World class “water carriers” – The importance of holding midfielders

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Back in the 1990′s, flamboyant France and Manchester United star Eric Cantona derisively labelled Didier Deschamps, the captain of the 1998 World Cup winning French team, a ‘water carrier’. The current Les Bleus coach, who used to play as a central defensive midfielder, did not for sure have the skill and panache of a Zinedine Zidane, Cristophe Dugarry or a Youri Djorkaeff. But his importance to the side lay in the fact that his constant presence in front of the back four enabled the likes of Zidane and Djorkaeff to focus on their attacking game, and paved the way for the French team’s first and so far only ever success in the competition. Employed in a similar role at Juventus, Chelsea and Marseille among other clubs during his career, Deschamps is a true success story, maximising his potential for the best of his team.

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The fast-paced, pass-and-move nature of football today makes it more and more difficult for a pure defensive midfielder to find a spot in top quality sides. The focus is now more on the sort of player who presents a wide range of pin-point passing, capable of sitting in the hole between defense and attack and orchestrating play from that role.