Exploring the Midfield Archetype Top Clubs Are After
A Classification System for Second Midfielders
I recently said something about not massively loving where the sport looks to be trending, perhaps I can expand on the whys of that question in another piece. It is fascinating to think about though and who can be sure if it really is trending that way. Football is a thing of infinity with countless different directions it could extend into. It does however seem to be circling back a little to some of the situations the 2000s might’ve brought up only now upon the backdrop of 2023.
I think the transfer window can give us some clues as to where future trends may lie. Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice, the biggest and most sought after players at the highest level (City, Madrid, Arsenal). Szoboszlai arrives at Anfield, Tonali the Italian Geordie, the list could go on — in terms of links and interest at least.
For me a truth that is at the centre of much of this is the idea that football is becoming ever-compact at both ends of the field.
During build-up & goal-kicks:
In the first third, build-up becomes its own chess match and the chess-masters are not afraid anymore of committing an even greater number of pieces in that first phase. If we think of the first phase as a game of its own, the opposition have responded by committing their own pieces far up the field. What we can end up with is a picture that looks like a highly condensed game by the keeper, the opposition's back line sits somewhere near the half-way line and one or two lone pieces are stranded in between.
Those pieces in no man’s land are where the Declans and the Judes would be. Players that eat up grass, physical yet technical enough to pluck the lofty pass from the keeper trapped in a busy box of players, before moving to make something happen.Â
In reverse, when this sought-after profile of player (modern day second midfielders for lack of a better term right now) is part of the team out of possession during an opposition’s build-up from their keeper, their ability to accelerate and jump on the player receiving the ball allows for the possibility of high turnovers. The engine on these players, and perhaps I'd include Mason Mount of United now (someone who I hadn’t mentioned) permits them to provide opposition players the false security of an extra yard or two, baiting the pass and reception before then, springing onto them and winning the ball high with speed and intensity in an area that provides a greater % situation in which to score.
This matters significantly given the fewer scenarios in which defending teams afford you space, as large parts of games are played as low-set defences vs high possession attacks. Declan Rice’s dispossessions against Partey, sprinting from what feels like too far away, forcing an error which eventually resulted in a goal and Arsenal dropping points in the run-in, comes to mind.
In Settled Defence:
Just as the game becomes compact and busy in the in-possession team's third from a goal-kick and buildup opportunities, the game for a second time now gets compressed in the opposition's third when low-set defences protect their goal.
This mould of player tends to be able to slot in alongside the pivot. When it comes time to defend in a settled shape, the frame, intensity, and aggression seems to do a job in there. Declan Rice might be the best in world football for it as a central midfielder sat deep in a 442. If a compensatory number is needed for weaker second midfielders defensively, the 4141 works too and you can naturally shift between the two in a pendulum-like manner, the outside CMs taking turns to push to be the second striker or the second (or third) CM out of possession.
With the game compressed in final thirds (for different reasons) and with significant moments of the game occurring during these situations, players that can spring and exploit that space between the busy near-goal mess and the half-way line are ones to more pay attention to now.
A player who can block space then with excellent physical quality then carry it across large distances that present themselves, whilst being capable of breaking down these stubborn defences offensively, and running to get back into your defensive shape if not breaking up transitions the other-way. It's a really taxing and multi-faceted ideal you're looking for (which is why a player with all of these things is incredibly rare, but different teams opt to prioritise different traits).
In Attacking Possession:
When breaking down the opposition's settled shape is the challenge for the attacking side these transitional vertically shuttling midfielders shouldn’t become redundant and often don’t.
Looking to the second midfielders at the highest level or those that have been transferred, players seem to often possess set-piece value.
Now — in the biggest of games, there does seem to be this homogeneity, a oneness between how games are played which is sort of a shame. There exists differences and these should be encouraged but almost in this Guardiolan way (which is funny because Guardiola reinvents how players are used in his game-models), teams have become more similar, almost blueprint like at times.Â
What then differentiates teams is 1) sheer player quality when profiled correctly (the De Bruyne types) 2) exploiting opposition tendencies (opposition analysis) 3) fine margin solutions in the form of set-pieces (set piece analysis and player profiles/quality).
