Marco Rojas - The retirement of the Kiwi Messi

It's pretty obvious why Marco is stuck in football limbo. While technically one of the best players to ever wear the AWs strip he is being asked to play 10 for his club and country when he doesn't have the strength or experience/tactical appreciation to play the position. IMO he still plays like a young winger who is told to take his man on at every ocassion. 

Case in point was against Oman. He lost the ball in possession countless times and often dribbled the ball into very isolated areas. I wouldn't play him at 10 again for the AWs. Wee Mac has to play there. 

Personally he comes across as smart enough that if a half decent coach had him he could do well.

Just think about Kosta under Muscat. 3 years ago Kosta was very selfish and, even at the Roar, was very one dimensional. Now he has a great pass, makes good runs and his delivery is much better as he can read the runs of players better. 

I think if Marco played under a good coach you'd see the same. 

Naturally it helps playing in the best side in the comp (which could explain why Rojas looked so good at victory) but you look at the coaching Rojas has had. Ange is a fantastic coach who undoubtedly got the best out of him. I doubt he is actually getting or had got any decent coaching in Germany or Europe playing in the reserves and at Thun. Could explain why he hasn't progressed and if anything has regressed.

I think he needs to go play first team football at a club that really want him and under a coach who can transform him from a good young player to a real pro. 

Ernie is pretty good at doing that.

Who brought him to Melbourne?

And what do you actually base that on? Have a look and see how much first team game time he has actually got this year

check out soccerway. You can see all the games and minutes he has had. Fair to say he is not yet a true regular starter. 

My point was that in his AW performances- esp the last one which was mid season so he should be playing ok - he is playing like he did in his first year at the nix. That is - he doesn't appear to have matured as a player. He is still technically sublime but tactically naive. Gets isolated, gets caught in possession etc. he is still young, granted, hopefully it comes with experience but I think a coach like Ernie who is a true coach and not just a manager  would help him heaps. Am not suggesting he comes home though . 

But in the league itself Marco appeared in only eight of the 16 matches Thun played before he got injured (only six starts, two as a sub).

http://int.soccerway.com/players/marco-rojas/69360/

He has fallen out of favour as the season has progressed. Marco was relegated to the bench or not even in the squad for the five league matches before he got injured in training. He appeared in only four of Thun's last 12 matches before he got injured.

His last appearance was on October 28 in a Swiss Cup game after which he was benched for Thun's next three league games before getting injured in training a week and a half after returning from the All Whites game in Oman which was on November 12. He last appeared in a league game on October 3.

The six Europa League qualifiers he appeared in were all in July and August. 

Other than that he has appeared in three Swiss Cup matches, one in August, one in September, one in October.

The snow has thawed and the Swiss League about to recommence this weekend. Rojas had a bit of time in NZ, over Christmas break I see.

https://www.facebook.com/TheOfficialMarcoRojasPage

Followed by some friendlies against mostly Bundesliga 2 teams & a training camp with Thun in Turkey. Big few months for the Hamilton Hobbit, can he be a regular starter for Thun and then do Stuttgart bring him back from his now two season loan spell in Switzerland.

I note Stuttgart are now just one spot above the relegation slots in Bundesliga 1 - so if they go down maybe more likely Rojas is recalled as some of their regular starters leave?

Phoenix should get him back on loan. The kid needs to play, and probably bulk up a bit (relatively), before going back next season and giving his guts.

So NOT this.

Marco started this morning in a 2-1 win v AC Lugano - played 65 mins

good to see him back starting and winning

Stuttgard have been on a great run and are well out o relegation zone now- looks like they have won their last 5 in a row. 

Do all players out on loan report back to their parent club at season end to assess how their players are and see them in training etc or are we expecting Marco to be bought out of his contract? 

Played a full 90 v Young Boys in a 2-1 loss yesterday - listed as a defender assuming thats a typo

full 90 in 1 all draw with Basel this morning

that's great. Getting some regular football. 

Interestingly, fellow former Victory player was in the Basel starting line up - Adama Traore.

Got 80 min v Fc Zuerich in a 0-0 draw

72 mins in a 2-1 win over Grasshopper, who had Championship Manager 01-02 legend Kim Kallstrom playing for them

85 mins in a 2-1 loss to Sion

Came off the bench at 75 min mark, as Thun beat Zurich 4-0.

has Marco been carrying an injury over the last month. Doesn't seem to be getting regular starts these days.. 

Came off the bench and got the equaliser in a 2-2 draw with St Gallen

Also came off the bench and got an assist in the previous game.

