In essence, the holding midfielder holds his position as the other, more attack-minded midfielders run forward in the quest for goals. He both acts as a screen in front of the backline and as a link between the defence and the attack.
Thus, the holding midfielder needs to be defensively astute, physically strong and good on the ball at the same time. The Premier League, since its inception in 1992, has seen a plethora of great holding midfielders who have been instrumental in bringing glory to their teams.
Five best holding midfielders in Premier League history
The EPL was a harbinger of modernity in football in many ways, and the game witnessed a lot of strategic inventions in line with the same. The advent of world-class holding midfielders was a part of the process.
In this article, we will count down the five best holding midfielders the league has seen. Without further ado, let’s get started.
#5 N’Golo Kante
We begin with possibly the most famous holding midfielder in contemporary Premier League football: the French World Cup winner N’Golo Kante.
Kante rose to prominence as a towering presence in the Leicester City team of 2015-16 that scripted a fairytale championship run. After his heroics at Leicester, the Frenchman was scooped up by Chelsea, where he won the PFA Footballer of the Year award for the club in his first season.
The Blues got what they were looking for. With Kante running the show in midfield, Chelsea embarked on a successful title run of their own.
A late bloomer who came into his own only in his 20s, Kante is renowned for his work ethic and discipline. Often the master of turning over possession and launching his team forward, Kante can also transition into a box-to-box player who can run forward with the ball to devastating effect. However, he is at his best when sitting in front of his defence, like a true holding midfielder.
#4 Xabi Alonso
A Champions League and FA Cup winner with Liverpool, Xabi Alonso was unlucky never to have won the Premier League with the Reds despite being part of a very strong team.
A deep-lying maestro, Alonso was not a typical holding midfielder because of the value he added to the team going forward both in terms of his passing and vision as well as his ability to conjure key goals.
Alonso was great defensively too. He was more adept and keen on breaking up opposition play than his more attack-minded colleagues such as Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, who has called Alonso the best midfielder he has ever played with, or Xavi Hernandez and Andreas Iniesta in the Spain national team.
In essence, Xabi Alonso allowed the more creative players in his team to roam forward freely because of his reassuring presence behind them.
#3 Gilberto Silva
A Brazilian master of a different kind, Gilberto Silva was the protector of great attacking sides and possibly the most vital cog in their great successes.
For his national team, Silva played a stellar role as a screen in front of the backline in their 1998 FIFA World Cup win; for Arsenal, he was the ‘invisible wall’ that helped them win the league without losing a game.
A brilliant holding midfielder, Silva shadowed his adversary relentlessly, never rushing into a tackle, and more often than not, turned over the ball to set his team on their way to the goal.
His great passing sense complemented his defensive nous; Silva notched up 24 goals and 12 assists in 243 games for the Gunners during a wonderful stint in England.
#2 Fernandinho
We cannot reiterate often enough how vital a good holding midfielder is for a relentlessly attacking team.
Current Manchester City captain Fernandinho has played that role with aplomb for Pep Guardiola’s magicians, with the record-breaking Cityzens ruling the roost in the Premier League before meeting their match in Liverpool last season.
Fernandinho can slot in at the heart of the defence in a crisis, proving his versatility. However, he is at his best when playing as a deep-lying midfielder who can also run forward, not unlike Kante, and contribute to the attack with his passing and long-range shooting.
The Brazil international has notched up 23 goals and 26 assists for the club. His tackling and coverage is also pitch-perfect, more often than not. With him in the side, the Kevin De Bruynes and David Silvas could wield their magic freely.
At 35, and still going strong, the Brazilian has already won three Premier League titles.
#1 Claude Makelele
One of the greatest holding midfielders the game has ever seen, Claude Makelele was a Real Madrid star and a Champions League winner with the club before he was inexplicably moved on to England.
The Frenchman was undeterred by the change of clime, becoming a midfield lynchpin for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, who won two back-to-back Premier League titles in 2004-05 and 2005-06.
A typically great Mourinho side, Chelsea were notoriously difficult to break down during that period, and Makelele played a huge role in them achieving their water-tight reputation.
Makelele made the holding midfielder role an art form in the Premier League, with his ability to read the game and break up play, mark with precision, tackle and head the ball to safety as a great wall in front of his defence.
Special mention- Roy Keane: One of the greatest midfielders of the Premier League era, Manchester United’s Roy Keane won everything possible as the Red Devils’ inspirational captain.
A tough tackler and a great organiser, Keane, especially in his prime, was a classic box-to-box central midfielder, who played his part at both ends of the pitch with equal aplomb. Though he was deployed in a deep-lying role often, he cannot be classified as a true holding midfielder.
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