 In this video I'm going to teach you how to boss the midfield by playing both sides of the game defending with discipline and attacking with purpose. Now even if you're not a midfielder this is a great video to watch because it's going to make you a more complete player. As a midfielder it's important that you're committed to playing both sides of the game attacking and defending and also you should enjoy both sides of the game regardless of your position. Learn to love making tackles and keeping clean sheets as much as you do beating players and scoring goals. If you can do this you'll instantly become a better player a more complete player and a more effective player on the field. A player who only attacks and doesn't come back to defend is not only cheating themselves but their team. Take pride in your defending and do everything you can to stop the opposition from scoring on you. Do everything you can to stop the opposition from possessing the ball in your third of the field. On the other side be ambitious with your attacking. Try to get forward as often as possible unless you're defending a lead and you really have to pick when you go forward and when you sit but otherwise have the desire to get forward and have the work rate to get forward. Get yourself some goals. Midfielders need to score goals. Just make sure when your team does lose possession and it's time to track back you're getting back as quickly as you can. Don't jog back and watch the man that you're responsible for get on the ball and do something dangerous. Sprint back as fast as you can. Once you're there then you can rest if you need. Be very aware of the speed at which you transition. If you lose possession don't waste a second complaining or trying to blame someone else. If you lose the ball try to win it back as quickly as possible. If your teammates lose the ball if this guy's on the ball and this is you here if your teammates lose the ball don't waste a second cursing him or being frustrated. Transition to defense immediately. Get back and even cover him. Do his work for him. Don't waste any time when your team or you individually loses possession of the ball. Switch immediately from attack to defense and get back in your defensive shape or try to win the ball if you're close to it. When you gain possession let's say we were defending and we gained possession immediately look for opportunities to play the ball forward. If you're not on the ball but your team wins possession get forward as soon as possible whether that means supporting the man on the ball or making a forward run into space to exploit open spaces left by the other team. The speed at which you transition from offense to defense and back is extremely important for a midfielder. Always stay focused catch yourself losing possession and then switching off in transition. Even if you do this for a half second this could result in a goal being conceded or a missed opportunity on the other side of the field. You're starting by wanting to defend. You're taking pride in your defending. You want to defend for the team and win that ball back. You're tracking back quickly when you're out of position. You're not jogging back you're tracking back as quickly as possible and getting into good shape to help your team defend. If you lose possession of the ball you're trying to win it back immediately. If we gain possession of the ball we're trying to play forward into dangerous areas immediately but if we do lose it and we can't win it right away we're getting back into our defensive shape as quickly as possible. Now the shape of the midfield would be the same as if we were looking at the back four. Everyone moves together as a unit so if the ball is out here on the wing the closest player to the ball presses everyone else shifts and covers in behind. If the ball gets switched to the other side of the field we're moving quickly the closest player of the midfield presses everyone else quickly shifts to cover in behind. We're not leaving big gaps we're not getting out of position because if we do that creates space for attacking players to get into and they can hurt us in these areas so we want to keep nice and tight like the defensive back forward the midfield is doing the same we're just doing it right in front of them. Now the same principles apply when it comes to defending pressing and covering when to go when to sit and if you want to watch a great tutorial on how to defend and it's a tutorial for defenders I just released yesterday I'll put the link in the description and that's a great tutorial to watch if you want to become better at defending which everyone should. However there are a few key principles I'd like to highlight for defending as a midfielder. Number one you can be a little more reckless when you're going in to win that ball because you have another line of defenders behind you. If I go in as this midfielder and I go for the ball I'm really ambitious I'm working hard I'm trying to win that ball back but I don't get it that's all right because I have my midfield three behind me and I also have a line of defenders behind them but if you do the same thing as a defender you run in like an idiot and you get beat very easily well now we're in a dangerous position but as that midfielder you can go after the ball without being too cautious because if you do get beat you'll have players to cover and further up the field the further you are of the field the more reckless you can be because if we get beat in this situation well that's all right they still have the whole field to try and hurt us if we're down in this area let's say we're defending deep and you are coming back to help defend as a midfield again here we need to be a little more cautious because a little touch to one side he might get enough space to whip across or get a shot on target but the further up the field you are the more reckless you can be with your pressing just make sure that if you do get beat in this situation let's say I was going for the ball and I did get beat in this situation don't waste a second complaining saying that I suck at defending or getting frustrated with yourself immediately track back and try to double up and win the ball or fill into another defensive position and help mark another player your midfield three will do the covering and protect you from making that mistake number two think about protecting as well as pressing so if you're the closest player to the ball you should be pressing but because you're a midfielder you're going to have players in behind you yes the defenders are responsible for these players but you want to think about protecting passing lanes into those attacking players as you approach the ball think about blocking off passing lanes so instead of running at him like this I might run at him like this and this player would go here and this player would go here and we are all blocking off potential passing lanes as opposed to if we were just blindly standing we weren't aware of what's around us we're opening up all these areas for these attacking players to get into so when you're pressing the ball think about a couple of things obviously you have to be aware by looking around your shoulder but you want to think about okay I'm closest I need to press the ball I need to force him to go backwards don't give him time to play but where is the player in behind me where can I block off a potential pass to cut off his options so now he has to go sideways and if this player got on the ball I would do something like this I would try to block off this passing lane as this player would go to press blocking off this passing lane so think about pressing but also protecting your backline as a midfield player as a midfielder when the ball gets played past you quickly turn to help out your defenders and double up don't just stand there and watch him do the defending and assume that he's got it under control any time that we can double up or triple up in the midfield without leaving ourselves vulnerable obviously if everyone goes to the ball then we're creating huge gaps for other players but