Will be interesting to see what happens with him at the end of the season. Still one more year left on his Stuttgart contract but true loan deal with Thun ends this season. I wonder if they'll just extend the logan for another year or if Stuttgart will try to sell him or release him. I can't see him going back to Stuttgart now though

I don't think he is suited to either league or the formation being played (4-4-2) at Thun.   That being said Thun is still the far better option of the two as the Bundesliga is to physical for him. The better option I think would be a league like the Eredvise that is more technical as opposed to physical. La Liga would also be a decent option the lower table teams aren't as high quality as some of the other lower table teams in comparable competitions like the EPL or Bundesliga and he can speak Spanish well which would help a lot.

He played his best football with Victroy in a front 3 with overlapping wingers in a 4-3-3 set up which is also very popular among Spanish teams.

Seems like a pretty supportive squad going by that celebration.

Stuttgart (33 points) need to win this weekend away to Wolfsburg to have any chance of avoiding automatic relegation to Bundesliga 2.

http://au.soccerway.com/national/germany/bundeslig...

They also need Wynton's old club Werder Bremen (35 points) to lose. Bremen have the better goal difference, so a draw should be enough for Bremen.

Interesting that Mitch Langerack (ex Victory keeper) now in goal with Stuttgart (was no 2 keeper at Dortmund).

If they get relegated will Stuttgart bring Rojas back from Suisse?

 Stuttgart are relegated.They lost 3-1 to Wolfsburg and Bremen won 1-0.

In his favour are that any remaining decent players will probably leave to play with clubs in the 1.Bundesliga, they will have a new manager and that the club has no money to sign decent players.

If they simply don't rate him, then they might want to sell him to Thun or another club while he's still under contract even if they don't get so much money, just to help balance the books...

Re some comments about his strength on here.

I thought the move to the Bundesliga was an attempt to 'toughen up' or adapt his skills to a physically more demanding league?

Though again he had one weak season at Melbourne where his position wasn't best suited to his play. 

Wouldn't mind seeing him Stuttgart- perhaps the Melbourne/Australasian connection will help him. Quite often on field success is how well a player fits in to the club and city, so it was great to see the response he got to scoring the other week at Thun.

I talked to Wynton today who was involved in setting the deal up. He said that the contract is null and void if Stuttgart are relegated so Marco should become a free agent

After all the promise Rojas showed at Melbourne Victory esp including being A League player of the year in 2012-13, I'd be disappointed if he never played in Europe at a higher level than the Swiss League.

Still he is only aged 24, so plenty of time crack one of the bigger leagues.

victory will surely be hitting him up if his contract is void. Would be pipe dream if we got him, but alas i can wish.

Would love for us to sign him but he would have to play CB

According to Transfermarkt, Marco has played 36 league matches for Thun since he joined, scored 4 goals and set up only 3. Without seeing how he performs, the numbers say he isn't contributing much (though they can be deceiving)

Rojas vs Kosta vs Boyd in a short man's 3-way

http://www.futhead.com/16/players/3996/marco-rojas/compare/16-17596/16-8857/

I just want to see Rojas and Kosta on either wing in a Wellington side. 

Mathew Leckie who is a similar age, went from the A-League to the Bundesliga in 2011 and also failed to establish himself  - in his case with Moenchengladbach (only just over 100 minutes on the field in his one season).

Leckie was hastily offloaded to second tier Frankfurt where he appeared regularly for two seasons, then was sold to Ingolstadt where he gained promotion.

This season he appeared in every game for Ingolstadt in the 1.Bundedliga, the most appearances of any of their attacking players, and was an important player for them in securing eleventh place.

Although Rojas failed to impress in his brief sojourn on loan in the 2.Bundesliga, he's been playing regularly in Switzerland this season, and Leckie's career path suggests there must be some hope for Rojas yet...

I followed the big leckmonsters career him and rojas are very different wingers. Leckie is 6 foot and almost 200 pounds he is very physically built compared to the very small Rojas I think he is just short of 170cm and relatively slim. On the flip side Rojas shooting is far superior has better ball control and can use both feet. Leckies size, speed and stamina are the main reasons he has been able to succeed in the Bundesliga. He contributes a lot in defence and is very good in the air. I really can't see Rojas ever succeeding on the wing in the bundesliga it would just be to physical for him. His MVP season at victory playing as a wide forward could work but that's about it. He can dominate a physical league like the A league where the quality isn't as high but he would be far better of just going to a more technical league. Really want to see him back to his best ASAP.