Mastering the Midfield
Real Madrid maestro, Casemiro, once said that “if you have a good midfield, you have a good team”. Understanding how to dominate in central areas not only helps your side control possession and create lots of goalscoring opportunities, but should also ensure that the opposition finds it difficult to generate meaningful opportunities for themselves. In this article, we will explore how players can master the midfield, with insights from the likes of Toni Kroos, Thiago Alcantara, and Xavi Hernandez.
Receiving and passing with intent
When a team are building out from the defence, it’s important that the midfielders offer a passing option to the back line. However, the opposition’s marking or pressing scheme may make it difficult for any of the midfielders to get free. There are a number of strategies players can use to create seperation between themselves and defensive markers. One such strategy is referred to as a positional rotation. In order to disrupt the opposing team’s organisation, midfielders may look to swap positions with each other. The hope is that this will create confusion in the defending player’s minds about where they are supposed to be positioned and who they should be picking up. In the example below, Ireland U21 midfielders Jayson Molumby and Connor Ronan execute a rotation to great effect, giving the latter just enough time and space to receive possession and progress the play.
Another simple technique midfielders can use to get free during build up involves dropping into the fullback positions. If the fullbacks push forward, as is the case with so many teams nowadays, this creates a pocket of space between them and the nearest central defender. As shown by the image below, a midfielder struggling to receive possession centrally may choose to drift into this ‘false fullback’ position in order to take the ball unmarked and progress the move with a pass or dribble. Of course, this is only possible if the defending team maintain their shape. But in the event that one of them follows the midfielder into the fullback position, this should open up space centrally for the centre-backs to play through. Either way, the simple movement from the midfielder should generate a new opportunity for the team in possession to progress.
When you consider the dearth of time and space available to midfielders at the top level, it makes sense to occasionally drift towards the flanks in search of freedom. Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara once referred to his role as being “in the middle of the madness”.
Playing in the centre of the field means having to maintain a 360 degree awareness of your surroundings. You must have knowledge of where your teammates, your opponents, the ball and the space are at all times. It is not enough to assess your options once you receive the ball. Planning ahead is an essential skill for any midfield player. This should allow you to make quicker decisions to exploit opportunities and avoid being dispossessed.
The only way to achieve this is through regular ‘scanning’. Frank Lampard senior, the father of the Chelsea legend of the same name, explains the concept below.
“You need to gather all the information you can before receiving the ball, so you can make quick decisions once you have it. It’s crucial because the higher you go, the less time you have on the ball.”
In any situation, extensive research prior to making a decision should result in a better decision being made. But once you have the ball, there won’t be enough time to conduct that research because nearby opponents will be hot on your tail. That is where scanning comes in.
At the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences, Professor Geir Jordet completed his masters thesis and PHD on the role of vision, perception and anticipation in elite performance.
He filmed 250 players, analysing their behaviour in the seconds before receiving the ball. Lampard junior was observed conducting 0.62 ‘searches’ per second. Barcelona great Xavi Hernandez, meanwhile, searched 0.83 times per second.
Jordet’s study found that among players who scanned often, pass completion and the success rate of forward passes were significantly higher compared to infrequent scanners.
In the clips below, we see Granit Xhaka, Sergio Busquets and Jorginho benefiting from scanning. In the case of Xhaka and Busquets, notice a final check just before they take possession to make sure the picture is still the same and they can follow through with their planned action. This is crucial because circumstances can change in an instant. While planning is a must for midfielders, the dynamic setting of a football game demands that you remain adaptable.
Another strategy that can help midfield players keep the game moving quickly and improve overall awareness of their surroundings involves receiving on the ‘half turn’. Simply put, this requires maintaining an open, side on body shape as you take on possession of the ball from a teammate in a deeper position. Instead of facing towards your own goal, receiving the ball, and then turning to face forward, the half turn can allow you to play forward immediately, saving time and preventing nearby opponents from applying blindside pressure.
It should be noted that taking the ball facing your own goal is not always sub-optimal. If you have the ability to bypass pressure easily, receiving with your back to the play can sometimes be beneficial because it will most likely draw the press from opposing players, opening up space further forward for you to exploit after you overcome the pressure. In the video below, Thiago demonstrates this perfectly, inviting his opponents to close him down from behind before bursting past them with a clever first touch.