The players being targeted by some of the top clubs in greater frequency seem to address that third point with (I’m sure) a deliberateness that makes lots of sense: Jude and Rice’s aerial threat, Tonali, Mount and Szoboszlai’s set-piece quality too. The aerial threat from taller B2Bs is two-way — in theory you’d concede fewer too.
The set-piece quality (of the aforementioned) is often predicated on quality ball-striking which speaks to another trend the sport is alive to at present.
We’ve established this oneness in football, the low-set compact defences against the high-possession attack but within that, goals are circling back to being scored from distance. It doesn’t make sense not to utilise that situation and to utilise it maximally we look to point 1, a few paragraphs back — sheer player quality. The best ball strikers can, will, should score from distance more often. And as low set defences pack the box, pushing them back before exploiting the space in front of them (rather than getting in behind) through long shots less opposed is a method of increasing viability that I’ve mentioned for a while. Rodri’s goal that won the Champions League final, a telling example if you need one.Â
Ball-striking not only pertains to the ability to score from distance though and with these second midfielder types, looking for stand-out, difference-making, fine-margin quality, ball-striking in the form of the final pass too, a la Kevin De Bruyne or Trent Alexander-Arnold would be more than wanted when looking for these sorts of players.
It’s interesting init. The sport changes so much but old situations and patterns and trends and things all circle back and re-establish themselves. The sport doesn’t suddenly look like the mid 2000s again but things that were cool in the mid-2000s look to have just slotted themselves into this greater, novel 2020-sport — De Niro and Pacino cameos in 2023 films. It’s nice, you'll do a double take; they fit in but everything around them looks different.
Profiling and Classifying the Midfielders:
I struggled to term this profile of player but as I've written this, things have become clearer as often is writing's best gift. I view players in roles, not positions, and I’d probably group Rice, Jude, Mount, Tonali and co under the same broad role: that role being this shuttling box to box midfielder type found upon an elite physicality (engine, intensity and ideally height/strength). On top of that, this profile of player is one that makes use of the prototypical scripts of the games in 2023 — games compressed in the thirds; a heavy focus on buildup (from goal-kicks) and a heavy focus on compact defences that need to be unlocked. They’re players that aim to give teams in these prototypical game the fine-margin edge quality-wise.
I think there’s two ways this can be done, so perhaps I’d split the profile into sub-profiles: the shuttling, physical midfielders with game-changing superiority defensively (low set defence) — Rice/Tonali types. Both are excellent defenders, able to cover space, win duels, intercept. In low set-defences of their own, slotting back into a settled shape as a central midfielder, they’re able to provide cover like the best of defensive midfielders, before springing to press/carry/support the next part of play — Anchor Midfielders.
The second sub-profile would be those shuttling, physical midfielders with game-changing superiority in offence (in settled attack) — Szoboszlai, Mount, Jude are more in this mould. These players are able to do a job in settled defence as central midfielders, perhaps they’d need to be supported by a second wide CM in a 4141 as opposed to the Rices who can more than capably play the 442, but their individual superiority and ability to exploit fine margin things appear in attack. These would be in the form of things like superb ball-striking from distance when settled defences drop in, excellent set-piece quality, late running quality to score/header (Jude?) — Ship Midfielders.
Ultimately these Ocean midfielders (that's the wider term to classify them I've landed on, I summarise it all at the end of this section, it's actually cute and easy to understand) are players that are given the burden of the biggest spaces (like an ocean, ha).
They therefore have lots of responsibility and have to be fairly complete. The large spaces require physical proficiency but in the modern game this isn’t enough.
If I were to imagine it, perhaps I’d say it was something like the chain connecting the ship to the anchor. If settled defence was the anchor, with all the busyness of the sea-bed, and the attack was the ship itself with all the busyness of well, a ship, the *long* chain is what joins the two — vastly important, with responsibility but also with lots of space and emptiness around it.
