The Central Midfielder

I've taken to reading Zonal Marking a lot these days and they had a recent article on the role of the central midfielder that I thought was excellent. The article has a bunch of video compilations in it as well showing all touches in one game by various players. The Sergio Busquets' vs. Arsenal video is one of the better ones. Definitely worth a read if you are interested in learning more about the role of today's central midfielders.

In addition to the scope of the article itself, I like the small insight into the Barcelona philosophy:

“Receive, pass, offer, receive, pass, offer” is the Barcelona mantra for midfielders.