Why do the greats of Europe now sign less midfielders?

• Hazard. "I'm missing a goal or an assist to start tracing"
• Champions. Real Madrid group

The return of Luka Modric produces relief at Real Madrid, which made the virtue necessary to compress and gain momentum in two of the toughest places in the League, Sánchez Pizjuán and the Metropolitan. The return to the Champions League, this Tuesday (6:55 p.m. Movistar), in front of Bruges, occurs in peace, after a critical start in Paris that focused on Zidane and club planning, given the urgencies, due to the injuries, in the center of the field. The risk assumed by Madrid, however, is not a unique case, if the endowment of the main templates of the Champions is observed (see graph). Except in exceptional cases, their midfielders do not reach 30% of their components. Pedja Mijatovic , Suso García Pitarch and Joaquín Caparrós debate about a situation that has become a trend for the implementation of 4-3-3, the coach's preference for the soccer player with a goal and the limited availability of pure midfielders.

«The trainers ask you footballers for attack and good footing, even to play in the center of the field. In City, for example, we have De Bruyne and even Bernardo Silva , who is a striker, can play more late, ”explains Mijatovic, former player and former sports director of Madrid. García Pitarch, who currently carries out the same work at Aston Villa, in the Premier, adds: “It is true, but the City, at least, has been able to make one of the great hiring of the season in that position, as is Rodri. I do not explain how the greats of the Spanish League have let a player of that level escape, because they no longer appear, and when they do, they have to be maintained. Of course, they are players of 80 million, almost what City has paid for Rodri or Barcelona for De Jong . I agree with what Pedja [Mijatovic] says, because when you tell a coach that you are going to invest that amount, he usually tells you that you better spend it on a scorer. It has happened to me ». It was not the case of Zidane , who asked Paul Pogba over any other footballer. The operation shot up to around 200 million, an excessive figure for Madrid.

"When you used to do planning as a coach, the first thing you considered was to have two players per position," said Caparrós, who after a long career on the benches, occupied the sports direction of Sevilla. Mijatovic smiles with some irony: "Now you plan and then you pray, because you know that in those positions the casualties can leave you unbalanced, which is what happened to Madrid with the injuries of Isco and Luka [Modric]".

“Football moves by trends and now we are in the 4-3-3 fashion, which means there is one less midfielder in the lineup. The big teams have more money and they invest it in attackers, in scorers, who get to outnumber the midfielders, ”continues Caparrós. It happens in Madrid, with six means and eight forward, in the City (six and seven), Juventus (seven and eight), Atlético (five and seven) or Valencia (five and eight). The situation leads many of those strikers, as Mijatovic said, to be used in midfield positions. They can do Vitolo , in Atlético, in the same way as Lucas Vázquez , Asensio , now injured, or Hazard in Madrid.

"The same goes for defenses," Mijatovic continues. It is easy to find a central, but a central that gives fluid output to the ball and can adapt, at a time of the game, to play as a defensive midfielder, difficult. Sergio Ramos is an example. Those want coaches ». «It is true that on the occasion of the implementation of 4-3-3, the game is more direct, faster, but that does not mean that it is played worse. On the contrary, you need a lot of precision and for that you need high level technical players, ”reiterates the Serbian. The 4-3-3 is the system, even, of the daring Bruges.

Many would do well with a double pivot, return to a line of four and take fewer risks, because they do not have suitable players

The greats of the Champions, powerful and with money, reserve the best. All have the figure of the classic midfielder, the player-beacon, the five. Although with different characteristics, they are Henderson (Liverpool), Eriksen (Tottenham) Busquets , De Jong and Arthur (Barcelona), Jorginho and Kanté (Chelsea), Pjanic (Juventus), Thiago and Javi Martínez (Bayern), Casemiro (Madrid) , Thomas , Marcos Llorente and Koke (Atlético), Coquelin and Kondogbia (Valencia) or Verratti (PSG). Modric and Kroos (Madrid), Parejo (Valencia) or Ander Herrera (PSG) have ended up fulfilling that work with a more creative role, despite their upbringing in the midfield.

Valverde , a natural interior, is another of the players Zidane has asked to do defensive midfielder work during the most critical weeks for Madrid. Thanks to this, you have more options to play than Vinicius or Rodrygo . The same circumstance has made Casemiro a must.

In front of Osasuna, Valverde was at a great level and in the Metropolitan he returned to the title. That day, the area was for a colossus, Thomas, destined to fulfill the role played by Tiago or Gabi in Atlético. Simeone's project has always had a mast in the defensive midfielder. In Moscow, this Tuesday, against Lokomotiv, Thomas will be titularism.

Relieved the crisis and back Modric, Zidane has left out of the call to James and Bale. The foci of Madrid pass to Hazard, for which the coach asks for patience. He knows that his quality will appear in a long course, so much so that he will remember Pogba again. Insurance.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Real Madrid
• Luka modric
• Eden Hazard
• Rodri
• Sergio Ramos
• Marcos Llorente
• Isco Alarcón
• Gabi
• Koke
• Champions League
• sports
• football
• Atlético de Madrid

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