Notice how intentional Thiago’s first touch of the ball is. He not only wants to gain control of it, but also recognises where the space is and aims to push the ball into this space every time. These directional touches set him up perfectly for his next action, allowing him to inject tempo into the game and keep his team moving forward whenever possible. Conversely, players may also choose to take a directional touch towards their own goal in order to play it safe, protecting the ball from onrushing opponents. It’s important for all players, but especially midfielders, to understand when the opportunity exists to take a touch forward into space, and when it is more appropriate to take a touch that focuses more on retaining possession as opposed to progressing it.
These receiving principles also relate to the type of passes you will make. Ultimately, you want to pass to your teammates in a manner that you would like your teammates to pass to you. This means weighing up the situation and either playing the ball to your teammates ‘safe side’ (the side furthest from his defensive marker), or to his ‘backfoot’ (the side closest to the opponents goal). Additionally, the pace on the ball should be sufficient to avoid wasting time and giving defenders the chance to intercept or get back in position, but also not so quick that it becomes difficult for the receiver to get control of the ball. Real Madrid and Germany midfielder, Toni Kroos, discusses this idea below.
“The most important thing is that the pass is made with an idea, so that the teammate I’m passing to can continue the game in a good way, or I can make it easy for him. For this, the pass has to have the right power and the right direction.”
Finally, it’s important to consider whether the pass is better off being played into the receivers feet, or if it should be played into the space ahead of him. For example, if the player you intend to pass to is being closely marked by a defender, it will probably be more appropriate to play him into the space behind the defender. But if the defender is in a withdrawn position, a pass into feet should set the receiver up for a 1v1. As Xavi notes below, it is also essential to understand the attributes and tendencies of the player you’re passing to.
“You have to know the player you are passing the ball to. It always depends. Iniesta, for example, likes receiving passes to feet. With Fernando Torres, he always asks for the pass into depth. It also depends on your objective, if you’re passing to progress play or to retain possession.”
Xavi plays the ball into the space behind Germany’s defence for Torres to run onto & score the goal that won Spain the European Championships in 2008
Quite often, the player you wish to pass to won’t be directly accessible due to the opponent’s defensive ‘cover shadows’. A good maxim for these situations is ‘if you can’t pass to the player you’d like to, pass to the player who can’.
For example, imagine the number 10 on your team is in space between the lines. However, the opposing number 6 is positioned in front to prevent him from receiving possession. In order to solve this problem, search for a teammate who does have a clear passing lane through to the number 10.
Of course, well-drilled defenders may quickly adjust to close off every dangerous passing route that emerges. One way in which players can open these routes again is by making use of ‘false implications’.
Given the relentless pace at which top level football is played nowadays, players often try to second guess their opponents. In this sense, defending players react not only to actions, but also to implied actions. Theoretically, this allows them to be better prepared to deal with the subsequent action. In practice, however, a player’s actions don’t always match up with their prior implication.
In the moment between an implication and an action, the attacking player potentially has a distinct advantage. If they match their action with their prior implication, they hand the advantage to the defender, who has likely prepared himself to deal with such an outcome.
However, if they mismatch their action and implication, they take advantage of the fact that the defender has conceded space and time in reacting early. By leaving their position and preparing for what they perceive is about to happen, they create a gap that didn’t exist initially. Furthermore, they give themselves no time to react again to a converse action.
False implications can therefore help midfielders to eradicate an opponent's cover shadow, opening up a forward passing lane as a result. Barcelona's Sergio Busquets is the master of disguised passing, regularly using misleading body orientation and eye direction to imply that he intends to feed the wide player in space, urging opposing players to move towards the wing in anticipation.
Finally, he uses a converse action by reversing his pass into a central teammate instead, exploiting the newly opened lane. This concept relates closely to that of the third-man. Generally speaking, the attention of defending players will be focused primarily on the player in possession of the ball, and the player who appears most likely to receive possession next. Quickly adding a third player to the sequence can make it difficult for the defending team to re-adjust accordingly.
The first clip below provides an example of Busquets executing the reverse pass strategy, while the second example comes from Aston Villa playmaker Emiliano Buendia.
