Tayler Willson

The centre of midfield is possibly the most important area of a football team. It operates almost everything and if the midfield have an off-day, then so do the entire squad. Here, we focus on the attacking midfielder and those who enjoy pushing forward to assist their more offensive colleagues, or to grab the goals themselves.

Tottenham winger Gareth Bale is on flames right now, so much so that he has drawn comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo. He is not in the same bracket as the great Portugal international, not yet, but he is setting the Premier League alight with his powerful surges through the middle of the pitch, the sprints down either flank and his lengthy shots the smash the back of the net.

What does every manager look for in a right winger? Perhaps they look at the speed. Perhaps the strength and the willingness to try and beat a player. Maybe they concentrate on the final ball and the accuracy of the delivery. Whatever it is, managers focus on different attributes and in this list we look at a mixture of the above.

The defensive midfielder. The anchorman. The deep-lying midfielder. However you describe the position, the chances are that you do not appreciate the importance of the individual(s) that are deployed there.