Ocean midfielder have to move along the length of this chain, either towards the sea-bed or the ship and some may have a preference for being nearer the sea-bed (Rice) whilst others may have a preference for the ship (Szoboszlai) but ultimately they’ve got to be able to move along that length as needed, without stepping onto the ship or onto the sea-bed for too long.
Umir's Ocean classification for second midfielders (in 2023+)
More specifically targeted towards elite European teams — given vertical space between thirds (due to situations in which lots of players commit to build-up from goal kicks and due to space between your team’s defenders and attackers as a result of low-block defences)
Necessary physical/mental traits:.
Fast, great work-rate, excellent engine, strong (ability to shield).
Cover lots of distance quickly.
Tall is ideal but not necessary (exceptions include excellent 1v1 dueller/tackler ; Tonali/Dias/Ake quality or agile and attacking preference: Gundogan/Mount)
If not fast; needs great reading of game and at least good acceleration (Bernardo example)
Excellent ball-carrying quality — comfortable and probably preferable to be vertical in nature/temperament.
Good tackling technique
Press resistance
Willingness to close down shots/space when defending as CM in set-defence
Ability to demonstrate genuine qualitative superiority either in settled defence AND/OR high possession attacks v low blocks preffered:
In Settled Defence: Excellent at closing down shots/passes, excellent tackler, great aerially v cross threat.
In Attacking Possession: Set-piece threat (taker or heading), excellent long-shooting/ball-striking, late arriver/runner to score, cross/final ball. Dinked through ball (eg. Yaya, Gundogan). Exceptional needle passer/small space player (very rare).
Ideally both.
Ocean Midfielder Classification (w/ non-exhaustive examples)
Types: Anchor, Chain, Ship, TrueÂ
Anchor (possesses defensive traits that provide significant qualitative superiority that would provide fine margin gains against teams (~ playing using similar blueprints) but able to slot in offensively to at least a decent level) — Rice, Tonali?, Bernardo, Kante.
Chain — (possesses neither attacking or defensive traits that provide significant qualitative superiority that would provide fine margin gains but able to slot in defensively and offensively to a fair level — quality instead predicated on carrying/shuttling ability and technical execution/consistency. These players may be better at these things (such as ball progression) than some of the other types: Kovacic, Frenkie De Jong, Curtis Jones.
Ship — (possesses attacking traits that provide significant qualitative superiority that would provide fine margin gains but able to slot in defensively to a decent level) — De Bruyne, Bellingham, Mount, Jacob Ramsey, Sancet, Casadei.
True (possesses both defensive and attacking traits that provide significant qualitative superiority that would provide fine margin gains) — Gundogan. Rodri? (Usually plays sitting 6 though) Tonali?
...1 minute added time:
Games are won and lost at either end so at the highest level, paired with that physical profile and technical base, traits that can decide the game and separate one team from another off of individual actions are what we need to look for.Â
Decades ago, the sports was afforded bigger space by virtue of the defences' shapes. Teams in England at the least, didn’t drop in as readily, space in and around the midfield existed and defences didn’t look to find the midfielders first but instead went long to the last line after which midfielders would look to fight to win the ball.
Perhaps physical strength mattered more then. Long vertical passes mattered more then too.
Like then though, physical box to box types are incredibly valuable once again but speed is perhaps more valuable given the incessancy on pressing. Low set shuffling/tackling/blocking is key for settled defence too, and set-piece threat (two-ways) is often the difference maker in tightly contested matches.
Ball-striking from the edge should and probably will matter more now as it was encouraged then (after a period of optimising only for shooting from statistically favourable zones in the box).
It’s a weird blend of old and new but it’s interesting how after the Xavi and Iniesta types rose to prominence under Guardiola and influenced the footballing landscape globally, a resurgence of the Steven Gerrard types have found their place on top of that backdrop built by the diminutive Spaniards. It sort of coincides with the lifespan of Guardiola's side centered around De Bruyne, something that probably wouldn't have been predicted watching those dominant Pep Barca sides in style, live.
I suppose the wider point can’t be better illustrated than Jude Bellingham, the marquee midfield signing and latest Galactico, in a post-Modric and Kroos world.Â
— Umir, football writer, analyst, scout (@Umirf1)