Matrim55
08 Aug 2006, 04:32 PM
I'd rather gargle Drain-o than try to explain the complexities of the defensive midfield position to the uninitiated, but it's come to be that I have to. I have to. As Chris Knight might say, it's a moral imperative.
A defensive midfielder is charged primarily with three things. In order of importance, they are:
1) Blunt the opposition attack
This is the first line on the job description of a defensive midfielder, and it's more important than items #2 and #3 combined. Teams in the modern game can't win if they're constantly giving up space in the middle of the field, which is why good defensive midfielers are so important. It's a matter of always being in the right place at the right time, never running behind the play, and never letting your defenders be exposed. The positional aspect of this part of the game is as difficult to learn as it is important, which is why you rarely see youngsters as the d-mids on top-level teams.
Think about it: You've seen teenaged strikers, wingers, attacking central mids, defenders, even the occasional goalkeeper excel on the world's top teams. Have you ever seen a 19 year old defensive midfielder lift a trophy?
Now, blunting an attack is not the same as stopping the attack cold. Instead, all the d-mid has to do is be in the right place at the right time to force a lateral or back-pass, giving your teammates a chance to get ahead of the play. Suddenly instead of a counter the opposition is forced to re-organize itself and try to avoid a costly turnover all because the d-mid forced the opposition to make a pass they didn't want to make.
Or because he committed a professional foul. It's cheap, but there's a reason for it.
In recent times nobody was better at this than Fernando Redondo, who I believe was the greatest d-mid of all time. In MLS Chris Armas is unparalelled at this part of the game. And overall, either Claude Makelele or Gennaro Gattuso is the best in the world at this part of the game currently.
2) Link/organize the midfield and defense
If your team is running around aimlessly, never receiving the ball in stride, defenders reduced to pumping long-balls over the top, it's probably your defensive midfielder's fault.
The terms "linking play" and "organize" are thrown around quite a bit by folks who don't understand what, exactly they're actually saying. I'm looking in Eric Wynalda's direction.
"Organizing" the midfield means that the d-mid recognizes when an attacking midfielder, flanker, full-back, or very occasionally a center-back has made an attacking run thereby leaving space for the opposition to exploit in the case of a turnover. It's then the d-mid's job to either cover the gap himself or direct a teammate there. If all the obvious avenues of attack are then covered, the d-mid forces his opponent to make either an extraordinary attacking play, or retreat and re-organize himself.
"Linking" play means playing the ball quickly and efficiently, and always being in a position to act as an outlet. It also means making passes that put the d-mid's team in a position of strength, where they can make a low-risk, high-reward pass instead of a high-risk, high-reward pass. Richard Mulrooney is absurdly good at this, as is Brian Carroll. They never put teammates in jeopardy. Redondo wasn't just good, he was God. Big G.
Some teams, like AC Milan and probably Manchester United this season, have two different players for these roles. Pirlo and Gattuso in Milan, Carrick and quite probably Senna in Manchester. This was also an area in which Claudio Reyna excelled, even though he was in no other way a defensive midfielder.
3) Win the ball
The least important and least understood aspect of a d-mid's game is winning the ball. Simply put, a d-mid will cause more turnovers by forcing a bad pass into his team's position of defensive strength than he will by winning the ball outright. Real Madrid apologists have often pointed to statistical breakdowns that say Guti has a higher percentage of "balls recovered" than Makelele has ever had. That tells me that Guti isn't a d-mid because he's not the one forcing the bad pass, he's the one intercepting it, while the reverse is true for Makelele.
That's not to say winning the ball outright isn't important. It's just not as important as the other aspects of a defensive midfielder's game, especially given the fact that other midfielders have been known to put in a fierce tackle every now and then. In recent years players like John O'Brien, Dema Kovalenko, Stephen Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Clint Dempsey have been mistaken for defensive midfielders because they have high workrates and would tackle a cripple. But the fact is, none of them are ball-stoppers; they're ball-chasers, guys whose defensive instincts are best shown when paired with, or in front of, a true d-mid.
This was never more apparent than two years ago in the Champions' League final. Rafa Benitez took a gamble and played Gerrard and Xabi Alonso together in the central midfield, and was rewarded with a 3-0 hole at half-time. He then subbed on Dietmar Hamann, a true d-mid, for Harry Kewell, an attacker. Hamann won just one ball outright in the second half, but his positional presence freed up Gerrard and Alonso to harrass the Milan midfield while attacking at will, and the Reds were rewarded with a 3-3 regulation comback.
So, that's it. Read it and remember it, and the next time you see a young kid playing his first game sprint 30 yards crossfield to slide-tackle the ball into touch, don't think "Wow, he's a great d-mid!" Instead, check to see who was covering for that run. Whoever it was is the actual d-mid on the team.