As we have discussed, it can be difficult for midfielders at the highest level to find and exploit space without being stifled by the opposition. Strategies like rotations, however, can be effective in losing defensive markers. Meanwhile, simple tools like scanning can help players plan ahead and make the most of the limited time and space afforded to them.
Drawing and escaping pressure
We often hear about top midfielders ‘controlling the tempo’ of games, but what exactly does this mean and how can it be achieved? Ultimately, controlling the tempo involves knowing when and how to slow the game down, or speed it up. In order to slow the game down, players might hold onto the ball for longer, using their body to shield possession from nearby opponents or relying on support from teammates. To speed the play up, players may look to play one touch, or make a quick pass into one of the front players to launch the attack.
When players choose to slow the game down, this is sometimes referred to as ‘La Pausa’. The reason for doing this is simple; if the options ahead of the ball are weak, it may be better to wait for your teammates to reposition themselves, or for more space to open up, before making the pass. Holding onto the ball, in itself, should draw more pressure from the opposition, thereby creating space further forward. Once the conditions have improved sufficiently, the player on the ball can switch the tempo of the play by feeding the attack quickly. Xavi was a master of this skill, as shown by the video below.
On occasions when the options ahead of the ball remain limited, it is important that players understand how to generate new possibilities. This can be done by using the ball to move opposing players, opening up space that can then be used to progress the play.
As mentioned previously, defending players are naturally drawn towards the ball. This can be exploited by using a strategy called the ‘bounce pass’. By passing the ball forward to a player who has his back to goal, nearby defenders will most likely apply pressure to him. This, in turn, will open up space behind them. In the video below, former Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong makes use of a bounce pass to create space for one of his teammates to carry the ball into the attack.
Bounce passes generally help teams open space between the lines in a vertical sense. In other words, it should increase the distance between the opponent’s defence and midfield. Other strategies can be used to generate space horizontally (increasing the distance between players on the same line).
One such technique involves circulating possession quickly from side to side. As the opposing players move in accordance with the ball, the spaces between them may increase as they shift at slightly different speeds. As these gaps appear, the team in possession should have the opportunity to break through the lines and progress the play.
Earlier, we mentioned how La Pausa can not only be used to slow the game down and wait for new options to emerge, it is also likely to provoke opposing players into applying pressure. While this has the obvious benefit of opening up space further forward, it also puts the player on the ball at risk of losing possession. It is therefore important that players develop a resistance to pressure.
Observing graduates of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, it is clear that they have been educated on this aspect of the game. Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, and Thiago, to name a few, all have the ability to evade intense pressure. In fact, they even appear to have been given personal ‘escape tricks’ to help them in these situations. Xavi would often complete a 360 turn to protect the ball, while Iniesta frequently used a skill known as ‘La Croqueta’, which simply involved shifting the ball quickly from one foot to the other. In the video below, we see Busquets executing his own escape trick.
For much of this section, we have explored ways in which players can use the ball to draw pressure. It is also true that players can draw pressure from opponents without having the ball at their feet. These types of actions are typically referred to as ‘decoy movements’. We have all seen forward players making darting runs away from goal in order to drag a defender with them, opening up space for a ball carrier to continue progressing through the middle. Less common but equally effective in generating space to attack, midfielders can also use decoy movements.
In the clips below, we can see the likes of Marco Verratti and Rodrigo Bentancur opening passing lanes into the attack by adjusting their positioning and dragging defensive markers with them. Of course, it is possible that the midfielder isn’t followed by his marker. But in these instances, he will be free to receive the ball himself. Essentially, it’s a win-win for the attacking player.
As we have discovered in this section, it is important that midfielders understand how to invite pressure from opposing players in order to generate space for their team to progress the attack. Having the ability to bypass this pressure, meanwhile, is of equal importance.
Supporting the Attack
In the past, many teams had two ‘box-to-box’ midfielders who would share defensive and offensive responsibilities. Nowadays, many sides have designated ‘holding midfielders’ who only occasionally venture forward to support the attack. Typically, the number ‘6’ in a midfield three will be asked to sit in front of the back four, breaking up the opposition’s play and building attacks from deep. The number ‘10’, and the number ‘8’ to a lesser extent, are usually expected to contribute by way of goals and assists. This section will take a look at some strategies that can help them achieve this.
