Football is won or lost in midfield

therecklessone · 03-12-2007 12:18pm #1

Discuss.

leninbenjamin · 03-12-2007 12:37pm

no. you can have a brilliant midfield but if your defense and goalkeeper aren't competent enough to play the ball to them then they are effectively nulled before you step out onto the pitch.

and then the midfield are only as good as the forwards who can latch onto their balls and then subsequently bring them back into play in the advanced areas or go on to shoot etc.

tis a team game.

mike65 · 03-12-2007 12:43pm

Its a team game all the bits have to function. The midfield can certainly kill a game. "to you sir, back to you, and back to you etc"

Mike.

Eirebear · 03-12-2007 12:52pm

Yes.....and no.

The midfield is certainly the driving force of any team, the engine room and any other cliche you want to put in there.
The midfield provides the spark for any creativity within the team and can also kill off a game by putting a stranglehold on the ball.

But

The midfield is also only as good as the team around it....what use is having the best passer of the ball in the world without a striker who can time his runs?
The Best defensive midfielders are only as good as the defence behind him...and so on.

Hobart · 03-12-2007 1:22pm

Such a wide sweeping statement is moot given the different styles of play across the world. Brazilian football is played totally different to, for example, that played in Italy. Midfielders, Defenders, Strikers play different roles in each.

Midfielders play an essential role in the overall shape of the team, probably the most essential in some cases, but they are not the "be all and end all" of the team. The team is, by it's very nature, a team and each cog is necessary to make to team function properly.

You could have a situation whereby you have a great midfield setup, and a poor defensive setup, and hence the game is lost because of your deficiencies at the back. An extreme but valid analogy. No one aspect wins or loses a game (look at the service Anelka did not receive yesterday for an example) more the sum of all it's working parts.

cson · 03-12-2007 1:31pm

Witness Real Madrid at the weekend. Any decent European team would have scored loads against them.

MrJoeSoap · 03-12-2007 3:28pm

Football is won or lost in the head as much as the midfield.

PHB · 03-12-2007 3:33pm

I think at the higher levels, like the CL or international football, you can have the best defense and attack in the world, but the game is won or lost in midfield.

estebancambias · 03-12-2007 5:17pm

My team had perhaps the most balanced and best midfield in the league, but our defence lumped the ball up all the time..and the striker(s) had no anticipation in their game. The wingers were good on the ball, but they had a really annoying style. I was too smart to be on that team..