And if it was no one, you're probably a Red Donkeys fan. Like me.
A defensive midfielder is charged primarily with three things. In order of importance, they are:
1) Blunt the opposition attack
This is the first line on the job description of a defensive midfielder, and it's more important than items #2 and #3 combined. Teams in the modern game can't win if they're constantly giving up space in the middle of the field, which is why good defensive midfielers are so important. It's a matter of always being in the right place at the right time, never running behind the play, and never letting your defenders be exposed. The positional aspect of this part of the game is as difficult to learn as it is important, which is why you rarely see youngsters as the d-mids on top-level teams.
Think about it: You've seen teenaged strikers, wingers, attacking central mids, defenders, even the occasional goalkeeper excel on the world's top teams. Have you ever seen a 19 year old defensive midfielder lift a trophy?
Now, blunting an attack is not the same as stopping the attack cold. Instead, all the d-mid has to do is be in the right place at the right time to force a lateral or back-pass, giving your teammates a chance to get ahead of the play. Suddenly instead of a counter the opposition is forced to re-organize itself and try to avoid a costly turnover all because the d-mid forced the opposition to make a pass they didn't want to make.
Or because he committed a professional foul. It's cheap, but there's a reason for it.
In recent times nobody was better at this than Fernando Redondo, who I believe was the greatest d-mid of all time. In MLS Chris Armas is unparalelled at this part of the game. And overall, either Claude Makelele or Gennaro Gattuso is the best in the world at this part of the game currently.
2) Link/organize the midfield and defense
If your team is running around aimlessly, never receiving the ball in stride, defenders reduced to pumping long-balls over the top, it's probably your defensive midfielder's fault.
The terms "linking play" and "organize" are thrown around quite a bit by folks who don't understand what, exactly they're actually saying. I'm looking in Eric Wynalda's direction.
"Organizing" the midfield means that the d-mid recognizes when an attacking midfielder, flanker, full-back, or very occasionally a center-back has made an attacking run thereby leaving space for the opposition to exploit in the case of a turnover. It's then the d-mid's job to either cover the gap himself or direct a teammate there. If all the obvious avenues of attack are then covered, the d-mid forces his opponent to make either an extraordinary attacking play, or retreat and re-organize himself.
"Linking" play means playing the ball quickly and efficiently, and always being in a position to act as an outlet. It also means making passes that put the d-mid's team in a position of strength, where they can make a low-risk, high-reward pass instead of a high-risk, high-reward pass. Richard Mulrooney is absurdly good at this, as is Brian Carroll. They never put teammates in jeopardy. Redondo wasn't just good, he was God. Big G.
Some teams, like AC Milan and probably Manchester United this season, have two different players for these roles. Pirlo and Gattuso in Milan, Carrick and quite probably Senna in Manchester. This was also an area in which Claudio Reyna excelled, even though he was in no other way a defensive midfielder.
3) Win the ball
The least important and least understood aspect of a d-mid's game is winning the ball. Simply put, a d-mid will cause more turnovers by forcing a bad pass into his team's position of defensive strength than he will by winning the ball outright. Real Madrid apologists have often pointed to statistical breakdowns that say Guti has a higher percentage of "balls recovered" than Makelele has ever had. That tells me that Guti isn't a d-mid because he's not the one forcing the bad pass, he's the one intercepting it, while the reverse is true for Makelele.
That's not to say winning the ball outright isn't important. It's just not as important as the other aspects of a defensive midfielder's game, especially given the fact that other midfielders have been known to put in a fierce tackle every now and then. In recent years players like John O'Brien, Dema Kovalenko, Stephen Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Clint Dempsey have been mistaken for defensive midfielders because they have high workrates and would tackle a cripple. But the fact is, none of them are ball-stoppers; they're ball-chasers, guys whose defensive instincts are best shown when paired with, or in front of, a true d-mid.
This was never more apparent than two years ago in the Champions' League final. Rafa Benitez took a gamble and played Gerrard and Xabi Alonso together in the central midfield, and was rewarded with a 3-0 hole at half-time. He then subbed on Dietmar Hamann, a true d-mid, for Harry Kewell, an attacker. Hamann won just one ball outright in the second half, but his positional presence freed up Gerrard and Alonso to harrass the Milan midfield while attacking at will, and the Reds were rewarded with a 3-3 regulation comback.
So, that's it. Read it and remember it, and the next time you see a young kid playing his first game sprint 30 yards crossfield to slide-tackle the ball into touch, don't think "Wow, he's a great d-mid!" Instead, check to see who was covering for that run. Whoever it was is the actual d-mid on the team.
And if it was no one, you're probably a Red Donkeys fan. Like me.