As for their role in the defense, wide midfielders are often those who initiate pressing situations and together with the defenders behind them, try to win back possession. This has the advantage that a player can move towards the center and then shoot at the goal with his/her dominant foot. Many teams position the offense with right-footed players on the left side and vice-versa, in an inside forward position. Running paths for wide midfielders can be straight or diagonal towards the goal line (for a cross-field ball) or towards the center, which allows them to advance into the penalty area and create scoring opportunities. Their job is to support attacks on the wings and constantly put the opposing fullbacks under pressure. Wide midfielders can play on the right or left wing. In this case it’s important that both players are constantly adjusting their positions in order to keep spaces in the offense and defense balanced. Quite often a defensive midfielder playing deep is combined with a central midfielder higher up the pitch. Toni Kroos of Real Madrid can often be seen in this position. If a #6 doesn’t just play in front of the defense, but rather further down the pitch, it is commonly referred to as a “#8,” or central midfielder. Currently the best defensive midfielder in the world is the Frenchman N’Golo Kanté of Chelsea. This requires finding the right balance between covering their teammates in counter attacking situations and playing their own role in any offensive phases. In addition, defensive midfielders have important roles in build-up play, as they are required to distribute the ball further up the field, which subsequently creates scoring opportunities. The #6 can be positioned as a “holding midfielder” to cover the opposition’s attacking midfielder. Teams usually play with one or two defensive midfielders (which is called a “double six”). In the 2013-2014 season where they won la Liga, they only conceded 26 goals.Ī defensive midfielder is traditionally the #6 in soccer and has the position just in front of the defensive line. One of the best pair of center backs recently has been Diego Godin and Mirando at Atlético. Central defenders are often quite tall and strong It’s especially important how fast these players are, as they should be able to at least keep up with attacking strikers. Players in this position must be good at tackling, as well as being technically adept in passing. In addition, central defenders are a huge part of build-up play as they move the ball down pitch to midfielders and attackers with passes or advancing from defense with possession. These players are responsible for stopping the opposing strikers from scoring and stabilizing the defense. When playing with a back four there are two central defenders and when a back three is deployed, there are as many as the name would suggest. The best keepers of 2019, who were all in the running for FIFA’s Best Goalkeeper Award, were Alisson Becker (Liverpool), Ederson Moraes (Manchester City), and Marc-André Ter Stegen (Barcelona).Ĭentral defenders, or center backs, are – as the name suggests – the central players of the defensive line. All of this requires excellent goalkeeping techniques (catching, punching, kicking, diving, picking up and throwing the ball), as well as the passing skills of outfield players and preferably that they are as equally strong with both feet.

In order to do this, a keeper must move further away from his/her own goal to be able to complete long passes to the defenders, who in turn can then move the ball down the pitch.

However, in modern soccer, their positional remit has become more complex and now includes steering build-up play from the back and giving directions to the defense.

In the past, this was their sole responsibility. The primary job of a goalkeeper is to prevent the opponent from scoring goals. This article explains the primary responsibilities of individual positions. Each positional category (goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders, forwards) has its own distinctive traits and presents its own technical, tactical, and conditional demands. Every position in soccer has certain responsibilities, which enable a team to function and be successful.

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