In football, attacking players get all the praise for scoring, attacking midfielders are celebrated for "creating" (making good passing), defenders are acclaimed for being the last wall of defense, and goalkeepers have the most singular role in the team, everybody agree that their performance is pivotal and important. But why so little love for defensive midfielders? In modern football they are critical in a team: they must be as good as defenders but must run twice as much, they must second offensive midfielders and also create on their own, they must be everywhere anytime available for any teammate, and yet nobody acknowledges their enormous work.
Why is defensive midfielder role so underrated and overlooked?
Dominic Brooks
Because attacking is way harder than defending
No one choses to be a defender, you just play there if you aren't good enough to be a forward
Henry Turner
>Tf >Tp Makes sense.
Zachary Turner
>tf >tp lol
Gavin Barnes
>this flag >this topic oh, the irony
Camden Young
good defending is very hard, defend without making fouls (something you argies are not accustomed for), and trapping opponents attack so you get the ball easier We could also say attack is really easy, just wing, cross and tap-in
Jackson Kelly
>Why is defensive midfielder role so underrated and overlooked? Hasn't the best player in the PL been a DM for the past two seasons?
Austin Nelson
>t jose mourinho
Alexander Morris
DMs are only relevant in anti-football hoofball leagues like "the Premier"
Jonathan Moore
Yes, and you'll notice every trophy winning team has always a great DM Because he's the guy who does everything, who covers everybody's errors, who can also score and do an assist
Jackson Rodriguez
>Because attacking is way harder than defending > >No one choses to be a defender, you just play there if you aren't good enough to be a forward
no. if you can't play you are forward because your mistakes have no inpact on the game
if a defender loses the ball it gets more critical
>mfw my coach told me to play as forward
Isaiah Richardson
But if they're playing hoofball, the ball goes straight from the keeper/defense to the striker, the DM isn't involved in attacking play.
Jackson Hall
This. There are levels of tolerance for losing the ball. A winger can pretty much lose it 100% of the time, he's in opponent's 3rd and has all his team to cover for his mistake A midfield in in the middle (distance to his goal) and still has his defenders and GK to cover him A defender has like a 5% tolerance (GK = 0%) for losing a ball, because it's clear goal opportunity if he does. Example: Gerrard's slip as a defender
Adam Morris
But is a key player in the defense and hoofball teams play defense+counter
Charles Bailey
It's not, Kante was literally the player of the season.
Grayson Jones
Their role isn't particularly hard. They are just covering a space in front of the backline. It's not rocket science.
Sebastian Green
Kante was player of the season twice in a row.
If United win this season, the main reason will be Matic. Lukaku is important, yes, but his goals doens't matter if their back-line has to go 38 games without a competent midfielder to shield them.
Samuel Ramirez
Kek same here, the defenders were almost always the best players in the teams I played in.
Brayden Sanchez
Did you even watch United play without Pogba? They're fucking lost without him. Matic is just a work horse who isn't worth shit without Pogba.
Oliver Garcia
3 CL titles 1 WC 27 years of age critically not acclaimed
Charles Hill
>Kroos >defensive mid
Are you stupid?
Kevin Morgan
Because defending is easy la
Jonathan Peterson
He's considered amongst the best midfielders in the world
He isn't acclaimed at the same level as Ronaldo or Messi just because he isn't as good as them. Iniesta is the only midfielder that comes close
Matthew Fisher
They didn't look too good vs Stoke did they? Correlation doesn't equal causation.
Kayden Kelly
this is not the '20s when you could break opponents legs Luìs
Evan Baker
He's paraphrasing Brendan Rodgers in 2014: >“It’s not difficult to coach to just get 10 players right on your 18-yard box.”
Camden Wood
Defensive midfielders are out of fashion now. 3-4-3 meme uses box-to-box midfielders. It's not 2005 with everyone playing 4-3-3 anymore
David Phillips
nevermind the tftp but it's not just about defending and attacking, it's also about transitions from one to the other, the central midfielders are crucial there, and it's often where the game is decided.
Maybe this is where Argentina have gone wrong: they have more european players than Brazil, but they disregard the transitions, the link-ups and so on, they have 5 attacking and 5 defending players pretty much.