Firstly, the concepts of support and superiority are important to understand. In some situations, a teammate may have a qualitative advantage (they are technically or physically better) over their direct opponent, so it may be best to leave him isolated in a 1v1 instead of dragging more defenders towards him. In other situations, a teammate may require support in the form of an overlapping or underlapping run. The crucial point is this; if you think the player on the ball can find his way to goal on his own, help him out by dragging additional defenders out of his way. If, however, you think he needs help, provide support by running into space and offering a passing option.
Former Ajax midfielder, Lasse Schone, consistently demonstrated an excellent understanding of support and superiority. In the video below, Schone sits in front of the two centre-backs, creating a 3v2 against the opposing strikers. Instead of simply maintaining this structure, Schone realises that he does not need to provide support to the build up as the centre-backs will still have numerical superiority if he pushes forward, dragging his marker with him. Additionally, because of the fact that one of the defending players is tasked with following him, he is unavailable to receive the ball anyway.
To serve possession in a more productive manner, he moves off to influence the play further forward. As expected, his marker follows suit, leaving a 2v1 scenario for De Ligt and Blind to control. As the move progresses, Blind plays a lofted pass towards the strikers. Schone is now in a position to recover the second ball, eventually facilitating the creation of a quality goalscoring opportunity. Had he remained part of the 3v2 structure initially in place, he would have effectively brought no value to the team.
During his 13 years at Chelsea, Frank Lampard scored a remarkable 211 goals. Perhaps the key to this achievement was his ability to arrive unmarked in the penalty area to get on the end of crosses and cut-backs. Lampard mastered this skill to such an extent that when current midfielders do the same, commentators and pundits will often describe it as a ‘Lampard-esque’ goal.
Although he wasn’t recognised as a traditional midfielder, Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney was another player who excelled at arriving late in the box to score. As he outlines below, the key is to identify the direction in which the centre-forward is making his run, before attacking the space left behind by his movement.
“In some teams the No 10 stays outside the area but I was a No 10 who always tried to get in the box. The trick is to decide your movements depending on what your No 9 is doing. I’d watch Ruud’s (van Nistelrooy) run in front of me and make my own run off the back of him.”
As shown by the video below, one young player who has mastered this art is current United midfielder and former Ajax star, Donny van de Beek. As he arrives in the box coming from deep, he has momentum over the defender and is virtually impossible to mark.
Another key concept for midfielders aspiring to score more goals is known as the ‘3rd man run’. As discussed earlier, defending players tend to focus most of their attention on the player with the ball and the player who appears most likely to receive it next. This opens up a possibility for an additional player to drift into space undetected as the 3rd man. If the player who initially receives the ball (the 2nd man) is aware of his surroundings, a simple one-touch lay off can be used to find the 3rd man free in space.
Particularly during his time at Arsenal, Cesc Fabregas was a master of the 3rd man run, drifting into the box at the last second before receiving possession as the free player and firing the ball into the back of the net.
Oftentimes, the play will progress too quickly for a midfielder to get himself in the box for the final cross. In other situations, it may be the case that the penalty area is crowded and there’s no space for the midfielder to arrive in. When the circumstances don’t allow for a Lampard-esque run, it might be more appropriate to hover just outside the box. If the cross is cleared, it may fall perfectly for you to get a shot off.
Furthermore, being well placed to recover the loose ball instead of opposing players can prevent them from launching a counter attack. The next video shows Lampard and Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli waiting on the edge of the penalty area in anticipation of knock downs and clearances.
So far, we have looked mostly at how midfielders can support the attack by arriving late to score goals. Of course, it is also important that they create chances for their teammates.
An important thing to remember here is that risk-taking is required. Last season, Man United midfielder Bruno Fernandes recorded the most possession losses in a single game of any player in the league (37). But he also registered the second most assists. The point is; you don’t become one of the best playmakers in the world by keeping it safe and making side-ways passes all game. When the opportunity is there to play someone through on goal and the team is set up well to recover possession should it be lost, midfielders must be willing to take the risk.
