It was Claude Makelele, who carried out the selfless screening task in such accomplished fashion for Jose Mourinho’s commanding Chelsea outfit that brought the position to prominence in the English game. The Frenchman’s mastery of his job even led to its brief naming as ‘the Makelele role’.
Now an essential cog in any unit, the selection of one, or more often two defensive midfielders, has negative connotations. It is anything but. These generals give licence for the match-winning stars to operate. Chelsea routinely sit two players in front of their back-four, so allowing the selection of the ultra-talented trio; Oscar, Eden Hazard, and Juan Mata further up the field.
In the initial stages of his tenure at Manchester City, Roberto Mancini was routinely derided for fielding three deeper-lying midfielders. That was a fallacy. The employment of Nigel De Jong and Gareth Barry allowed Yaya Toure to stride forward and link with Carlos Tevez, James Milner, and David Silva. As City have developed from contenders to champions, two ‘holders’ provide a platform for the dazzling cast of; Silva, Tevez, Sergio Aguero, and Toure.
As the game has hurriedly evolved this specialist position is no longer limited to the tenacious ball winner. Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid and Michael Carrick at Manchester United are trusted by two of Europe’s foremost managers, Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson respectively, to apply their considerable football brains in order to read play and nick possession, with equal responsibility for dictating play with their polished range of passing.
When Bayern Munich fell fractionally short in Europe and on the domestic front last year, the absence of an individual to patrol that essential midfield area was pinpointed as a telling deficiency. The German giants identified Athletic Bilbao’s Javi Martinez as the man to fill the chasm. Despite an asking price of £34m, considered over the odds for a ‘calf-biter’ by club president Uli Hoeness, the money was paid and Martinez has been instrumental to Bayern racing away towards a Bundesliga title while simultaneously swaggering their way towards an almost certain Champions League quarter-final.
With their assured protection, Milan’s Kevin Prince-Boateng – a player blessed with a first-touch that is surely unsurpassed anywhere in world football – and El Shaarway, in common with indefatigable full-backs Ignazio Abate and Kevin Constant, defined perpetual motion as they swarmed forward whenever the chance arose, knowing they possessed the reserves to retreat as soon as necessary.
The fitness and strength of every individual in the AC Milan side is further testament to the famed ‘Milan Lab’, which is based inside the club’s sprawling ‘Milanello’ training and medical centre. The lab applies innovative practice to sports science, technology, IT, and psychology, with the aim of reducing injury and optimising performance. Its success is perhaps best embodied in the longevity of San Siro legends, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Clarence Seedorf, and indeed, Ambrosini.
Landmark victories such as this against Barcelona do not happen by accident then. The planning starts years in advance. Barca themselves are proof of that fact. An astounding ten of the eleven starters in their Milan defeat were schooled at the club’s La Masia academy – although Pique, Cesc Fabregas and Alba all left to pursue their careers elsewhere before being re-captured for vast sums.
It will be understandable if a scintilla of doubt is intruding into the inherent beliefs that have been relentlessly drummed into members of the group since their earliest footballing days.
If Barca’s fruitless attempts to overcome Chelsea’s intransigent resistance in their own Nou Camp cathedral last April were characterised by an inability to stretch their opponents, the one-dimensional short passing and spritely movement, with little beyond, was exposed to a far greater degree in Milan.
The Catalan’s reluctance to alter their treasured style is admirable, but it is increasingly placing a limit on what this remarkable bunch can achieve. For example, if Milan felt as if they were becoming stretched by their visitors they could halt play with a ‘tactical’ foul in the middle third of the pitch, safe in the knowledge that their goalmouth wouldn’t be threatened by a set-piece arched dangerously towards the box.
Likewise, the lack of physical presence in the Barca ranks leaves them susceptible to a team such as Milan which is able to apply and sustain enduring speed, organisation, and discipline to their play, while boasting the attacking ingenuity to capitalise on the application of their more unsightly but essential qualities.
Spain’s passage to the final of the 2012 European Championship drew much comment for its sluggish and inflexible nature, before a 4-0 final dismantling of a flagging Italy silenced any doubters.
Nevertheless, it may be that the World Champions’ first signs of weakness were a warning to be heeded by their country’s premier team. It isn’t only Barcelona who need to be more open-minded. All of us who watch football should savour the multitude of styles employed by the continent’s coaches and managers as they seek to overcome the myriad obstacles they meet.
Of late, no barrier to success in Europe has been more daunting than FC Barcelona. The swashbuckling and convincing manner in which Massimiliano Allegri and his troops cleared the first hurdle in their quest to derail the Catalan’s road to Wembley was no less compelling for its lack of metronomic passing, last-ditch tackles, or blockbusting 35-yard drives bursting the back of the net.
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