This is taken from the GFFN 100, our leading 150-page FREE publication ranking the best 100 players in France, see the full list and read every profile right here.
While the trauma of Neymar may have garnered the headlines for Brazil in the recently concluded World Cup, it’s important we spare a thought for his teammate for club and country, Marquinhos. Even Kylian Mbappé, the pair’s teammate with PSG was quick to remark that his captain “doesn’t deserve this.”
“This,” of course, is the abuse that the defender has taken after an unfortunate own goal allowed Croatia to level the two teams’ quarter-final before his missed penalty sealed defeat. Mbappé is right, of course, Marquinhos has been a loyal servant for club and country for nearly a decade, winning every trophy possible save the World Cup and Champions League. His goal against Atalanta in the Champions League quarter-finals remains legendary in the club’s history, and he was deservedly part of the team of the tournament.
And yet something seems different this season. Maybe it’s the constant churn of managers and tactical approaches catching up to him, or maybe it’s the number of matches he’s played across regularly making deep runs in knockout competitions and the attendant travel to play for his country, or perhaps he’s felt the psychological fatigue that’s gripped much of the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Marquinhos seems just a bit off the boil this season.
He’s making fewer tackles, winning fewer headers, scoring less frequently, and breaking up play less frequently. Some of this may have to do with PSG’s tactics, as a more narrow and compact approach under Christophe Galtier has him less exposed at the back, but then the previous coach Thomas Tuchel was hardly Zdeněk Zeman when it came to striking a balance between defence and attack.
It could just be a momentary dip in form, but questions have remained long enough that one has to wonder whether, indeed, the cumulative effect of his having played so many matches hasn’t aged him prematurely. Even as he’s never been a player reliant on his pace, he is quicker than most defenders, and even has had some success playing in defensive midfield and on the right, and a slight slip in terms of his pace may not be enough to drop him out of the starting line-up for Brazil or PSG, but it is enough to be one of those fine margins that makes him no longer one of the very best in the game.
Eric Devin | GFFN
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