one or two players and especially the midfielders can double up and help our defenders so we get more numbers around the ball and we can win the ball back quickly if you're playing in a wide area and the ball gets played into your into the opposing winger and your full back is doing a good job of closing him down don't just watch the full back double up and try to help out and win possession when we get more numbers around the ball we increase our chances of winning possession and then being able to quickly transition so whenever possible if you can help out and double up with your defenders to win back the ball do so if the man you're marking makes a forward run so let's say he plays this pass into this player and he makes a forward run you have to stay with him you have to track that man unless you're passing him off to a defender and you have to do so by communicating you can't just assume that this player is going to take him so let's say that player plays the pass you're going to press he plays the pass now he makes a forward run you have to track his run because if this player has a man he's already marking he's not going to be able to take two players he's going to be vulnerable you have to track and stay with that player if however you can say yes take my man or switch or can you take this guy and you see with your eyes you communicate with your eyes you communicate verbally you know he's going to pick him up okay then you can let him go and maybe you'll come and help and double up in this situation but you need to track that run worst case scenario you both track the defender and then we have more players behind the ball than we necessarily need but if a player is going to play a pass and get past you with a forward run you need to track him don't just watch the ball like most players do be aware of your man and where he's going follow him get into that defensive shape and then when the play gets up the field we can get back into our normal defensive position being a good attacker and playmaker all starts with your desire to get on the ball if you are hiding because you're afraid that you might make mistakes you'll never be a good player a good player gets on the ball makes mistakes and then wants to get the ball back the very next opportunity because you know you can do better and you want to prove that you can do better the next time so desire to get on the ball and be involved in the offense as much as possible now that you always want the ball whether you're playing well or not you have to learn to create space to get on the ball so how do you do this well if you're wide open then you don't necessarily have to move and that's the first step it's looking around you around you and being aware of where the space is so if you're wide open you can just stand there demand the ball receive it and then you can play if you're an immediate pass just ask for the ball right away if you are anticipating that the ball is going to come to you a little later then you want to think about getting into the good space at the right time so if I know that the ball is going to eventually come out to here as this ball is traveling here I'm already trying to create more space for myself he's already trying to create more space for him that ball gets played into him immediately now he has tons of space because he anticipated the ball was going to come there rather than reacting to what happens so aim to be in good space as the ball arrives at your feet now if you're being marked by someone and you're trying to get on the ball and you're making runs but you don't get it don't stop there keep moving and you probably created space for someone else to get on the ball so even if you are marked it's so important that you keep moving keep looking for the ball because if he doesn't give it to you that means there's space for someone else now if you are being marked tightly you're gonna have to be a little sharper with your movement instead of jogging into this space you might want to push off this guy sprint into this space so you can get a couple yards now you can play a pass and move the ball forward if you make your move to get on the ball and someone plays you the ball and someone's on you just play that ball back quickly and then move to find new space whether that's spinning in behind or just moving into new space creating space for someone else to dribble into or someone else to move into to potentially receive a pass you can also take your first touch away from the defender who is marking you so it's okay to have someone on you if you receive it take your touch away from them don't turn into them and get tackled easily be aware that they're on you and you can either play back as we said or you can take your touch away from them try to get turned and then play forward sideways or backwards to keep possession of the ball if however you can make a good run and you can get turned with space and you have to know that there's space in behind you because you're always looking don't do what most players do and just watch the ball so at this point this player is only watching the ball yes he wants to get on the ball which is great but he's not aware of what's behind him and behind him might be trouble behind him might be wide open space and he doesn't know that so he plays backwards or he takes a touch now he gets his head up now he turns and he's taken too long he's already been closed down so you have to be aware of what's around you do I have space to turn or is someone on me but if you can make a good run and you can receive the ball and you know there's space in behind you you get turned right away then you want to think about playing forward whenever possible the name of the game is to create chances and score goals so you want to have the mindset that whatever possible I want to play forward now if you can't play forward because the options aren't on don't force it or someone's coming to close you down and you can't see forward then you need to realize that okay maybe playing sideways or playing to someone in space is the best option so they can play forward you can't always go forward immediately but if we're moving the ball quickly your heads up you're always looking at where the space is where your teammates are you can find space for someone else and this allows them to play forward quickly now once you play forward make sure that you're actually getting forward with your movement whether that's making a run into the box or making a forward run to support the play if your teammate gets closed down you can receive the ball and if you can't go forward if you can do it without hesitation but if you can't again we'll just look for the space we'll switch the ball quickly and we'll play forward to someone else in a better position so think about creating space for yourself whenever possible you want to get turned and you want to play forward if you can't play forward we're happy to play sideways to create a new angle of forward attack if that isn't an option either we'll take the worst case scenario go backwards keep possession of the ball and we'll start another attack and go in the opposite direction thanks for watching this video i hope you found it helpful remember you want to play both sides of the game not just attacking you want to defend and you want to enjoy defending take pride in defending for your team defend with discipline and when you're on the ball remember you're trying to get on the ball whenever possible even if you make mistakes be brave enough to try again when you do get on that ball we're trying to play forward if we can't we're trying to play sideways to switch the play create space for another teammate to go forward and worst case we won't risk losing the ball we'll keep possession and we'll keep the attack moving so thanks for watching this video i hope you found it helpful if you're a midfielder if you did please give me a like before you leave if you have any questions comment below make sure you share this with your friends and teammates and come back tomorrow for another training video i'll talk to you real soon