After a stop-start three years in Germany with Hamburg, Michael Mancienne is back in England and impressing for Nottingham Forest in the Championship. Adam Bate examines whether the player can now fulfil his potential...
Wednesday 15 October 2014 17:21, UK
When Borussia Dortmund visited Hamburg in September 2012, the then Bundesliga champions were on a remarkable 31-game unbeaten run in the competition. By contrast, Hamburg had lost their first three games of the season.
No matter. Inspired by returning hero Rafael van der Vaart the home side won the match 3-2. Naturally, in his homecoming appearance the Dutchman received the plaudits but as an Englishman sat in that stadium it was impossible to look past the performance of the young defender tasked with marking Robert Lewandowski that day.
Michael Mancienne dealt with the Dortmund striker superbly. Showing the pace to anticipate balls into Lewandowski’s feet and the spring to outjump the celebrated target man in the air, it was an assured display up against one of the very best.
That 2012/13 Bundesliga season – his second in Germany - was probably Mancienne’s finest for Hamburg. Not only did he rank among the top 10 players in the division for aerial duels won but he actually topped the Bundesliga charts for both clearances and blocks per game.
There was even talk of an England call-up by Frank Arnesen, the sporting director who had overseen his development at Chelsea before taking him to Hamburg. For a player given his first professional contract by Jose Mourinho and drafted into the international set-up as a 20-year-old by Fabio Capello, this would have been in line with the early promise he’d shown in his career.
Unfortunately, with Hamburg in turmoil behind the scenes, this proved to be a false dawn and momentum was lost. Frequent changes of personnel hampered his progress, most notably the departure of Arnesen in May 2013. With Bert van Marwijk as head coach, Mancienne was frozen out – making just one appearance in the Dutchman’s disastrous five months in charge.
With Van Marwijk ousted, there was still time for an unlikely return to action under Mirko Slomka in March of this year. Mancienne earned praise for his efforts to keep Hamburg in the top flight with HSV managing to maintain their proud record of being the only team to play every Bundesliga season when they survived a relegation playoff.
Once again, Mancienne ranked among the top 10 defenders in Germany for clearances and aerial duels won, with Hamburg general manager Oliver Kreuzer impressed by his ongoing commitment in the face of adversity. “It is unbelievable that a player who hasn’t played for such a long time and actually was almost gone, has such a comeback and delivers such performances,” he said.
He's the best central defender in this league.
Now 26, Mancienne should be in his prime. Instead he somehow finds himself out of Europe’s top leagues, having ended his three-year stay at Hamburg to sign with Championship side Nottingham Forest for a little over £1million. With Forest unbeaten and level on points at the top of the table, the early signs are that - one way or another - it won’t stay that way for Mancienne for too long.
Jamaal Lascelles, currently back at the City Ground on loan, may be the Forest centre-back who has earned the Premier League move to Newcastle, but it’s Mancienne who has brought top-level composure to the team’s defence. Relaxed in possession but feverish without it, there have been last-gasp blocks against Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham to help ensure valuable victories.
Typically, he is among the top 10 defenders in the division for clearances and aerial duels won – a significant statistic in the rough and tumble of the Championship. That familiar speed and anticipation is now coupled with a growing physicality to his game that hindered him a little during his younger days.
Having also played in midfield for Forest boss Stuart Pearce when captain of his England Under-21 side, he is more than comfortable bringing the ball out of defence and his manager is convinced he has the Championship’s best defender on his books. “I think pound-for-pound with what we’ve paid for him, it’s been a fantastic outlay for what he is,” said Pearce.
“In my personal opinion, he’s the best central defender in this league. He’s a fantastic man and a fantastic professional footballer – very low maintenance. I think he’s gained the respect of the crowd straight away as well as the people at the training ground with what he does on the pitch. I’m proud to have brought someone of his ilk to this football club.”
Mancienne’s refreshing attitude is a recurring theme of his career. When he turned up to agree the first of three loan stays at Wolves, Mick McCarthy relished the fact that the youngster arrived for the meeting with no agent or parent beside him – simply a request for the postcode of where his digs would be so he could whack it into his car’s sat nav. It was early evidence of the sort of phlegmatic characteristics that would later see him make the bold move to play in Germany.
That spell on the continent has only added to his maturity, even able to take on scouting duties - recommending the free-transfer signing of Robert Tesche, a former Hamburg team-mate, as a good addition to help Forest to the Premier League. If he gets there, it would be no surprise to see Mancienne finally fulfil that promise and prove a match for the likes of Lewandowski once again.
Watch Michael Mancienne in action for Nottingham Forest at Cardiff live on Sky Sports 1 HD this Saturday (12.15pm kick off)
