The importance of a holding midfielder in a team has grown and grown over recent years, although we don't see the glorified pundits applaud the value of the marcher in the middle of the chaos that is a footballing endeavour. The prominence of this component has been widely undermined, with these men having to work hard to cover large areas of the pitch, and forcing oppositions into submission, before trying to conduct attacks of their own. The rise of this position has been rapid, and although the praise for these midfielder maestros has improved, they are yet to gain the full praise and still get thrown under the bracket, 'The Makélélé Role', which although is dated, can only be taken as compliment.
Claude Makélélé was once the innovator for a new brand of football that was to hit the globe in the 21st century. His bravery and footballing ability was well renowned while at Celta Vigo but his intelligence was still to be proved. After signing for Real Madrid in 2000, we soon saw the exact reason why the Galactico's signed the French man, his footballing chasteness was one that gave his attacking team mates, the time and the space to, to put it simply, score! These magnificent performances saw the Frenchman have this role named after him, and set the bar for all future midfielders to be judged on.
Although the modern day holding midfielder plays a similar game to the one Claude Makélélé played while at Real Madrid, the position has somewhat developed. In the early 2000s it was simply a case of passing the ball to one of your forwards, to let them exploit the opposition defense. In modern day football, it's about a holding midfielder, not only frustrating the opposition with their brave tackling and wonderful energy to cover wide ranges of the pitch, they now need the noesis to be able to control a football game, through the style of passing, controlling the tempo, being able to conduct key passes, and when necessary attack and defend in great expertise.
There are many players aiming to try and take the crown from Claude Makélélé as the modern day midfield phenomenon. With multiple candidates, I'll now be discussing exactly what makes the best holding midfielder and what players will succeed Claude Makélélé. In short, here are my 5 (current) outstanding midfield talents that may soon take the crown from Claude Makélélé.
5. Pirlo
The elegant midfielder has been the anchor man for some of the greatest European sides over the last decade. With over 100 appearances for Italy with a World Cup winning medal included, his international career has been up there with some of the world’s greatest. His club career isn't half bad either, with 2 Champions League winner medals and 4 Serie A title to his name. His footballing brilliance will undoubtedly be remembered a long with his gentleman aura he possess off the pitch. But, at the age of 34, I would consider him to still be one of the greatest midfield anchors around the world. Currently playing for high flying Juventus, Pirlo still plays week-in-week out at the very top level, and continues to impress and prove why exactly he's one of the world’s best.
In his 18 appearance this season Pirlo has an impressive 3 goals a long with 50% shooting accuracy which is quite astounding in contrast to his midfield colleagues. For example, another leading midfielder in Serie A is Daniel De Rossi of Roma; he has 1 goal so far this season and only has a 33% shooting accuracy, which really shows the level Pirlo is currently at.
Pirlo is also performing superbly this season at creating goal scoring chances for his team mates. This season alone Pirlo is averaging 2.3 chances a game, which is really brilliant, when you take into context that one of the leading holding midfielders in the Premier League, Fernandinho, averages 1.25 chances per game, which although is impressive, isn't quite on the same level as Pirlo.
Another key component of being a talented pivot man in a top side is the ability to keep the ball, in recent years a key stat that a lot of managers keep an eye on is a players passing accuracy. Pirlo possesses a 89% passing accuracy which is quite successful but isn't to the same standard as Mikel Arteta, who has the highest passing accuracy in England for a midfielder, with 92% accuracy.
The main idea for a holding midfielder is to defend, and a great way to monitor players defensive work is his duels won. Pirlo has a 48% winning percentage which isn't too bad, but isn't anywhere near his opponents. This is obviously Pirlo`s weakest point as a holding midfielder, and for that reason I've placed him at number 5 on my list of top holding midfielders.
4. Vidal
Vidal has been at the forefront of Juventus brilliant success over the last few years with his tough tackling, his brilliant energy and of course his attacking presence. At just 26, Vidal is already world known for his footballing capabilities with huge success at Leverkusen, he's now one of the leading stars for this current Juventus side that include, Carlos Tevez, Pogba, Buffon and Pirlo. His main strength by far is his energy, covering the box-box midfielder beside him, either attacking or defending and his ability to help out either full back and the more so anchor man in this Juventus team, Pirlo, traditionally Vidal is a DM but with his expertise the wizard can play just in front of Pirlo who lacks that defensive mould.
In his 24 appearance so far this season for 'The Old Lady', Vidal has already netted 11 goals and has a shooting accuracy of 44% which as we learnt before, is quite simply fantastic.
On average, this season, Vidal has created 2.4 goal scoring chances; this makes Vidal one of the most dominant forces in European football. A long with those goal scoring chances, the Chilean has managed to rack up 4 assists this season as well, which puts him up there with some of the top assisters in Serie A this season.
