Why is the Premier League so rich in players who are both attacking midfielders and defensive midfielders?

There is a saying that goes, things are more valuable when they are rare. Scarce things often have high value. The Premier League is popular with attacking midfielders and defensive midfielders, precisely because this type of player is needed on this field.

Different from other leagues, Premier League games have a characteristic that they are fast-paced. Whether it is defense or offense, the rotation speed of players will be particularly rapid. Even weak teams, such as Burnley and West Ham United, have very fast players.

Often when a player gets the ball, the defense will press hard and then block the penalty area.

In addition, there are many teams that like to play high-position pressing tactics. The frequency of high-position pressing by Premier League teams is also very high. Not only is it fast, but its impact is also extremely strong, making it very difficult to control the ball.

Therefore, in order to break the situation, the wealthy teams also tried their best. After repeated trials, they finally discovered the "side midfielder" and "side midfielder" system to deal with the opponent's defensive pressure.

Let’s talk about the front waist first.

The attacking midfielder became popular in the Premier League, starting with David Silva of Manchester City. Although he is not the first player to play this position, Arsenal's Pires also played as a midfielder before, but it was the Spanish magician who really started to study the tactics of the midfielder in the Premier League.

The reason is that David Silva changed the team's offensive system, using him as the core starting point in the ribs destroyed the opponent's defense.

Fans who often watch Manchester City fans will be familiar with it. David Silva's favorite thing to do is to take the ball to the left and right ribs, cut inward, cut to a certain extent, and suddenly pass the short-distance penetrating ball unexpectedly. Aguero, Nasri and others inserted in behind to take over, and the rib space broke the opponent's defense.

There are many defenders on the front, and Manchester City cannot open them. They often use Silva's dexterity and ability to pass threatening balls to open up breakthroughs.

This trick is often effective.

Silva had a lot of assists back then, and a large proportion of indirect assists came from his performance in the midfielder position.

Under Silva's instigation, Manchester City stood out and gradually became one of the most entertaining teams in the Premier League. His quick-horse combination and smart rhythm strategy are the only weapons for the team to win.

Since then, the system of wide midfielders has begun to blossom in the Premier League. Every team has followed suit and added more creative organizational players to the two wings.

Grealish, Eze and others have also sprung up and become standard equipment for each team.

In today's football, it is unjustifiable that there is no attacking midfielder in the team. This is a must-have configuration for a strong team. Why Arsenal spent huge sums of money to introduce Eze this year is precisely because the team lacks such a type of player. With him and without him, the team's playing style will be different.

Unlike other types of players, the advantage of the midfielder is that he has organizational attributes and can slow down the rhythm. Slowness does not mean being passive, but means being able to take your opponent by surprise and attack your opponent's weak points.

Just like Tai Chi, sometimes you will find that Tai Chi is softer and less rigid. The reason is that during the process of swinging the fist, the rhythm is very good.

When to be fast and when to be slow, this is necessary.

If you are too fast and cannot slow down, the team's organizational efficiency will become worse, and the offensive layering will also be insufficient. This is the advantage of the midfielder players.

With him on the court, you don't have to worry too much about the team's rhythm. Being able to speed up and slow down at the same time can have a very good effect on players' physical distribution and offensive sorting.

Relatively speaking, the midfielder can raise a team's offensive ceiling and improve creativity.

After talking about the front midfielder, let’s talk about the “back midfielder”.

The tactic of a defensive midfielder was actually used in the early days of the Premier League in my impression. At that time, many teams' full-backs would often come to the defensive midfielder position to provide a barrier for the team's defense.

In the Premier League during that period, the midfielder had not yet become a "system". It was just a strategy for rotation and defense changes, and was not used as a conventional weapon.

When did the midfielder gradually emerge? This was led by Guardiola.

For a certain period of time, Guardiola was obsessed with the three-back system and played more. During that time, he developed the idea of ​​​​playing as a defensive midfielder. A full-back or wing-back will come to the midfielder position to organize and connect. They are relatively mobile and can be erratic.

When a response is needed, he can cooperate with the midfielder to pass, and he can also go forward to participate in the attack; when defending, he can come to the deep backcourt position and become the team's deep-lying organizational core, taking the ball and controlling the rhythm, allowing the team to play more orderly.

This eclectic way of employing personnel has indeed improved the team's offensive and defensive efficiency.

Like the attacking midfielder, the emergence of the defensive midfielder type player will bring the "mobility" advantage to the team. He can play as a fullback or a midfielder, so he can have an extra layer of protection among the ball-playing players in the team's backcourt.

Nowadays, players are pressing fast and intercepting fiercely. There is a great need for backcourt players with strong ball protection and passing abilities. It is equally important to be able to personally control the rhythm and cooperate with the frontcourt players to control the team.

When the backcourt and frontcourt are consistent, it can often bring more offensive space to the team.

This kind of space requirement is also a technical aspect that every strong team attaches great importance to. Manchester City's Lewis, everyone scolded him a lot, saying that he couldn't fight and was weak, but Guardiola was just unwilling to give up on him.

The reason is that Lewis has mobility requirements and can meet Guardiola’s tactical needs..

The physical confrontation is a bit poor, but he is still young, only 20 years old. When he matures, he may become the core of the team, and his potential is immeasurable.

Since the full-back midfielder also has the same core attributes, which can help the team improve its level, this tactic is also popular in the Premier League. Basically, every team will be equipped with players who can play full-backs and wing-backs, but can also play as a defensive midfielder.

The four-back system can play full-backs, and the three-center-back system can play wide midfielders, which can be adjusted according to the situation on the field.

Judging from the game process of the Premier League, I think players of the type of midfielder and midfielder will appear frequently in the Premier League in the future, and they will be focused on when training.

Not only do they have extremely high tactical value, they can also provide changes to the team and greatly improve the team's level. This trend is unstoppable.

For a team that can make good use of both the attacking midfielder and the defensive midfielder, results can be guaranteed.