Young Brazilian yet to come into his own as a fullback
When he joined Real Madrid from Fluminense for €6m during the winter transfer window in the 2006-2007 season, Marcelo was touted as the next Roberto Carlos. So far, he's been nothing of the sort.
He has invariably been left out of the side in favour of Gabi Heinze for really big games, the received wisdom being that he offers a lot going forward as a quick, skilful attacking full-back, but was weak at the back.
After the 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-2009 season (so far), the inevitable conclusion is that such a theory is half-right: Marcelo can’t defend, but he’s not even that effective going forward either. At least not in the Madrid side: playing for Brazil, it’s a different story. But he's still young, and he certainly has plenty of room for improvement.