In the first half of the season, Marcus Thuram shot everything short and small in the jersey of Borussia Mönchengladbach. The reward was the World Cup ticket and rumors of a move to an absolute top club in the FC Bayern category. The fact that the Frenchman hasn’t scored a goal in a competitive game for three months could also be due to the ongoing speculation about his future.
Daniel Farke does not want to break the stick about Marcus Thuram. On the contrary, Borussia Mönchengladbach’s coach recently made a passionate plea for his retired goalscorer
“There are two options: Either you take him out and don’t let him get into his rhythm at all. Or you say: Okay, you give him these one or two weeks that he might just need to get into a top phase to come,” said Farke.
He is “a coach who is currently strengthening Marcus and doesn’t quibble too much because I simply believe that we need him in top form for the entire second half of the season.” In any case, Thuram is “the best striker in the Bundesliga, he played an outstanding series for us,” said Farke.
Gladbach: Marcus Thuram in the form hole
The fact that the Gladbach trainer feels compelled to make such statements at all is due to Thuram’s form hole.
The 25-year-old has been waiting for a competitive goal for more than three months now. He did the last in a 4-2 win against Borussia Dortmund on November 8th.
A few days later, Thuram received the invitation for France’s World Cup squad. At the finals in Qatar, he did a good job – even in the lost final against Argentina, when he came on before the break and later prepared one of superstar Kylian Mbappé’s three goals.
No goals, bad values
However, Thuram did not take World Cup momentum to Gladbach. In 2023 he has not been a real factor in Borussia’s game so far – not even apart from the lack of accuracy.
Statistics that are important for a striker, such as shots on goal per 90 minutes, the success rate for dribbling or the number of ball contacts in the penalty area, have fallen significantly compared to before the turn of the year.
After the disappointing 0-0 draw against FC Schalke 04 at the bottom last weekend, Farke said it was “not a good day”. The “Rheinische Post” found that Thuram was “by no means back in the form of the first part of the season”.
Why? This question is causing a lot of headaches in Gladbach these days. It was “perhaps not that easy for Thuram because he was injured a bit longer in preparation,” said Farke, referring to his protégé’s knee problems, which prevented him from playing in the Bundesliga restart against Bayer Leverkusen (2: 3). prevented.
FC Bayern and Co. in the back of your mind?
However, the thesis that the discussions about Thuram’s open future also have a negative effect on his performances does not seem far-fetched either.
The fact is: his contract in Gladbach expires in the summer. Thuram is an interesting player for many clubs on a free transfer despite his current poor form.
Things are likely to be correspondingly restless behind the scenes for him at the moment, even if sporting director Roland Virkus recently said several times that there were no specific inquiries for Thuram, at least in the winter change window.
Is Thuram possibly tensing up in an effort to take the next step in his career? In any case, his ideas are extremely ambitious. Inter Milan, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and FC Bayern are his “desired clubs”, reported “Bild” at the end of December.
Although the affection, at least in the case of the German record champions, should not exactly be met with love, in Munich Thuram is reportedly not an issue (anymore). But currently it seems as if the Noch-Gladbacher is not free enough in his head to call up top performances.
No real alternatives for Gladbach in sight
Gladbach currently does not have any real options for the central storm next to Thuram.
Lars Stindl and Alassane Pléa are completely different types of players. The experiment with the young Nathan Ngoumou went pretty badly against Leverkusen.
None of the trio brings Thuram’s power and dynamics with them.
Farke’s loyalty to the Nibelungen to the problem child is therefore also to a certain extent without alternative. He hopes that Thuram will repay the trust placed in him “in the medium and long term”, said Farke.
Tobias Knoop