If you do not get chills running down your spine whenever watching this player play, then football might not be the sport for you. This man right here epitomizes the term “Rolls Royce” with his passing ability, football intelligence and clean defending. Yes, soccermanagerites, in today’s discussion, we’ll be talking about the 94 rated, P.S.G captain, and the 76 times capped Brazilian international, Marquinhos. 🕺
PLAYER BIO
Similar to David Alaba, Marquinhos is considered short for the average D(C), but he also has an amazing football brain that allows him to basically outsmart almost every attacking player within the game. He is also an exceptional athlete who has the explosiveness required to match up against both quick or strong Forwards. I personally believe that he should be a both footed player since he is quite comfortable with the ball at either foot
BEST ATTRIBUTES WITHIN SM23
Here is a look at Marquinhos’ best attributes within SM23. Now, I understand that he may not be considered a world class out and out defender by many, but that ’85’ tackling and ’85’ positioning is beyond shambolic. Marquinhos‘ defensive game is absolute quality in my opinion, and those two should be higher. Additionally, how on earth is his aerial ability at only ’76’???? I could not believe my eyes when I saw this as Marquinhos is one the best players in the air, man. I completely understand Alaba’s ability being at 76 since he has only recently started playing at D(C) like 4-5 years ago, but Marquinhos has always been a D(C) who can play in various positions hence the reason why he scores so many headed goals, as well as always being in positions to clear any crosses heading into the box. Unfortunately, this is one of those situations where I feel his height was a disadvantage…
BEST ROLES
Arguably the most intelligent CenterBack in the world, Marquinhos trumps Alaba when it comes to his effectiveness when playing in various roles in my opinion (although it is quite close, to be honest). Here we have him operating in his perffered role as a ‘BPD’ playing in a back 4 as the RCB. Usually, BPDs will want to play as the LCB, but one of the best balls in Marquinhos’ locker is that diagonal crossfield ball from right to left. Dont get it twisted though, as he has the ability to also comfortably play as the LCB and produce 10/10 performances, but he’s just different gravy whenever he plays off the right; Marquinhos can also operate as a ‘General Defender’ where he will aim to perform multiple different roles throughout a match based on the teammates he has beside himWhen it comes to playing Correa in a back 3, he is also one of the best in the heart of that defence. If you’ve been watching football for more than a decade, you will remember Antonio Conte playing David Luiz in the centre of his ‘3-5-2’ formation back when he won the league with Chelsea in the 2016/17 season. In that season, David Luiz made it into the team of the season which was primarily due to his amazing ability on the ball (now, just take out Luiz and put in Marquinhos plus his defensive brilliance and you’ll understand how amazing he would’ve been if playing in that set up); If you choose to play Correa in one of the wide D(C) positions then it is best advised to use him as your ‘General Defender’ since this will allow him to use his mobility to get more involved in the attack, performing underlaps from his RCB positions (remember he used to play as a D(R) ), as well as creating overloads within the midfield.
HOW TO BEST USE HIM
When it comes to where Marquinhos should play within your team, there are only 2 positions that will get the absolute best out of him. The first one is his primary position and role where he plays as the RCB given the role of a ‘Ball Playing Defender’ The second is in the heart of a back 3, also playing as a BPD
WHO ARE THE BEST TEAMATES?
Marquinhos is one of those players who thrives no matter where he plays, so he tends to perform well in defense but still needs a particular set of players next to him in order to truly get the best out of his game. Here are the types of players whom you should consider as his teammates:
The most ideal set up to truly get the absolute best from Correa….. Look, he’s so good on the ball that you do not need a ‘Deep-lying Playmaker’ within your team. He WILL find that difficult pass from those deep positions only if you have that all too important ‘Ball Winning Midfielder’ who will cover for Correa’s attacking runs, as well as keeping it simple on the ball in order for Correa to shine. When it comes to his D(C) partner, he also should be limited on the ball with more of an emphasis on defence first. Both fullbacks should be attack minded ‘Wingbacks’ who will thrive on those delicious crossfield balls which have the potential of completely taking half of your opposition’s players out of the game.
Since Marquinhos is such a baller, he can comfortably play anywhere across the back 3 without really having an impact on his performances:
When it comes to getting the most volume out of Marquinhos in possession, playing him here will do that (and then some). His Centre Back partners are not necessarily important here, but you will absolutely require a ‘BWM’ and ‘WB’s’ to grant him the necessary tools to get him purring (again, let me repeat, Marquinhos is one of those players who is so good that you’ll make sacrifices for him even if he’s a D(C) ) If you already have a D(C) you’re considering playing at the heart of the back 3 (for reasons like favoritism or a lack of mobility), then playing Marquinhos as the RCB or LCB will mean that the lad at the heart will need to be a ‘BPD’ which will allow Marquinhos to get more involved in the attack from his wider position. You still always need to have ‘Wingbacks’ in the wide areas since when Correa gets the chance to spray it, he won’t hesitate!
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
I told you this guy can play! Here’s the biggest difference between Marquinhos and VVD (other than height): VVD will never be able to play anywhere other than in the centre of a defence. As good as VVD is with his long passes (and he’s arguably better than Marquinhos), he does not have the sauce that Marquinhos has to be able to play as both a DM(C), as well as a D(R). We will only be discussing how he will get on when playing as the DM(C) in this blog. Since he is no longer able to play in this position on SMW (🤦♂️), you will have to play him as a ‘BWM’ with the caveat of being a very good one when he has possession of the ball (trust me, he won’t give it away!). He will need to have a player in the midfield who can take the responsibility of controlling the tempo of a match, while he will also need to have 2 ‘BPD’s behind him which will allow Marquinhos to get back into more defensive positions since he will be playing with the yellow asterisk next to his name and won’t be at his absolute best because of how soccermanager works, but you will still get a decent performance out of him regardless
Undoubtedly one of the most underappreciated players within football, Marquinhos is a sure thing when it comes to multiple World Class performances game after game. But he is of course not perfect and might make a mistake here or there but these are a very rare occurrence and is a sure fire reason to choose him as your main man in the back..
And with that, we’re unto the Fullback positions starring tomorrow, soccermanagerite. It may seem as if there are a scarcity of top D(C)’s in today’s game, but with the likes of Ruben Dias, Mattias De ligt and Jules Kounde performing well over the 22/23 season, it’s only a matter of time until we see some more Centre Backs entering into the 94+ territory.
Unto tomorrow’s episode! We’ll be heading to England to check out what is arguably one of the most difficult players to get the best out of in today’s game. A challenge I am looking forward to navigating… 😉
The Soccermanager Experience 