A midfielder is who?

In football, each player has his own position, on which he performs certain functions. However, for convenience, positions are divided into several groups. Footballers can be goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and attackers, and already in these groups they are divided into subgroups. This article will focus on midfielders, who are also called midfielders. This name comes from the English term half-back, which means that the player is not a full-fledged defender and is not an attacker, that is, he is located in the center of the field. The midfielder is a much broader concept than just a center field player. And now you will find out what kind of midfielders are. After all, they can perform various functions. A midfielder is usually not the most versatile player, he has specific duties, so it's worth considering different types of midfielders.

Defensive midfielder

Supporting midfielder - this is one of the most important posts on the football field, this player is often also called a breakwater. Of all the midfielders, he is deeper than all and bears exclusively defensive functions. He plays over the defenders, but under the other midfielders, is responsible for the selection of the ball and is the first defensive line. To date, there are not so many world-class clean support midfielders, but without a breakwater in any way, because high-speed forwards can disappear without a problem central defenders, so you need to meet them early. This is what the supporters do. So the supporting midfielder is a very important position on the football field. But this is not the only role of the midfielder - in the center of the field there are still enough functions that require attention.

Playmaker

The midfielder in football, of course, can perform not only defensive, but also attacking tasks. In particular, there are midfielders who organize attacks. Their duty is not to select the ball from the opponent, they have very different game qualities. When they receive the ball, they need to deliver it to the players of their team's attack as quickly and accurately as possible. Usually these are technical players who can beat the opponent if necessary and cut through enemy defenses. Without such a midfielder, the team would have to be quite difficult, since it is precisely it is its think tank in most cases.

Boxing-to-box

There is another very important role that a midfielder can play, a midfielder box-to-box. What does this mean? Again, the term is taken from the English language, and it means that the midfielder acts throughout the center of the field, that is, from one penalty area to another. What are the functions of this player? In fact, his work front is very impressive, since he must work out both in defense and in attack. He is also a supporting midfielder selecting balls, and a playmaker carrying these balls to someone else's penalty area, and even an attacker, completing his team's attacks. Such a midfielder bears great responsibility, runs through impressive distances and performs an impressive amount of work on the field.

Ten

Recently, the 4-2-3-1 scheme has gained a lot of popularity, in which there is one well-defined midfield player located above the other two, but much lower than the attacker. This football midfielder is called "ten", and its functions are similar to those that playmaker performs. But at the same time he is located much higher and concurrently performs the functions of a drawn attacker. He organizes attacks, distributes the transfers and on the flanks, and directly to the central striker. It can be safely said that he is even more important member of the team in such an advanced position than a conventional playmaker.

Flank halfback

However, it is worthwhile to understand that midfielders play far not only in the center - they can also be located closer to the right or left flank. Such midfielders are called extreme, and their roles changed over time. Initially, there were flanking midfielders, and flanking attackers, and then the midfielders were lower, that is, directly in the center of the field. But over time, the extreme attackers as such ceased to exist, and the extreme midfielders began to perform a common role. They were called wengers, and they are responsible for developing attacks on the flank. This was made possible by the fact that the flank defenders also became much more flexible and ceased to perform exclusively defensive functions. They are called wing-backs, and they connect to attacks on the flanks, thereby partially replacing in the center of the field on the brow of the midfielders, who escape closer to the attack. Thus, specifically the concept of "flanking midfielder" does not exist anymore - practically no one uses a scheme in which there would be extreme midfielders located exactly in the center of the field.