The Roles of a Defensive Midfielder in Football

 

Football is an amazing sport, the best sport ever (a big shout out to basketball). Despite the fact that it’s just 22 players kicking a round leather ball, we know it’s much more than that deep down.

Now growing up, a lot of us loved playing football. The most popular position everyone loved to play was the winger or the striker position which was seen as the ‘star player's’ position. The strikers are the goalscorers so we all wanted to score goals and brag amongst our peers. Getting sent to play in the defensive positions was worse than a death sentence. So, the defensive positions and players were seen as inferior to the attacking players and positions.

As we’ve grown in age and knowledge of the game, most of these notions have died down as it has become clear that every position is very important for a team to succeed. I mean, that is why it is a team sport. Having amazing attacking players with terrible defensive players means a team would score a lot of goals, and concede loads too.

 

The Defensive Midfielder

The defensive midfielder role or the number 4 role, as it’s popularly called, is arguably the most underrated role in football. While the spotlight is on the Ronaldo’s and Messi’s of this world, the defensive midfielders go about their jobs quietly getting little or no mention. In recent time, a lot of us have come to appreciate them but I believe they still do not get appreciated enough.

Over the last decade, we have been blessed with an array of wonderful defensive midfielders; Patrick Viera, Roy Keane,  Claude Makelele, Sergio Busquets, Michael Carrick, Xabi Alonso, and most recently the likes of Nemanja Matic, Casemiro, Ngolo Kante, Fernandinho, Wilfred Ndidi, Fabinho and Joshua Kimmich.  

Depending on the formation employed there is usually at least one, and sometimes, two defensive midfielders in a team of 11 players.

Formation A 4-3-3

  

Formation B 4-2-3-1

 

Formation C 4-4-2

 

The images above show three formations. Formation A is a 4-3-3 formation with one defensive midfielder (DM). Formation B is a 4-2-3-1 formation with two defensive midfielders while the last image; Formation C is a 4-4-2 formation with just one defensive midfielder.

Attributes of a Defensive Midfielder

The term ‘defensive midfielder’ doesn’t exactly spell out the duties a player holding that position is expected to perform. Certain attributes are needed in the defensive midfielder position and I would discuss them below.

1.      Defensive Skills

It’s almost inevitable that a good defensive midfielder has to have defensive skills. Good tackling ability both in sliding and standing, pace, being able to pressure the opposing team’s player when he’s trying to retrieve the ball and the ability to intercept passes too. Aggression is vital, but so is caution.

2.      Positioning

“If I have to make a tackle then I have already made a mistake.” – Paulo Maldini. Football Twitter argue a lot about this quote but it describes positioning perfectly. A good defensive midfielder can be so tactically aware and positioned that he barely needs to make tackles. All he does is break up play and intercept passes. 

3.     Distribution

Asides from the defensive aspects, a good defensive midfielder must know how to pass the ball. As mentioned earlier, a DM is vital in recycling possession and starting attacks. Simple one-two passes, long balls into space. A good defensive midfielder should possess these abilities.

4.      Leadership

A defensive midfielder must not be the captain but he should possess leadership skill; the ability to inspire his teammates and lead by example.

Physicality used to be one of the most important traits of a defensive midfielder but as the game has evolved, we have seen not so physical players thrive as defensive midfielders. Sergio Busquets, for example, is not the most physical of midfielders but you cannot mention ten top defensive midfielders in the past decade without mentioning him.  Other midfielders like Xavi use their lack of height (low centre of gravity) to their advantage in shielding the ball and being tidy in possession  

This is not saying a defensive midfielder should be a pushover. Far from it. He should be able to hold his own whichever way he can.

 

Roles of a Defensive Midfielder

Over time, the defensive midfielder role has evolved with managers deploying these defensive midfield players in different ways to suit their tactics and style of play. Here, I would be discussing 3 common roles of a defensive midfielder.

 

The Ball-Winning Midfielder

The name says it all really. This type of defensive midfielder fulfils the classical job description of this position. This midfielder breaks up play, intercepts passes and harries opposition players. He doesn’t have to be huge and so physically imposing but must have that little bit of pace and be clean with his tackles. The ball-winning midfielder must not possess passing as one of his best assets but he wins the ball back and gives it to his more attacking minded and creative teammates. With the way the game is progressing though, with high press being a key part of play now, it is important for a ball-winning midfielder to be able to beat a press to an extent so he doesn’t end up giving the ball away which is the exact opposite of his job description. Popular ball-winning midfielders include Gennaro Gattuso, Ngolo Kante, Idrissa Gueye and Casemiro

 

The Midfield Controller

The name obviously gives it away too. The midfield controller basically controls the midfield. This midfielder is arguably the most complete of the defensive midfielders as he possesses both defensive traits like tackling, interceptions, ball-winning and attacking traits like incisive passing, good ball-playing ability, shooting and driving with the ball. The midfield controller might not be as good defensively as the ball-winning midfielder but is surely better attacking wise. A typical example of the midfield controller is Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets and Roma Legend Daniele De Rossi

 

The Regista

The regista is an Italian term, in English called the deep-lying playmaker, for the player who drops out of midfield to get the ball from the defence where they have space and time to control the tempo of the game, orchestrate play, and start attacks with exquisite passing. Deep-lying playmakers are often known for their vision, technique and passing. Defending isn’t a strong point for a regista as the main job is to be creative and very good in possession of the ball. However, he makes up for his defensive deficiencies by having a great positional sense and being at the right place at the right time. Popular registas in the past decade include:  Michael Carrick, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Jorginho and the regista of all registas; Andrea Pirlo.

 In conclusion, the defensive midfielder is one of the most underrated yet important positions in football. With its different roles based on the tactic deployed by the coach, it serves an amazing watch for football lovers. So next time, when watching any of these players, be confident to pinpoint their exact role and educate your friends. Cheers