Marcelo: The Successful Failure?

 Marcelo: The Successful Failure?

By Stephen Kountourou

Throughout Olympiakos 97 year history, the club has always been able to attract some of the biggest names in world football. While they have arrived in Piraeus, generally at the tail end of their careers, it has still created significant national and international attention.

Examples like Rivaldo, Giovanni, Saviola, Cambiasso and even current players like Mathieu Valbuena and James Rodriguez have all passed through Thrylos after having experienced careers at the very top of the beautiful game.

 

Even with the recent signing of Rodriguez, the biggest of the last decade was undoubtedly the signing of Brazilian and former Real Madrid legend Marcelo. Unfortunately, six months later the 34-year-old and the club mutually agreed to terminate his year-long contract with Marcelo becoming a free agent. But the question remains, why did it not work out for the former Champions League winner in Piraeus?

In a sense, there are aspects of the transfer that did work. Arriving on deadline day, Marcelo signing for Olympiakos not only draw national news but received attention all over the world and was heralded as one of the biggest signings in Greek football history.

This gave Olympiakos the kind of attention that they had never really received in the digital age and on social media from the biggest and most major media outlets. Shirt sales reportedly increased exponentially for the club with such a huge world star joining with Marcelo’s name on the back of an Olympiakos shirt being understandably in huge demand. So commercially it was a clever move for Thrylos.

However, nobody can deny that the positives of Marcelo's joining ended from that point. The former Brazilian international arrived in Piraeus unfit and as time went on it became evident that he was struggling to be ready to help Olympiakos compete on all fronts. He did manage to make a handful of appearances before the World Cup break but they were mostly off the bench. 

Once the midseason break arrived, it was hoped that returning manager Michel would not only whip Olympiakos back into shape but Marcelo as well. At first, there seemed to be an improvement. The Brazilian left-back had an incredible performance against Atromitos in the Greek Cup by scoring a brace with both goals being sensational.

Even with that glimmer of hope, there were still issues stylistically when Marcelo played. Unlike the more defensive-minded Oleg Reabciuk, Marcelo's attacking threat was clearly his greatest strength. But this would leave Olympiakos vulnerable at the back and to teams counter-attacking the space left by the 34-year-old, something that was evident in both legs of the Cup tie with Atromitos.

For Marcelo to have that freedom Michel would have to sacrifice the style he wanted Olympiakos to play to supplement that and place Samassékou in midfield to cover the space left by Marcelo. But this in turn would leave more gaps in the team.

Michel seemed to choose balance over using a star signing despite the detriment to the overall team. This would result in Marcelo being continually left on the bench.

As the second half of the season progressed fans continued to question Marcelo's dedication to the club. The Brazilian notably unfollowed Olympiakos on social media and was pictured either back at his former club Real Madrid with former teammates or enjoying the sunshine in Greece.

Eventually, news started to break that Marcelo was in talks to mutually terminate his contract with Olympiakos. The next day it was made official. Both Marcelo and the club gave amicable parting messages to each other on social media and while we may never know what really happened behind the scenes the parting was respectful. 

With Marcelo now gone, Olympiakos can now move forward and fully focus on the end of the regular season and the playoffs. As for Marcelo, he has most recently been linked to joining either MLS side LA Galaxy or former teammate Ronaldo at Al Nasser. 

Marcelo’s time in Piraeus while not a success overall can still be remembered for the positives. The fanfare the celebration of the club signing one of football’s all-time greats and the flashes of brilliance that showed Olympiakos supporters what could have been if the move had fully worked out. 

@SteveKountourou

Hellas Football