Analyze Playing Style Of Marcus Thuram
This player analysis session will discuss in more depth the Inter Milan player who plays as Center Forward, Marcus Thuram. Get to know Thuram a bit, he is the son of the legendary player for the French national team and also Juventus FC & Barcelona, namely Lilian Thuram. Marcus Thuram was born in Parma, Italy on August 6, 1997. He started his career at the French club FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, where the club played in the lower caste of the French league. As the son of a football legend, Marcus Thuram has an interesting playing style as a striker. There are several reasons why Marcus Thuram is believed to be the future striker for Inter Milan and the French national team. Want to know more details? Check out the analysis in this article!
Typical Deep-Lying Forward Striker
Marcus Thuram has a spartan playing style and he is not lazy as a striker. Inter Milan, coached by Simone Inzaghi, implemented a 3–5–2 formation which made Marcus Thuram partner in the striker area with Lautaro Martinez. You can see in picture 1 above that Marcus Thuram went down far to pick up the ball into the half-field area. In the image above, Thuram is seen asking for and receiving a pass from Denzel Dumfries. His mobile and flexible movements often attract the attention of opponents to man-mark him, as a result, other players have empty spaces to fill and utilize these empty spaces to score goals. It can also be seen in the image displayed above that the Ac Milan players numbered 1 and 2 are not guarding the area tightly in the midfield.
The strength to dribble the ball, protect the ball, and be able to duel one-on-one past opposing defenders are some of the advantages he has to support himself as a complete attacker. Marcus Thuram has this because when he started his career as a professional footballer, he played more as a winger. However, in recent years he has been used more often as a striker who can also be paired with his partner in the striker area. You can see, the continuation from image 1 to image 2. Thuram took the ball he received from the middle of the field and continued to sweep to the opponent’s right side. This case made the AC. Milan defenders lose focus and only focus on Thuram’s movements. This also caused Federico Dimarco to get the pass because the area was empty without any guard from the opponent.
This is also what can be seen in the third picture. Di Marco, who escaped from the guard of the AC. Milan’s defender was certainly able to easily send a pass to Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who escaped the control of the defenders. It can be further analyzed that the AC.Milan defense disorganization. Milan is often only focused on movement with the ball and often forgets that movement without the ball is just as dangerous.
As explained above, Marcus Thuram is a typical striker who doesn’t just wait to receive a pass. But also diligently collecting the ball and then doing build-up play. In the fourth picture above, Thuram forms a triangle system in his build-up play. In practice, this can be key for other players to identify space and allow opposing players to closely mark Thuram. Thuram’s multifunctional skills allow him to build attacks from various lines. This is supported by his speed and physical strength.
Identify Good Spaces
Marcus Thuram’s playing style and movements can also be seen in this counter-attack scheme. As seen in picture 5, Inter Milan made a quick counterattack transition through Lautaro Martinez. Look, the AC players. Milan were not quick enough to close the gap when the counterattack occurred. They give the impression that they are just watching and are late in defending.
A quick transition ball was then given to Dumfries. A 2 on 2 position occurs. As seen in Figure 6, 2 AC defenders. Milan, namely Theo and Thiaw, were late in tracking back. Can be analyzed further, there is a gap that allows Dumfries to continue forward and run as well as Thuram. AC. Milan was late in tracking back because they implemented a high defensive line when the team was behind. This causes gaps in their defense line which can be exploited by making quick transitions.
Then, after escaping from the guard of 2 AC Milan defenders, Dumfries gave the final pass to Thuram. As seen in the 7th picture above, Thuram uses his shrewdness as a player who previously played as a winger in this situation. Thuram cuts inside and acts as an inverted winger. He bent his movement to get inside and outwit Thiaw then plessed the ball into the corner goal of AC Milan.