Est83 wrote:Over the last few years we've seen a reliance on holding midfielders, and I was against it for a long time. I prefered box-to-box men, preferably two, rotating between attack and defense.
But it's different today, there are specialists in every area, it's almost like the midfield has been broken up into sub catagories. It took me a while to get to know and love the holding players (because I thought it was a waste of a player), but looking at what their inclusion can bring to a team (freedom for creative geniuses like Cesc and Iniesta... soon Wilshere) they've become essential.
I'm just not sure if these Jack of all trade midfielders, who are good at everything but great at nothing, have a place in todays midfields.
He isn't a jack of all trades midfielder, he is a Central Midfielder, his attributes are very specialised to what he does rather than bringing through players who are brilliant at one thing and completely useless at another which relates to their job.
He excels at keeping the ball, passing, long shots and intercepting the ball, everything a Central Midfielder needs in his Arsenal, no pun intended.
He is extremely proficient in all of these things, so i don't see how he can really be called a jack of all trades master of....
Midfielders are getting more specialised but IMO thats a bad thing...
Why incorperate several players in midfield nowadays when 10 years ago one player would have done all of them?
Its about time we started bringing back midfielders who have key attributes but are adept at most things.