Vidal’s weakest part of his game is his passing. Looking at his passing accuracy percentage, it doesn't even put him near his opponents, who have passing accuracy percentages in the 90s. A players stats that seem similar to Vidal's is Steven Gerrard. Gerrard's passing this season has been 85%, both Gerrard and Vidal will have to improve this side of their game before being considered as the master of 'The Makélélé Role'.
3. Matuidi
The PSG midfield general has been on terrific form this season, and will be key for PSG`s success over the next few years as his club aim to lift even more silverware thanks to their new owners. Also in line for Matuidi, is his national sides World Cup opportunity this summer in Brazil, with 19 caps for France, the 26 year old will aim to bring his nation to World Cup success in a few months time. The former Saint Etienne man has been terrific this season forming a formidable bond with the experienced Thiago Motta and the youthful Verratti added it in with the new edition, Yohan Cabaye, France's and Paris' midfield will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
The powerful man has an extraordinary passing accuracy of 92% which is amongst the very best in Europe. His ability to control the game, switching the ball from flank to flank and making key passes into the feet of star man Ibrahimovic, has proved dividends for PSG this season, and Matuidi ability to control the tempo of a game is second to none, often having incentive to brilliantly see a game out with his innovative passing.
The top element for a holding midfielder to have is to be strong in his tackle, Matuidi has a sublime duel won percentage of 56%, which is up there with the very best in Europe a long with being better than some of the top rated tacklers in football currently, including Sven Bender, who has a percentage of 46% for his Dortmund side this season.
Matuidi can also deliver during attacks, with the pivot man already having 3 goals to his name this season a long with an impressive 50% shooting accuracy. His chances created don't way up to the same amount as Vidal and Pirlo but at 19 key chances created already this season, his stats are no laughing matter.
2. Martinez
Javier Martinez is one Spain's greatest exports, with the Spanish superstar changing the format for most Spanish success stories and moving abroad to further his career. Most Spanish players who are at a high standard of footballing ability, stay in Spain, but not Martinez, who at 23, packed his bags and moved from Athletic Bilbao to Germany, where he put pen to paper, completing a 40 million euro deal to Bayern Munich, after rejecting apparent offers from Barcelona and Real Madrid, who were understandingly looking for Martinez to play in the heart of the defense with competition to fierce in both of their midfields with both Spanish pair, Busquets and Alonso playing there.
Martinez offers so much to this Bayern Munich side, who are currently running away with the Bundesliga and are still on course to retaining the so sought out trophy, the Champions League. It's obvious that his defensive duties outweigh his attacking abilities, although this season he has managed to find the net an impressive 3 times, although the one down side to his game is his ability to create chances, with only 11 chances created in his 27 appearance. This is quite similar to his idol Claude Makélélé, who, while at Real Madrid, would just sweep up possession and quickly releases his attacking team mates such as Zidane, Figo, Beckham and Ronaldo. At Munich Martinez has a similar task with his job not necessarily to set up attacks but to collect the ball like a sponge and release the likes of Ribery, Kroos, Muller and Götze.
His passing accuracy is brilliant, tallying in at an impressive 88%. The art of retaining possession is one that has developed over time, seamlessly from the birth of 'The Barca Way' although they weren't the creators of this brand of football.
A long with his impressive passing stats, he only has an incredible duels won percentage, coming in at 54%, which is ahead of most of the other 'top midfielders', for example, Bastian Schweinsteiger only winning 52% of his duels. This shows the level Javi Martinez is at defensively. Another key stat is that Martinez is yet to make a defensive error this season and has made 3 defensive actions already, to put this into perspective, Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard has already made 4 defensive errors this season, since evolving into his new role at Anfield.
1. Busquets
You can't put into words the importance of Sergio Busquets to both Barcelona and Spain. He rarely gets the credit he fully deserves for his value to this Barcelona team. At just 25, the courageous midfield man has 4 La Liga titles, 2 Champions League winner medals, 2 World Club Cup medals and a handful of domestic championships, and that's just for his club. At national level, Busquets has been pivotal in Spain's recent success as the midfield commander has racked up a World Cup and European Championship.
There are some things that are sure in football and one of them is it's a rarity to see Sergio Busquets give the ball away. This season alone, Sergio Busquets has a 93% passing accuracy which is off the charts in term of holding midfielders stats.
Busquets hasn't been submitting as many key passes to his team mates, with only 10 goal scoring chances created in his 20 appearance this season, but still this isn't to poor considering the players he has around him including, Xavi, Iniesta, Neymar and Messi.
His duels won this season are also very impressive and are even more impressive than Javi Martinez, with 57% duels won, Busquets is amongst the leading tacklers. Similarly to Martinez, Busquets has made 4 defensive actions and has yet to cost his team a goal.
Sergio Busquets is my choice for the next midfielder to reign supreme when it comes to gaining the respect from everyone in the footballing world, and maybe he may have his role named after himself, although the 'The Makélélé Role' has far more of a romantic touch to it.
These stats were taken from Squawka.com