Talent Spotting: Marco Reus (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

Borussia Mönchengladbach wasn’t the club you’d go to to watch some attractive attacking football last season. The team was fighting relegation and their coach Hans Meyer was willing to bring back from the dead whatever it took – sweepers, man marking etc. – to grind out the necessary results. What little joga bonito was left was provided by Gladbach’s two talented midfielders Marko Marin and Alexander Baumjohann. Both earned themselves a move to a bigger club for their efforts in the summer. Brought in to replace them were the experienced and underrated Juan Arango and Marco Reus, a talented young midfielder from second division side Ahlen. Reus immediately drew comparisons with his namesake. The two don’t just share the same first name, hairstyles and facial features, but are also technically adept midfielders. The similarities end there though as far as I’m concerned. Marin is the flashier player, who combines his technical trickery with defensive deficiencies. Reus on the other hand is much more robust in defense and pacy going forward. His season has been in sync with the fortunes and misfortunes of his team so far. He started brightly and scored his first Bundesliga goal in style against Mainz (see video above), followed by a temporary slump accompanied by a series of defeats for Mönchengladbach, before seriously picking up steam in the last couple of games – setting up one and scoring two goals. He’ll join the German U21 next time they meet, after already featuring in two friendlies earlier in the season.

Looks like Gladbach have another top prospect in their ranks.

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Category: Bundesliga