. Thuram understands how to crack open defences from wide areas and plays to his strengths.

Credit: Eurosport

He is capable of deftness, too, though; his assist for Jean-Kevin Augustin's strike against Vietnam showed the more measured side to his passing. That said, he hasn't been able to pull so many of those off against better opponents in Ligue 2. 

There's every chance Thuram continues his career as a winger, and that makes him intriguing. He hasn't ever scored enough goals—be it for multiple French under-age teams or Sochaux—to be trusted to lead the line, and his heading skills are surprisingly lacking.

But 6'2" wide men are trump cards few can play—think Andriy Yarmolenko for Dynamo Kiev and Ukraine—and there will be some managers who value that option in attack. An average option at striker, but a borderline unique one from the flank.

France are romping their way through this U-20 World Cup, and if that continues, all of their players will be thrust into the spotlight. Ahead of the tournament, the likes of Amine Harit, Issa Diop, Alban Lafont, Lucas Tousart and Augustin were expected to impress and draw attention to themselves, but Thuram's thrown his name into the same ring with some brutally effective performances so far.

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