Is DM the most important position in football?

[Mockney]

On the Declan Rice thing… obviously Rice alone isn’t going to win them stuff, just as putting Shearer in Newcastle, Ronaldo in Inter or potentially Haaland in City didn’t make them win the league, despite being potentially the best in the World in their position in already very good sides. It all relative to the team around them of course, but it’s also fair to say that West Ham HAVE been punching above their weight for the last couple seasons before this one - not to mention doing better in Europe than they’ve ever done before.

The question is - would West Ham be better/worse if they had a player of similar quality in another position instead of having Declan Rice? Or does Rice have more impact than having, say, Odegaard instead, but a shit DM?

 

[bosnian_red]

Getting the defensive midfield balance and your main goalscorer role are the 2 most important for sure, and the 2 hardest to figure out. Said it for ages. Can't be successful without sorting out your midfield balance.

 

[do.ob]

Players from any position can make or break your team. If I remember correctly GoalImpact once called GK the most important position in the team and I kind of agree in the sense that it's probably the hardest role to compensate via other players, because there are things that only a GK is allowed to do (or should do, e.g. sweeping). Everywhere else on the pitch you can compensate a mediocre player with tactics or a team mate, who supports him in his job.

 

[marktan]

No, Casemiro(and Kante and Makelele) happens to be an all time great, a transformative player

Agreed.

For me personally, and it's hard to quantify what exactly is the most important position using stats or a certain criteria, for me the most important position is the wide forward. Without at least one top forward, it doesn't matter how good the rest of the team is, you'll struggle to score and create. The very best CL winning teams tend to have two.

Just from memory, great teams have needed a wide forward catalyst to build from and to give them an edge. Mane and then Salah at Liverpool. A young Ronaldo at United. Saka currently at Arsenal. Vinicius at Madrid. Leao on form at Milan. Rashford currently for United.

You could argue that a position like DM overall has more benefits to then team, but for me if given the choice between a world class wide forward and a world class DM (not Case level) to begin a new team with then I'd go for the wide forward.

 

[Lay]

Fullbacks

 

[Moby]

Nowhere near to the most important. The primary attackers and creative attackers/midfielders is by far more important.

 

[The Red Thinker]

If you’re a possession team or a transition team then absolutely yes. Casemiro for us. Busquets for Barca. I am honestly still so chuffed about beating Barca when they played Busquets AND De Jong. Incredible possession and progression. Just wow! To have midfielders who focus on pressing and defending when you’re facing an opposition transition attack or a well rounded passing attack is everything. They may not contribute to winning. But they give you a chance. They at least stop a loss. So yes. Most important role.

 

[SATA]

No. It’s the striker. You put prime RvP, Rooney or Haaland in most football teams and they would win you most games

 

[Raees]

Massively important. I’d say a good CM pairing - CDM/CM regista, GK, Striker, one magician ball carrier out wide and at least one top CB - those are like fundamental basics for building a decent side that can compete. Very tough to say one is the most important but is it one of the key areas of the pitch - hell yes.

 

[TheRedHearted]

I would say it comes down to a good spine, so DM is obviously included in that but like someone said previously you can't just say one specific position is the most important. It is becoming a very important position these days compared to when the premier league first started though, as managers seem to prefer 4-3-3 formation rather than 4-4-2.

Exactly. If your CB is shit you’ll be leaking goals, if your Striker can’t score you’re less likely to ever win one. Of course someone else can chip in with a goal, but still.

 

[giorno]

Players from any position can make or break your team. If I remember correctly GoalImpact once called GK the most important position in the team and I kind of agree in the sense that it's probably the hardest role to compensate via other players, because there are things that only a GK is allowed to do (or should do, e.g. sweeping). Everywhere else on the pitch you can compensate a mediocre player with tactics or a team mate, who supports him in his job.

A bad goalkeeper can outright sink an otherwise great team, agreed. In terms of what's the base level a team can get away with, it's the most important position to not get wrong, yeah

 

[jm99]

I'd mostly attribute that to Fergie's high octane gung ho style style football more than anything else something which Fergie had given up on completely by the time he won his second European cup.

I doubt our treble winning team would ever become stumped the way our 2008 team became when they faced Barcelona, Fergie missed a trick by not investing in the middle more than he did.

Tbf he did invest in the middle, we were just unlucky that Hargreaves was made of biscuits, and then fletcher got suspended in the last minute for the final in 2009.

 

[11101]

R9 never won the CL (see Madrid post Makalele) and didn’t win much in Seria A, either (despite them having an absolutely insane front line around him too) Though the great Brazil sides of 98-2002 admittedly didn’t really have a world class DM either.

That was down to injuries though. He was still world class at Madrid but he wasnt the freak of nature when he was winning games on his own.

 

[Demyanenko_square_jaw]

It's usually too reductive to suggest one outfield position is the most important in a sport with ten of them. Generally i'd say the spine of the team is the area you really have to get right and balanced, but it can depend on tactical trends too.

Even for examples of great players like Makelele that are being justifiably used to show the impact of a top DM, he has teams like Celta Vigo where he was less important. They had a great midfield at the time and he contributed to that, but they were just as good in the season before he arrived, and for three seasons after he went to Real Madrid. However, when Karpin left and one season later Mostovoy aged out, they were instantly relegated. Being fair, the dropoff likely wouldn't have been quite that bad without the club also having financial problems at the time, but still...a clear example of other midfield positions capable of being far more important than even one of the greatest defensive midfielders.

 

[andersj]

I also think the importance of Casemiro is big, but also made even bigger by the fact that we did not have a DM for a long time. Our option to Casemiro is McTominay. Not only is McTominay not good enough for a team wanting to win the PL, he is not a DM.

(I know not everyone agree, but Matic probably needed to play next to a Casemiro, just like McTominay and Fred.)

 

[Zehner]

I think CMs actually are. A player like Modric, Kimmich or Kroos elevates your team automatically. I think there's no other position in which you can make so many good plays in such frequency.

 

[jm99]

I also think the importance of Casemiro is big, but also made even bigger by the fact that we did not have a DM for a long time. Our option to Casemiro is McTominay. Not only is McTominay not good enough for a team wanting to win the PL, he is not a DM.

(I know not everyone agree, but Matic probably needed to play next to a Casemiro, just like McTominay and Fred.)

Yeah I think this is part of it, DMs on his level are rare so its not just the importance of the position, its the drop on quality from the other options

 

[Mb194dc]

Water carrier players never get any respect. Along with goal scorers they're the most important in top teams.

Who almost all play 433. 6 is hardest role to play at WC level. Can't make mistake and make the team tick.

A top DM is the difference between titles or not. Even with a world class attack.