A key goalpost is finally shifting: Rudraneil Sengupta writes on Rodri’s Ballon d’Or
Even legendary defensive midfielders have typically played in the shadows. Now, amid changes in play, new attitudes are altering how we view the field.
Rodri’s Ballon d’Or win is exciting for two reasons.
This is an award that crowns the best player in a European league (by extension, the best player in the world). Rodri, the 28-year-old star of Manchester City and the Spanish national team, well deserves it.
But his win is also a clear sign of the rise of the position of defensive midfielder. It’s exciting to see this position emerge from the shadows of the attacking counterparts, and finally get its due.
The Ballon d’Or has overwhelmingly been awarded to creative and attacking forces on the field. The last non-attacking player to win it before Rodri was Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro, in 2006. The last non-attacking player to win it before that was German defensive midfielder Matthias Sammer, in 1996.
An unfortunate preference for strikers, wingers and attacking midfielders has meant that legendary defensive players ended their careers without ever winning the ultimate prize. Such legends have included the Frenchman Claude Makelele, the “engine” that ran the famous Galacticos team of Real Madrid; Sergio Busquets, the footballing genius whose uncanny positional play freed up the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Lionel Messi to wreak havoc for Barcelona; and Patrick Vieira, the untiring ball-winning force behind Arsenal’s Invincible season and France’s 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro wins.
At least in some small way, Rodri’s win is a tip of the hat to them all. Testament to a much-delayed admission that a great defensive midfielder can make a team.
Attacking players have frequently said as much.
In El Macca (2004), his account of his four years with Real Madrid, Steve McManaman wrote: “I think Claude has this kind of gift—he’s been the best player in the team for years, but people just don’t notice him, don’t notice what he does. But you ask anyone at Real Madrid during the years we were talking about, and they will tell you he was the best player at Real. The Loss of Makalele was the beginning of the end for Los Galacticos,” he wrote.
Zinedine Zidane, the brightest star of that Madrid galaxy, had this to say when the Spanish club sold Makelele to make space for David Beckham: “Why put another layer of gold on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?”
Makelele was the archetype of the defensive midfielder of his time: a tireless runner who covered a huge area on the field, made critical interceptions, and constantly played simple passes to the likes of Zidane, to create attacking situations.
Another kind of defensive midfielder was personified by the likes of the Italian Gennaro Gattuso and the Manchester United legend Roy Keane. These were battling, combative players who made tackle after tackle to shield their defenders and allow space and time for attacking midfield partners to shine.
Football has become more protective of its men and women, so players can’t tackle with the same enthusiasm as Gattuso and Keane once did, which means the defensive midfielder must rely more on technique: perfect positioning, great awareness of where the ball may end up, and razor-sharp timing to pull of legal interceptions.
And that’s just to do the job. To claim greatness, they must also develop an ability to make creative, defence-splitting passes, find hidden spaces to run into to join the attack in the opponent’s box, and land a superb shot from range. Put it all together, and you have Rodri.
(To reach Rudraneil Sengupta with feedback, email rudraneil@gmail.com)
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