From playmaking midfielders to the most dominant forwards, we’ve seen them all. The current season of the Premier League has offered more than what we have expected, most importantly, a stampede of new signings that have flourished not only for their teams but also for their own individual accords. The most important job on the pitch? You may think of the goalscorers and the defenders who are the gears that propel in both the front and the back of the pitch. However, there is something more to the build-up of modern football.
These powerful, quick and agile deep-lying playmakers, who are known to deny waves of attacks put forward by the opposition, and also offer the offence an avalanche of opportunities. From the legends like Claude Makelele and Patrick Vieira to the most recent ones in the form of N’golo Kante and Sergio Busquets, the defensive midfield is a position that has always proven to be an important element in a football team, being both, the playmakers and the day-savers, these ‘tanks’, as we like to call them, are more than just an addition to their current teams.
3 Fernandinho – Manchester City
The Brazilian central defensive-midfielder was one of the core reasons Manchester City grabbed the 2017/18 Premier League title last season. An intelligent and resilient deep-lying playmaker, who lies as a central mechanism of the Manchester City engine, Fernandinho has made some of the most important tackles this season. With his leadership qualities and his ability to take control of the play, this Brazilian maestro is more than just a player in his team. A world class ‘Regista’, he has been criticized in the past for disciplinary issues, but that naturally comes from the fact that his position is absolutely demanding.
2 Georgino Wijnaldum – Liverpool
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Yet another central midfielder, who transitioned into a deep-lying playmaker, Wijnaldum is the Dutch powerhouse that drives the unbeaten run of the current Liverpool squad. An integral part of taking his team all the way to the Champions League finals last season, Wijnaldum is a tactician who needs no introduction.
This season marks an important chapter in his life, as he looks forward to making the best use of his new role in the squad, being a defensive-midfielder in all means, Wijnaldum now co-ordinates with the likes of Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk, in order to form a trio that blocks, tackles and denies all sorts of attacking options from the frontline of the opposition. A revelation for the 27-year-old, in terms of his new position, has been a success in all means, as he now looks forward to carrying this form to the upcoming matches.
1 Jorginho – Chelsea
Most people here wouldn’t agree with the fact that this Italian International should be on top of the list, as his fellow teammate N’golo Kante is a better, more aggressive holding-midfielder in the squad. However, the last four games that Chelsea have played saw a transition in which the two midfielders function.
N’golo Kante now plays as a box-to-box midfielder or as a central playmaker, occasionally doing the defending for his team. The credit goes to this former Napoli menace, as he has relieved the Frenchman from his defensive midfielder duties, playing the role of a ‘Regista’ or a deep-lying playmaker under the realm of Maurizio Sarri.