Midfielder

The Midfield in relation to the football positions

In association football, a midfielder is a player whose position of play is midway between the attacking strikers and the defenders (highlighted in blue on the diagram). Their main functions are to dispossess (tackle) the opposing team, to retain possession of the ball, and to feed it to the strikers, and perhaps, to score as well.^[1] Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards.^[2] The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role. The group of midfielders in a team is called the midfield.

More complete midfielders require a number of skills on top of fitness: they tackle, dribble, shoot and pass during any match. Most managers field at least one central midfielder with a marked task of breaking up opposition's attacks while the rest are more adept to creating goals or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. At either side of the pitch a manager can field a right or left midfielder, who are used equally for both attack and defense, or a winger, a more attacking player used primarily for attack.

In essence, a good midfield must possess the ability to be combative whilst also being creative. A good striker without midfield support could lack attacking chances, while a defence likewise could be severely tested. Because they occupy the most influential parts of the pitch, midfielders are perhaps more likely to influence the outcome of a match than other positions,^[3] especially if they have vision for a good pass or ability to score.

Midfielders typically expend the most energy during a match because of the distance they cover on a pitch, as at times they can be called back into defence, or required to attack with the strikers.^[1]

Central midfielder

A Central midfielder plays several roles on the field of play, and are probably the most important in terms of setting up attacks. Their position enables them to have an all-round view of the match, and as most of the action takes place in and around their area of the pitch, midfielders often exert the greatest degree of control over how a match is played. This section of the field is often known as a team's "engine room", because great teams rarely succeed without skillful, commanding central midfielders.

Defensive midfielder

2 holding midfielders are indicated in the yellow circle.

A defensive midfielder or a holding midfielder is a central midfielder who is stationed in front of the back defenders for defensive reasons, thus "holding back" the freedom of the opponents to attack.^[2] This specialist midfielder's responsibilities are to defend against or tackle the opposing team and hold his defensive position, safely distributing the retrieved ball to more attack-minded players.

This is possibly one of the newest roles in modern football tactics. It is often likened to an evolved version of the old-school sweeper.

The defensive midfielder position is also referred to in Brazilian Portuguese as "volante" and in South American Spanish as "volante de marca" (Spanish & Portuguese for "Rudder" or someone who gives direction), and in Portugal as a "trinco" (meaning "lock"). Most Brazilian teams deploy at least one "volante" in their team, including the Brazilian national team who have fielded defensive midfielders, such as 1994 World Cup winning team captain Dunga.

Deep-lying playmaker

Some players prefer to set up an attack from a withdrawn position, and are often coined deep-lying playmakers, mainly because of their ability to spread play and dictate the game from a withdrawn position. Despite their deep role, they are not classed as defensive midfielders as tackling and defence are not the main function of their roles - they may have to be supported by a holding midfielder.

Attacking midfielder

Two possible positions for an attacking midfielder are indicated in the yellow circle.

An attacking midfielder is any midfielder who is stationed in a more advanced midfield position to assist goalscoring.^[3] The attacking midfielder is an influential position and requires the player to possess good technical abilities, an eye for a pass, shooting, running, and dribbling skills.

Playing in a very advanced central midfield role just behind the strikers is sometimes known as "playing in the hole", although this term can also be used to describe a deep lying forward. This specialist midfielder's main role is to act as the offensive pivot of the team, to create goal-scoring opportunities for his team mates, and perhaps to score himself. He may be referred to as the playmaker.^[2]

"Box-to-box" midfielder

The term 'box-to-box' player is often used to refer to the most dynamic all-round/complete midfielders, who provide both defensive and attacking prowess.^[4] The most versatile of players, they typically possess exceptional stamina and are usually skilled at tackling, passing, shooting and keeping possession.^[3]

Wide midfielder

Traditionally, wingers were purely attacking players who hugged the touch line and were not expected to track back and defend. This began to change around the time of the 1966 World Cup, when England manager Alf Ramsey led a team without natural wingers to the championship. This team was known as the "Wingless Wonders" and led to the modern 4-4-2 formation.^[5][6]

This has led to most modern wide players having a more demanding role in the sense that they are expected to provide defensive cover for their full-backs and track back to repossess the ball, as well as provide skillful crosses for centre forwards and strikers.^[7]

A wide player who plays in a deeper, more defensive role would not be classed as a winger, though there is some crossover between the terms.^[2][6][8] An example of this would be David Beckham, who plays as a right-midfielder but does not rely on pace and trickery to dribble past opponents to cross from the byline, rather he uses his passing ability to set up attacks.

Even more demanding is the role of wing-back, where the wide player is expected to provide both defence and attack.^[9] As the role of winger can be classed as a forward or a midfielder, so this role blurs the divide between defender and midfielder.

Winger

Wingers are indicated in red, whilst the 'wide men' (who play to the flanks of the centre midfielders) are indicated in blue.

A winger is an attacking midfielder who is stationed in a wide position near the touchlines.^[7] Wingers such as Stanley Matthews or Jimmy Johnstone used to be classified as forwards in traditional W-shaped formations, and were formally known as "Outside Right" or "Outside Left," but as tactics evolved through the last 40 years, wingers have dropped to deeper field positions and are now usually classified as part of the midfield, usually in 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 formations (but whilst the team is on the attack, they tend to resemble 4-2-4 and 4-3-3 formations respectively).

It is a winger's duty to beat opposing full-backs and to deliver cut-backs or crosses from wide positions.^[2] They are usually some of the quickest players in the team and usually have very good dribbling skills as well.^[10] Sometimes, they are also expected to cover/attack the central area, as well as switch flanks. Technically gifted wingers are able to dribble infield, and by means of using a plethora of tricks, pass defenders and shoot or set up a teammate.

In recent years there has been a trend of playing 'unorthodox' wingers - wide men stationed on the 'wrong' side of the pitch, in order to enable them to cut inside and shoot on their stronger foot. One example of this is the tactical use of Robin van Persie by Netherlands coach Marco van Basten at the 2006 World Cup; the Netherlands played with a front three of Arjen Robben wide left, target-man Ruud van Nistelrooy in the middle and the left-footed van Persie wide right. Such deployment usually leads to players being referred to as playing 'from the right' rather than 'on the right'. Similarly, former Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce, who favours a front three, started the 2007-08 season with right-footed James Milner playing from the left, Mark Viduka as a centre forward and left-footed Obafemi Martins from the right, whilst at Manchester United it is common for right-footed Cristiano Ronaldo and left-footed Ryan Giggs to switch sides continually throughout a match. In the 1970s, one of the foremost practitioners of playing from either flank was the German winger, Jürgen Grabowski, whose flexibility helped Germany to third place in 1970, and a championship in 1974.

See also

• Association football positions
• Formation
• Forward
• Defender
• Goalkeeper
• Playmaker

References