While playing for Aston Villa last term, Jack Grealish created the 3rd most chances in the Premier League, providing 0.41 assists per 90. This marked a significant improvement on the previous campaign, which saw him record 0.17 assists per 90. Speaking during his less productive season, Grealish acknowledge that he needed to take more risks in order to improve his creative numbers.
“I haven’t taken enough risks so far, and I need to start doing it again. That’s when I’m at my best — playing off the cuff, with freedom and not thinking too much, but of course, in the right areas and at the right time.”
Supporting the defence
In the last section of this piece, we will take a relatively brief look at the different ways in which midfielders can help out their defence. If you would like to read in more depth about the art of defending, you can head over to our ‘Mastering the Defence’ article.
When trying to break down the opponent’s defensive unit, it is important to maintain a structure that helps to both maintain possession and protect against a counter attack. Deep-lying midfielders can play a crucial role in ensuring that this is the case by constantly adjusting their positioning in accordance with the ball. By hovering just behind possession at all times, they can prepare to cut off any attempt by the opposition to launch a break away, while also offering an out-ball for a switch of play.
This is sometimes referred to as ‘ring-fencing’, and is demonstrated perfectly by Sergio Busquets in the video below. With Barca on the attack, Busquets positions himself well to sweep up any loose balls or passes from opposing players. In essence, he provides an insurance policy for his team.
Another important defensive skill for midfielders to develop involves screening their back line and intercepting the opposition’s attempts at feeding the attack. When defending your goal as a deep midfielder, the first priority is to ensure that nearby attackers can’t receive possession, turn and drive at your defence. A lot of the time, this will be done by applying pressure to players just as they receive the ball and attempting to complete a turnover or at the very least, force them backwards and away from goal.
In situations like the one described above, whereby the attacker receives the ball facing towards his own goal, the defending player has the advantage of being out of his field of vision. This means that the attacker doesn’t know when or where the tackle is coming from, making it more difficult for him to protect the ball effectively. When a turnover occurs in these scenarios, this is called a ‘blindside dispossession’, shown below by former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Julian Weigl.
On other occasions, it may be possible to get in front of the attacker before they receive possession by intercepting the initial pass. The key here is to read the ball-occupant’s intentions, waiting for them to release the ball before stepping out of your position to cut out the pass. Of course, this should only be done if you back your physical ability to cover the ground quickly enough to get to the ball before your opponent. Chelsea and France star N’Golo Kante is a master at reading the game and breaking up the opposition’s attacks, as shown in the next video.
Another thing to consider for deep-lying midfielders when it comes to supporting their defence is that there are going to be times when they are required to step into the backline to provide cover. For example, when a centre back pushes out to engage with an attacker who drops off or drifts wide, a gap may appear in the defence and if another defender hasn’t filled the gap, it is on the defensive midfielder to do so instead. The same will apply in many crossing situations, with gaps appearing towards the near post that must be filled to prevent attacking players darting into it at the last second to score.
While most of the defensive discussion so far relates to the role deep-lying midfielders can play in supporting their defence, it is also important for attacking midfielders to contribute when their team are out of possession. Most of the top sides nowadays don’t carry passengers. As Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp say’s “Unless you are Messi, you have to defend”.
Ideally, playmakers will be willing to press off the ball, closing down their opponents at an angle that shuts off their passing options. At the very least, it is essential that every player on the pitch helps the defence out by positioning themselves in a way that blocks off passes into dangerous areas. This is referred to as ‘cover shadowing’, and doesn’t require a huge amount of effort to execute.
No matter how much you dislike defending, it is half of the game and by refusing to contribute, you leave your team a man down whenever they lose the ball. Furthermore, the better you defend, the quicker you will be able to get back to attacking.
Conclusion
In this article, we discussed the midfield unit in depth. We learned about the different ways in which midfielders can lose their markers and make the most of the limited time and space that exists in the centre of the field. Meanwhile, we also discovered how they can generate more goalscoring opportunities for themselves, as well as their teammates. Lastly, we looked at the simple ways midfielders can contribute defensively.
While it may be true that putting the ball in the back of the net is the most important thing in football, knowing how to master the midfield as a team should enable you to achieve this objective far more frequently. As former Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso once said; “If you control the midfield, you control the game”.