Sir Les doesn't like them apparently.
Tottenham coach Les Ferdinand believes the holding midfielder is an unnecessary staple in many of today's football teams.
The former Spurs and England striker, who is now part of the coaching team at Tottenham headed by Tim Sherwood, has bemoaned a 'crop' of players who don't want to cross the halfway line.
He told the Tottenham and Wood Green Journal: “I know there’s a lot of talk about holding midfield players, and I’m always arguing with Tim and Chris (Ramsey) about this – and they agree,” he said.
“I don’t like holding midfield players. I like players to understand that if one goes forward, the other one tucks in for them. I don’t want someone who just sits in front of the back four and doesn’t go anywhere. I was saying to William Gallas when he was here, the worst thing that happened in this league was Claude Makelele.
He added: “When Makelele came into this country he wasn’t a holding midfield player. He was a player who had the intelligence to say ‘Frank [Lampard], you can score more goals than me so if you go I’m going to tuck in here for you, and I’ll hold. You keep going forward’.
“Then everyone went ‘right, we’ve got to have a holding midfield player’ - and what we’ve done is produce a crop of players who don’t want to go over the halfway line, who don’t want to pass over the halfway line and are happy to just sit in front of the back four.
The 47 year-old's view may give us some insight into why last summer's £9m signing, Etienne Capoue has been told he can leave White Hart Lane this month after being deemed surplus to requirements by the current regime.
Tottenham face Manchester Ciy on Wednesday night and Ferdinand believes the success of Spurs' opponents vindicates his view.
“People say Yaya Toure is a holding midfielder. No he isn’t, he’s getting forward and getting goals - but if someone else goes he’ll stay in there.
“Fernandinho’s scoring goals. Why? Because he’s a holding player? No. They’ve just got an understanding: ‘If he goes, I’ll hold, and if I go he’ll hold’.”
Source: http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...e--tottenham-coach-les-ferdinand-9090259.html
I sort of agree and disagree with him on this one. I liked Makelele, he was disciplined and it allowed him to hone his defensive skills making him the best in the game at what he did. On the other hand I said at the start of the season that top clubs were moving away from a holding midfielder, or that they are at least being asked to contribute more to the overall game. It's partly down to the rise of 4231 as a formation, which renewed more a partnership feel in midfield but any line up that's flexible enoud can accomodate a partnership. Bayern look like they have Lahm as a holding player but for all his defensive uses he's also one of Bayern's main outlets, controlling the pace of the game and their formation is so fluid that you often see them in a 4411 without the ball.
Anyway, I still think having a midfielder with more defensive responsibility is important as it provides a stable base for the defence and midfield to work around, you don't want to be constantly looking for your midfield partner on the pitch so a holding midfielder keeps things simple which is important as partnerships don't form overnight.
Looks like a 4 in the midfield is the tactic of choice Ferdinand at least and I wouldn't be surprised if it was for Sherwood too.
Tottenham coach Les Ferdinand believes the holding midfielder is an unnecessary staple in many of today's football teams.
The former Spurs and England striker, who is now part of the coaching team at Tottenham headed by Tim Sherwood, has bemoaned a 'crop' of players who don't want to cross the halfway line.
He told the Tottenham and Wood Green Journal: “I know there’s a lot of talk about holding midfield players, and I’m always arguing with Tim and Chris (Ramsey) about this – and they agree,” he said.
“I don’t like holding midfield players. I like players to understand that if one goes forward, the other one tucks in for them. I don’t want someone who just sits in front of the back four and doesn’t go anywhere. I was saying to William Gallas when he was here, the worst thing that happened in this league was Claude Makelele.
He added: “When Makelele came into this country he wasn’t a holding midfield player. He was a player who had the intelligence to say ‘Frank [Lampard], you can score more goals than me so if you go I’m going to tuck in here for you, and I’ll hold. You keep going forward’.
“Then everyone went ‘right, we’ve got to have a holding midfield player’ - and what we’ve done is produce a crop of players who don’t want to go over the halfway line, who don’t want to pass over the halfway line and are happy to just sit in front of the back four.
The 47 year-old's view may give us some insight into why last summer's £9m signing, Etienne Capoue has been told he can leave White Hart Lane this month after being deemed surplus to requirements by the current regime.
Tottenham face Manchester Ciy on Wednesday night and Ferdinand believes the success of Spurs' opponents vindicates his view.
“People say Yaya Toure is a holding midfielder. No he isn’t, he’s getting forward and getting goals - but if someone else goes he’ll stay in there.
“Fernandinho’s scoring goals. Why? Because he’s a holding player? No. They’ve just got an understanding: ‘If he goes, I’ll hold, and if I go he’ll hold’.”
Source: http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...e--tottenham-coach-les-ferdinand-9090259.html
I sort of agree and disagree with him on this one. I liked Makelele, he was disciplined and it allowed him to hone his defensive skills making him the best in the game at what he did. On the other hand I said at the start of the season that top clubs were moving away from a holding midfielder, or that they are at least being asked to contribute more to the overall game. It's partly down to the rise of 4231 as a formation, which renewed more a partnership feel in midfield but any line up that's flexible enoud can accomodate a partnership. Bayern look like they have Lahm as a holding player but for all his defensive uses he's also one of Bayern's main outlets, controlling the pace of the game and their formation is so fluid that you often see them in a 4411 without the ball.
Anyway, I still think having a midfielder with more defensive responsibility is important as it provides a stable base for the defence and midfield to work around, you don't want to be constantly looking for your midfield partner on the pitch so a holding midfielder keeps things simple which is important as partnerships don't form overnight.
Looks like a 4 in the midfield is the tactic of choice Ferdinand at least and I wouldn't be surprised if it was for Sherwood too.
