Often, Alexis Sanchez throws glares at Cengiz Under. A born dribbler, the Turk often tends to play all the balls for him, favoring the strike or the extra hook over the pass, to the despair of the Chilean striker, frustrated by these bad choices.
Last Sunday, however, against Troyes, Under drilled, dribbled and lifted his head. Seeing neither Sanchez nor anyone at the far post, he continued his action and scored with a nice shot from the left the second goal of Marseille’s victory (3-1).
Expected for a long time, this goal comes a little to embellish statistics which remain dull, with three goals, including a penalty, and four assists in nearly 40 games this season with OM. For his defense, the former Roma player has really changed his role, going from a role of pure overflow player to that of a supporting striker, in the axis, just under the center forward.
Not the profile
At the beginning of March, against Rennes, we still found the time for a moment before the Under, launched in a sprint along the sideline on the right, for a perfect decisive pass towards Kolasinac and a goal from rascals after a quickly played free kick.
The Turk had then become a winger again, his natural position, one that does not exist in the Tudor system, where the sides are reserved for the two pistons and the climbs of the central defenders.
This season, Under has also sometimes been aligned with the right piston, which forces him to do a lot of defensive and placement work. But he has therefore mainly settled in the line of two of the Marseille 3-4-2-1, where he is now Tudor’s first choice, ahead of Ruslan Malinovskyi or Mattéo Guendouzi.
Last summer, however, the former Roma and Leicester player did not have the profile of a starter, to the point that the club’s management offered him to Atalanta Bergamo as part of their proposal. for Malinovskyi, finally arrived this winter only.
Performing with Jorge Sampaoli, Under was then one of the few players put in difficulty by the arrival of Tudor, with a very different style. Some did not know or could adapt – Gerson left, Payet disappeared – but Under managed to do so.
“New Cengiz”
Even if it took him time to integrate Tudor’s demands, as a piston or as an axial offensive player, the Turk never gave up and his coach located the tipping point at the winter break, during the Global in Qatar.
“Something was unlocked during the preparation,” said Tudor after a Coupe de France match won at the start of January against fans from Hyères. “Cengiz played this game like a Champions League final. This is the right approach. He understood, he wants to play and he wants to stay a starter. It shows and I like it. He has a perfect attitude, he must continue like this, ”he added.
In fact, since these words, Under has hardly left the starting 11, with 15 starts in 16 games played and only one absence due to suspension. “I had some problems getting used to what was being asked of me. But today I feel very good, for his part confirmed the player at the end of January. I run more, I work more, I am more present. For me everything is going well. I think I’m a new Cengiz. »
And in all likelihood, the “new Cengiz” will still start Sunday in Lyon.
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