My previous Marco & Remo Diaries (Part I and Part II) introduced two fledging Regens I received in the 2016 Youth Intake. We've already seen them tutored by Senior Players and become U18 Invincible 2016/17 Double Winners. Now 3 years later: the 2017/18 & partly complete 2018/19 season have been even better for Marco and Remo...
Domestic Dominance
Both Marco and Remo played a critical part in GCZ's Double winning success of 2017/18. Marco, with his freakishly good mentals, was able to adapt to the rigours of First Team football with relative ease and made a respectful 7 starts (9 subs) in the league with 2 cameo sub appearances in the Champions League Group Stages. He didn't look out of place and from 2018/19 I decided to make him my Vice Captain (learning under the tutelage of new Captain Peter Niemeyer)...if you're good enough you're old enough.
He has taken the responsibility with both hands and has such an influence on games, despite being a teenager. His stand-out performance as a Box To Box midfielder came in a 1-0 win against Young Boys...completing 82 passes in 90 attempts.
Those with good attention to detail will also notice that Marco Simon is now representing Switzerland's National Team and not Germany (where he represented the Die Mannschaft's U21s on 5 occasions). There's every chance that Marco Simon can become a regular International going forward...
Remo Mahrer on the other hand had to wait a bit longer for his First Team breakthrough, with just 3 league starts (+1 as sub), all in the final few weeks of the 2017/18 season. His most important contribution was the equalising goal in a 2-1 over St. Gallen on the final day of the season. Losing wasn't an option that day and Remo grabbed the game by the jugular with this poacher's effort:
The 2018/19 season has seen Remo feature in the majority of GCZ's matches to date (7 starts and 4 sub appearances to be precise). My focussed individual training on Composure (a key stat in attackers) is now paying dividends, as over the course of 2 years he has almost doubled in this stat.
The benefits of being in and around the 1st team squad are all to see. Remo joined the group around Feb/March 2018 and hasn't looked back...
His Professionalism is a huge factor in his development (as I explained previously here). A Professional attitude will mean Remo will train harder than most young players. Like Marco, Remo is now considered a 'Wonderkid' :
Predictions
Back in December (and in Feb 2016 of my save), I predicted a few things for each player. Now 3 years in, let's see how we're doing:
Marco Simon's ultimate ambition?
Marco Simon
5 Years: GCZ captain at the age of 21?
Marco Simon already captains GCZ when Peter Niemeyer is not in the first XI. It's only a matter of time before Niemeyer retires and Marco is asked to step up to full Captaincy. Watch this space...
10 Years: A Champions League winning captain?
Let's hope. His Champions League pedigree is already showing with some solid performances against AC Milan away and Zenit at home. We just have to hope the rest of the team can play with the same resilience...if they do, GCZ have a chance of winning the Ultimate Club Competition!
15 Years: Swiss captain with over 60 International caps?
With such great Determination and Leadership stats, there's every chance Marco can push on and become Captain of the Swiss Team. He has done the hard part by becoming an International at 19 years of age. His GCZ experiences will help him...
Remo needs to add goals to his game
Remo Mahrer
5 Years: Score a Champions League hat-trick before the age of 21 years old? (Like Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale before him)
In the next two years, Remo will certainly get more chances to flourish in the striking positions. The only limiting factor for him achieving the above is probably his manager, me. So far, Remo has been used an a Support Striker or an Attacking Midfielder...never as the most advanced forward. This will damage his chances at scoring a CL hat-trick before 21.
10 Years: Win the European Golden Shoe?
Like the above, Remo's goals at Domestic level will depend on his playing position at GCZ. I'll work further to improve his Composure attribute and who knows what can happen.
15 Years: Top scorer at a Major International Championship?
Remo has a respectable 5 goals in 15 U21 appearances for Switzerland. Quite impressive considering he is playing against some defenders who are 2-3 years older than him. There's every chance that Remo could creep into the Euro 2020 squad unnoticed and shock International football...
This has quite clearly been the breakthrough year and the potential that these two possess amazes me. Keep an eye on their development via my Twitter account or via the next Marco & Remo diary. Once again, thanks for reading.
FMG