The brightest spark coming from Turkey is twenty year old Hakan Çalhanoglu, who has been the driving force for Hamburg SV this season. The Turkish playmaker has previously been linked with the elite teams in the past, such as the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Dortmund to name a few. Çalhanoglu has four years remaining on his contract at 'die Rothosen' and certainly the Hamburg fans will want him to see out his contract, whilst helping to improve the troubled clubs' fortunes. The real question is, can he lead Hamburg’s resurgence and help them beat the drop this season?
Hakan Çalhanoglu can play in four different positions. He prefers to play in the attacking midfield role, but his best-suited role is on the left, where he has played thirteen times this season - scoring two and assisting two under Bert van Marwijk and recently appointed, Mirko Slomka. Under van Marwijk, he was played in the centre. Unfortunately, he wasn't playing to his potential, at the end of the van Marwijk era he moved out to the left and that’s where he started to shine. Slomka kept Çalhanoglu out on the left and he has sure contributed to Hamburg’s seven points in five games lifting them to 14th in the Bundesliga, just three points behind Eintracht Frankfurt.
There are many key aspects to how the Turkish international plays. When he is on the left, he likes to get down the flanks and put crosses in for his attacking teammates; most notably the presence of Lasogga. This style of play of his has got him three assists this season.Not only has he assisted this season but also he has created chances. In total, he has created a whopping 48 chances for the attackers of Hamburg.
When he is picked to play on the left, he tries to cut inside on his right foot and unleash one of his trademark pile drivers. Çalhanoglu likes to shoot from range, four of his eight goals this season have been outside the box. This poses his danger from costless kicks and long range. A real threat for the opposition when defending; meaning they have to close him down without leaving space behind to be exploited.
One of Çalhanoglu’s strengths is from dead-balls. Most people would remember his costless-kick against Dortmund where he deceived Roman Weidenfeller from fourty-one metres, in stunning fashions. The one with that shows his technical ability was the costless kick against Brausnchweig. His technique when striking the ball wont be seen better from many footballers. He gets enough curve that he can take it away from the goalkeepers reach, despite the positioning of the wall.
Finally, one of Çalhangolu’s strengths is his finishing. The majority of his goals come from when he cuts inside from the left; his footwork is key to getting the ball onto his right foot. An example of when he executed his finishing was against Mainz, he took the ball into his stride having his shot on his left foot. He executed it to perfection. It’s rare for a playmaker to get goals but when Çalhanoglu does they’re special.
(Source: Who Scored&Squawka)