Marcus Thuram – Borussia Monchengladbach’s all-round striking prodigy
Marcus Thuram was born in Parma as his father Lillian was playing for the side at the time as French attacker has quickly paved his own path. An extrovert with a humble personality, he is known around Borussia Monchengladbach for his choices of interesting underwear as well as the infectious smile and attitude he brings to his teammates. Borussia Monchengladbach Director, Max Eberl watched Thuram an astounding 30 times from 2015 before acquiring the Frenchman last year for a steal of €9 million to €12 million. By January last year, Thuram had scored 7 of Guingamp’s 16 goals standing out on a team that would ultimately face relegation. His performances for Borussia Monchengladbach have been exemplary as he could earn a place in Didier Deschamps’ Euro 2020 squad.
Thuram was offered a place at Clairefontaine at 13-years-old but his father refused to allow him to go as he believed he was too young. Thuram joined the prestigious academy the next year as his father has guided him in his career since he was a teenager. As a youngster while his father was playing with Juventus, Marcus was introduced to Mino Raiola as the youngster once nearly ran over the agent with his car. The youngster now has Raiola as one of his most trusted advisors with his dad as Lillian flew to Germany to meet Eberl and look at their facilities before his dad signed with the club.
Christopher Nkunku has blazed a trail in the Bundesliga this season while Moussa Diaby begins to become an integral piece for Bayer Leverkusen as Ligue 1 and France has become a hotbed of high-level talent since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Borussia Dortmund and Ousmane Dembele’s fantastic one and only season at the same club. Eberl has shopped in France with great success as Mikael Cuisance and Alssane Plea are two other French players that have shone since moving to Borussia Monchengladbach, adding industry and imagination to the German side.
Thuram joined a Monchengladbach side that had lost Thorgan Hazard as he proved a different type of attacker, meshing well with fellow Frenchman, Plea at a such a quick pace. The reason that Thuram and Plea adapted so well to eachother is the same reason that the Frenchman thrived with Lars Stindl as Plea prefers to move out wide, drop deep and combine with teammates giving his strike partner better access to the nine space. Thuram is a player that should not be constrained to the wings despite his quick feet in 1v1s, pace on the break and physicality as he is a modern multi-faceted striker. The 22-year-old Frenchman has the ability to take down long balls, hold possession for layoffs while having the vision and nifty footwork to work reverse passes for runners in the channels.
The young Frenchman’s 1v1 routine looks simplistic but his mastery allows him to beat fullbacks and play low crosses into the box for Plea. He just rolls the ball in between his feet to stand his marker up, patiently waits for his marker to outstretch his leg before flicking the ball past the player, leaving them in a heap on the ground to drive into the box and work a low cross or shot. Leaving him 1v1 with his fullback proves to be torture for the defender as Thuram is akin to a matador teasing a bull and consistently getting out of danger just when the bull thinks it has him cornered. He utilised the manoeuvre in the second minute of a 5-1 hammering of Augsburg as he skipped past his marker on the break to lay a low cross for Denis Zakaria to tap in.
Monchengladbach fans must be confident that he will prevail from every 1v1 situation at this point as he utilises this simple conventional dribbling manoeuvre with such great success, he leaves defenders floundering and is able to create opportunities for his teammates. He is not only good at creating low crossing opportunities but finishing them as well. His movement and instinct in the box have the potential to be on par with some of the leading striker’s in Europe as the runs he makes from the top of the box to the centre of the six-yard box or back-post are exquisite. He has been at the right place at the right time on many occasions to prod the ball home while his ability to make a movement away from his marker at the perfect time allows him to find a pocket of space in congested boxes to finish.
As the season has progressed, Thuram has found himself holding the nine space more often and staying in a central position for a larger share of games. His ability to take the ball on his chest and his feet allows him to control long balls or direct line breaking passes giving him an advantage over Monchengladbach’s other striker’s in hold-up play. He will consistently have Plea dovetailing him as the French duo have formed a formidable partnership as Thuram will lay off to Plea while creating space for him to drive into or work more elaborate flick-ons for the former Nice attacker to run in behind. Even when hemmed into 3v1 situations in between the lines, Thuram will use his physicality and ingenuity to work passes into the wide areas or the teammate nearest to him as he adds many dimensions to The Foals’ attack.
Thuram is one of a meagre number of strikers who has a blend of physicality and pace to not only threaten defenders by dropping deep but also possessing the ability to threaten defenders by making timed runs in behind. Thuram can drag defenders into the wide channels as he also works well-timed movements where he drops into the pockets to receive possession before bursting in behind to receive a through ball or a timed cross to the back-post. When he drops deep, his marker’s feet are set to defend the space in front of him making the defender ill-prepared for Thuram’s arrowed runs in behind as the defender will always be a yard slower.
Defensively, Thuram is brilliant as a two-way player who can win possession in the pressing phase or the low block phase while immediately helping his team break on the counter-attack. His long legs allow him to attack an opposition player’s blind-side, stretch and prod possession into his control to turn and establish a counter. The 22-year-old attacker can also defend from the wide areas or the central areas he is astute pressing the ball, understanding opposition passing patterns to make crucial interceptions and lead his team on the counter.
It is also intriguing to look at Thuram’s French National Team prospects as it is undeniable that he is a Didier Deschamps player. With Ousmane Dembele injured and Olivier Giroud recently being reintroduced at Chelsea, Thuram will make the Les Bleus’ Head Coach’s choice for the European Championships that much harder. Thuram would be able to link-up with Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann to great effect, holding the nine space for long balls and playing passes for the duo in the channels while also moving into the wide areas and allowing the duo to attack the central spaces.
Thuram is also a strong conduit for counter-attacks as he can make bursts into the opposition half with mazy dribbles or beating his man and driving into acres of space. He could add another dimension to the French National Team as him linking up with their current set of attackers would be a prospect to watch in the summer. Deschamps is already interested in the Borussia Monchengladbach player, having played with his father, as the 22-year-old has piqued his interest.
"He is developing well, his club is at the top in Germany," Deschamps told reporters in France in quotes accrued from Goal. "That's very interesting. He plays in various positions, often as the second centre forward. He's definitely one of the players we're following."
Thuram is an U19 European Championship winner and has played for the French U21s as he fits with Deschamps’ criteria of a youngster paying his dues with the youth teams before a callup to the senior side. He has the potential to develop into a €100 million player with his multi-faceted abilities as a striker and the control that he can have on games. Eberl managed to acquire him for a steal and could definitely make a Dembele-like profit on the Frenchman as Marco Rose and his coaching staff have done a fantastic job in developing him. He has carved a much different legacy from his father’s as an outstanding attacker who brings zeal to his team with his much-loved celebration of raising his or his teammates’ shirt to the crowd with the corner flag or his other exploits on the pitch.
