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De Jong to Milan and the role of the holding midfielder
Nigel De Jong has joined AC Milan from Manchester City: he will be the next Dutch holding midfielder for the team after their experience with Mark Van Bommel. While some teams in the last few seasons opted to line up a deep-lying midfielder in front of the defence, other teams, such as AC Milan chose to insert an holding midfielder in front of their back four – or back three – line.
See also: Houston's switch to 4-3-3 paying off
This trend started when Fabio Capello lined up a former defender, Frenchman Marcel Desailly, as central midfielder to protect Milan’s flat four line. Then there weas Claude Makelele and Pepe.
Makelele was a the key man for the Real Madrid’s ‘Galacticos’, and he was the prototype of modern holding midfielders. He had average technique with no ball retention or distribution abilities, but he was a ball-hunter, a wall in front of the defense, the only real defensive midfielder in a bunch of stars.
Pepe, was a key factor for Real Madrid under Josè Mourinho. The use of Pepe ahead of the back four closed spaces in this zone. The rise of Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Andrea Pirlo made teams obsessed with deep-lying midfielders. Also, teams such as Spain or Barcelona often utilized systems with two or three pivots, to stay focused on possession, kept the ball and played through balls.
Milan’s manager, Massimiliano Allegri, went in another direction. He left Pirlo out of the side and replaced him with Massimo Ambrosini and Van Bommel. He went for a classic diamond in midfield, with Kevin Prince Boateng as attacking midfielder behind two forwards. He relied on strength in the middle of the pitch. Lining up Antonio Nocerino and Van Bommel told us much about Allegri’s tactical thoughts.
When he took charge of the team in 2012, Allegri went back to the diamond midfield, but changed the team's play.His midfield was more dynamic and every player had defensive duties. In simple terms, he wants an extra destroyer midfielder in the centre. Although De Jong recorded just 1.8 interceptions per game and 1.7 tackles – but in just 11 caps – he’s mainly this kind of player.
Having a holding midfielder in front of the back four means the opportunity to have a defensive wall that can cover the attacking midfielders, and be prepared for opponents’ plays on the breaks. These kind of players usually have an immediate impact with the new team. A player like Makelele or De Jong aren’t a risky business: they play many short and sideways passes with no danger of losing the ball playing it forward. De Jong pass success rate is 92.3%.
Their job is simple: tackle, pass, tackle pass, tackle, pass. They are anonymous players but make life easier for the attacking midfielders. That’s what happened in Milan, where Allegri brought in a classic ‘Regista’, i.e. an interior midfielder with passing skills, like Riccardo Montolivo is, with an holding midfielders alongside him to cover his shoulders. The paradox is that Allegri lost Pirlo to sub him after one season with a creative interior midfielder and not with a deep-lying one.
The Italian coach went for a more aggressive midfield pressing hard, and rely on more long balls to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. In that way, a deep-lying midfilder as Pirlo wasn’t indispensable. Adding Montolivo this offseason means a step back made by the manager but not a big one. He can even stay with a more athletic midfield and with two holding midfielders such as Nocerino and De Jong that aren’t limited in the offensive phase of the game.
It’s hard to find teams without holding midfielders in their line up. In 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, one of the central midfielder is dependant to balance the team staying deep when the others go ahead. In a 4-3-1-2 the central midfielder can be a deep-lying playmaker or a defensive midfielder that has to stay in front of his back line. In a 4-4-2 formation both central midfielders can me more defensive.
Pablo Mastroeni and Jeff Larentowicz for Colorado are the example of pair of holding midfielders in the middle of the pitch. Philadelphia's Brian Carroll is one of the best MLS’ holding midfielder, as is Shalrie Joseph. With Tiago Ulisses, Gershon Koffie, Jun Marques Davidson and John Thorrington, Vancouver is loaded with holding midfielders and tacklers…while Toronto FC has relied on Torsten Frings (pre-injury), although Terry Dunfield’s display has granted him a spot into the CMNT line up. Montreal’s Felipe is better with the ball on his feet than playing as a defensive midfielde.
Michele Tossani is a football tactician with a Ph.D. in History. Michele resides in Florence, Italy and is a tactical analyst for Futbol-Tactico.com
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