The importance of defensive midfielders in modern football

Claude Makelele

Football, like fashion, goes in cycles. From the late 1980s until the end of the 1990s the most common formation used in football was the 4-4-2. Times change, fashion change and football change and we go back in time to search for inspiration to go forward.

Most European football teams now field an attacking 4-2-3-1 formation which was actually lifted from the Brazilian national team of 1970 which won the World Cup under Mario Zagallo. What was considered old tactics are in vogue today, and what is followed today will be phased out tomorrow. It goes in cycles.

With the resurrection of the 4-2-3-1 formation, the defensive midfielders have risen once again to prominence. The defensive midfielders make the 4-2-3-1 formation tick. With four attackers (including a lone striker) in front of them and four defenders behind them, they form the bridge which holds the play together. The defensive midfielders were once thought to be the dying species in football, but now they are the fulcrum of the modern game.

The term defensive midfielder is a collective term for three different types of deep-lying midfield roles; the defensive midfielder, the deep-lying playmaker and the third type is a combination of both defensive midfielder and a deep-lying playmaker.

A typical defensive midfielder is more of a destroyer than a creator. Claude Makélélé was one of the greatest defensive midfielders of all-time. His role for both Real Madrid and Chelsea was to sit in front of the defenders, provide shield and break up opposition play. He wasn’t a technically gifted player, but his positional sense and his ability to win back possession made him a key player.

Deep-lying playmaker or Regista, as it is called in Italy, directs the game from deep, spraying passes around and connecting with attacking midfielders and strikers. Andrea Pirlo is a master regista. Pirlo is physically slight and does not defend or tackle, but his technique, vision and inventive play along with accurate passing mark him as a modern day great.

The third type of defensive midfielders will have attributes of both defensive midfielder and deep-lying playmaker. They can defend and they can orchestrate the game from their deep position. Michael Carrick of Manchester United is a near perfect example for this type. Xabi Alonso is another great example.

In the 4-2-3-1 formation, two defensive midfielders are often fielded as double pivot. Manchester United had Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick in the heart of their midfield in their successful Champions League final in 2008. Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira form the double pivot for Real Madrid. Arsenal used both Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta in a recent Champions League game against Napoli to great effect.

But despite their growing importance in the modern game, the defensive midfielders are often the most underrated players in their team. In the Galacticos team of Real Madrid Mekelele was one of the lowest earners and when he asked for a pay raise, the Real board didn’t think he was worth an improved contract and quickly off loaded him to Chelsea.

Florentino Pérez, the club President then (and now), made an infamous assessment of Mekelele which still remains a common attitude or perception towards defensive midfielders. Pérez told:

“We will not miss Makélelé. His technique is average, he lacks the speed and skill to take the ball past opponents, and ninety percent of his distribution either goes backwards or sideways. He wasn’t a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres”

But in fact Makélelé had been their most important player and his departure proved to be the beginning of the end for Los Galacticos and Real Madrid has not won a Champion League since.

Players like Michael Carrick, Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta do their job with minimum fuss so more often goes unnoticed, but they are the most important players in their team. Manchester United’s mighty struggle in the recent matches is due to the absence of Carrick through injury. Arsenal always looked impotent when either Mathieu Flamini or Mikel Arteta wasn’t playing.

Defensive midfielders are the unsung heroes of the modern game but strangely their importance is felt only when they don’t play.