FanView: Why Unsung Hero Marcelo Is More Important to Real Madrid Than Many Think
Watching a player dribble at full speed is a sight to behold. It's one of the reasons we love watching the game of football and why the most revered players on the planet are the technical ones, and as result often the South American ones.
There is much to admire about a player that combines the qualities of tireless effort, imagination, creativity and sheer enjoyment for the sport.
In modern day football, tactically more than ever attacking full-backs can be key to a team's set-up. In previous years, the defenders' job was to protect the goal at all costs, putting their bodies on the line to stop the opposition and keep a clean sheet.
Now the game is based on passing and movement; who can score the most with defending now a dying art.
Currently, Real Madrid are the driving force in world football, the current domestic champions and the first ever back-to-back winners of the revamped Champions League. They are the unstoppable force and the immovable object, who are sweeping all before them in every competition.
This is in essence down to the work of Zinedine Zidane and huge stars like Cristiano Ronaldo. Nevertheless, one of the key components in the team and often one of the first names on the team sheet rarely gets the plaudits he deserves.
Marcelo arrived to the sunny Spanish capital in 2007 and over his ten years at the Santiago Bernabéu has had his difficulties like all professionals. Seen as the natural heir to Roberto Carlos because of his nationality and ability on the ball, the comparisons were natural. To begin with, he was often overlooked and ill-used under various managers for more defensive-minded individuals like Gabriel Heinze .
Thank you @playerstribune for the time and letting me tell my story! It’s been a great journey! playerstribu.ne/MarceloM12
His patience to break into the first team and loyalty to the cause has made him a favourite among the loyal Madridistas. His talent and love for the game meant he was adored by his teammates in the dressing room and his unusual ability to cut through the defence instead of around it like a typical left-back has made him the greatest in the world today.
When the diminutive Samba star arrived as a 19-year-old, he came with promise and hope that he could be a Real Madrid great like his idol Carlos. Ten years later, he has won the most games ever out of any foreign player at the club, collected 17 trophies and is proving each day why his persistence paid off.
