Caporegime
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Reina and Suarez both had excellent seasons and Gerrard usually gets voted player of the season regardless of what he does.
Poll: Best Defensive Midfielder in the PL?
- Thread starter Tom84
- Start date
I assume you mean the season before the one just finished?
For the record I voted Lucas, I wouldn't have him starting at United but for the job he does I think he's miles better than any of the others (Song probably uses the ball better but overall is a bit of a meh player)
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Caporegime
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Yes.
Caporegime
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It's as simple as this, for much of the time at Arsenal Vieira was the defensive midfielder, what Makelele did as a midfielder has zero bearing on anyone else. The defensive midfielder is the one of a midfield pair, or trio, who stays back the most and assumes the most defensive duties, nothing more or less.
Alongside Gilberto, Vieira played the attacking role, alongside Edu.... he was probably the more defensive player, alongside Cesc, he was the defensive midfielder. A defensive midfielder can run where ever they want, play box to box, it doesn't mean they aren't taking on the defensive role in the midfield and he was fully capable of doing that. His positioning, reading of the game was brilliant and he made a great defensively minded midfielder when he wanted to be.
Gilberto is probably the best DM this league has ever seen, every single bit as capable as Makelele defensively, taller, stronger, faster, won countless headers AND he was pretty decent both bursting forwards, bagging goals, taking penalties and had a great throughball on him. Where Makelele rarely picked out a throughball to start a counter attack himself, Gilberto did it frequently. Massively under rated, was still easily the best DM in the world cup, alongside Melo, an inept muppet who lots of people randomly rated as a great up and coming DM... much like Denilson was.
He really doesn't, at all. It's worth noting that some DM's, like Makelele focused entirely on their defensive play and rarely if ever even got into the final third, other defensive midfielders are more than happy to run into the final third, pick out offensive passes, try through balls, etc, etc. Tiote is happy to shoot, happy to run the ball forwards, and comfortable on the ball. His passing isn't remotely sloppy, he just tries a lot more daring passes than Parker tends to.
Likewise lots of people absolutely insanely suggest Parker never ever gets forward, at West Ham he did it a crapload, he does it at Spurs also, and is happy to turn a player, run forwards and try and pick out a forwards pass he just does it a lot less than Tiote in the team he's currently in, the way his manager is asking him to play. Anyway who ever watched him, even once, at West Ham and manages to still say he's a completely limited player, incapable of going forwards and does nothing more than throw himself into tackles is mad(that is for the multiple people I've seen say that about Parker all season long).
http://www.leazesterrace.com/newcastle-cheick-tiote-returning-to-best/
That shows both, he had a poor start and gave a fairly good reason for it, and he frequently managed along the lines of 90+% pass completion against better teams.
Matthaus by a mile.
I would've gone for Yaya Toure but as there is some debate whether he is a DM, I went for Song instead.
For Sandro see Spearing.
Edit: Actually, I'd rather have Spearing in my team
your midfield isn't exactly a force to be reckoned with
Yeh, thanks for explaining the role of DM for me. Like id comment on something I dont know (awaiting the pack of dogs to jump on this comment).
Viera, although on paper was a DM, was involved in a hell of a lot of Arsenals attacking play. He definitely did not do the role of a typical DM. Yes he was a fierce tackler but he wasnt one to stay back and let a CB take a stroll out into the oppositions half while he covered. He moved up and down the field, not left to right as DM's do. Viera's DM position simply came from the diamond formation that Arsenal played, not from the way he played in that formation though.
Not even going to bother with the Gilberto comment. Waste of time.
Another box to box midfielder in my opinion but had a hell of a tackle on him.
I agree, he didnt look up to scratch prior to that. He took a little longer to adapt but my word how he has. He NEVER loses to ball or gives it away and will hassle a player until he is blue in the face. He sticks to his role and sticks to it well. He was voted fans player over Gerrard who usually just needs to be on the bench to win it. That says a lot for him.
Parker is not a DM.
The question asked DM not CM, RM, LM, AM, or just midfielder. DM!
DM isn't really a role that really exist in modern football. Players are expected to do more than just destroy and tackling has become much harder to do within the rules of the game.
I'd go for Yaya Toure as he often plays in a deep-laying midfielder role.
I'd go for Yaya Toure as he often plays in a deep-laying midfielder role.
what would you say he is then?
Parker hasn't got the pace to be a box to box midfielder for spurs and he isn't as attacking as vdv or modric so I'd say he's a CDM
Vieira was perfectly capable of filling a DM role, on account of the fact that around the turn of the century he was IMO the best ball winner in the league. The fact that he used to often play a more box-to-box role shouldn't take anything away from his performances in a defensive capacity. The irony is towards the end of his time at Arsenal he got a lot of criticism from fans for not being as effective going forward, but he was still very effective in a more subdued role.
I think it is a general 'problem' though when it comes to how we categorise players, because some of the best players are multi-faceted so people are reluctant to pigeon hole them. The same goes for "Forwards" in the modern game, when you get players like Ronaldo who is no longer a pure winger but nor is he a traditional centreforward.
Bingo. Look at Yaya Toure. He's played CD, CDM, CM, CAM... often switching during a single game.