Feel free to suggest anyone who fits criteria
Midfielders who can play as no 6/no 8
- Thread starter croadyman
- Start date
Caqueret.
Caicedo I reckon
Rabiot
Rabiot
Orkun Kokcu from Feyenoord
Anguissa
In general? Enzo Fernandez
affordable for United? Ugarte
affordable for United? Ugarte
Iouga fits the bill too.
The recent obsession with calling midfielders 6 and 8 is strange, never heard it until a few years ago. A midfielder that can attack and defend? Most midfielders worth their salt can play both roles.
Bennacer
Caicedo.
I don't understand this. The best DMs in the world would be a shadow of themselves if they had to play #8. Same with the best #8s having to play #6.
I don't understand this. The best DMs in the world would be a shadow of themselves if they had to play #8. Same with the best #8s having to play #6.
Ngolo Kante 
What about formations that don’t have an 8 or a 6? Like 343, 442, 4231 etc. There are specialist examples like Busquets for example but in most teams a midfielder is a midfielder and is flexible to play across centre midfield.
All of these formations have a 6 or an 8, they represent roles. Personally I grew up with those terms, they are older than me and older than my parents.
A brilliant & eye-opening op.
All of those formations almost always have a more defensive minded midfielder next to someone that is more creative and can transition the play into an attack quickly.
United have been playing a 4-2-3-1 with Fred / Eriksen at #8 and Casemiro / McTominay at #6 for years now.
When ETH put Fred or Eriksen at #6 this season with McTominay at #8, we lost by a big margin in most of those particular matches if I recall correctly. Brentford away was one of these games. There are loads of elite central midfielders that have a very specific skillset that can be utilised to great effect at #6 or #8, but switch the 2 positions up and you're just hindering the whole team.
There are versatile players too, of course.
It has to be cultural, because 30 years ago in France we were trained from a young age to play as 6 or 8 or 10. Basically as soon as you reached a good level with proper coachs, you were guided towards a specific role based on your skillset.
It might have been different in UK because 442 was the blueprint for you. But for the rest of Europe, this idea of 2 box to box midfielders has never been a thing.
Before the switch to 433 the best midfielders could play both roles. I actually prefer midfielders who can play/do both, even if they excel in a specific role.
Playing in midfield 2 you had to be good at both sides. I particularly dislike specialist DMs who lack ability on the ball.
Yes, but football has evolved a lot since then. It's also very system & player specific. For example, at United, could you see Casemiro carrying out Eriksen's duties and vice versa?
6 and 8 have always existed hence the shirt numbers…
Exactly. We also have terms that would translate in english to water-carrier(6), torchbearer(8) and game manager(10).
Casemiro can play 8 yes. Eriksen at 6 no but Eriksen was more of an attacker 10/11 than an 8 anyway
I appreciate the evolution, I just prefer well rounded midfielders even today
I also appreciate well rounded midfielders, but IMO you need more specialists if you want to have one of the best midfields around.
Great 6, awful 8.Ngolo Kante
I would say hes a better 8 than 6 to be honest
Exactly. He has mainly played as an 8 and he actually needed time to adapt to the 6 role.
Kante has played as No 8 for most of his career and that's where he has earned his reputation , I don't understand how can you say he is awful in that role .
Casemiro to me is a bad example we have seen he has goals and assists in his locker, there are plenty of DM's/6's that are very limited in terms of their footballing ability, I wouldn't dread Casemiro playing with another DM for instance in the same way I would say a Makelele
It seems I have a wrong understanding about what the role of the 6 is then. I've never seen Kante as an 8.
Correct me if wrong my understanding is that the 6 is the midfielder who's got the defensive role in the midfield and the 8 is the one with the attacking role. I've never seen Kante as an attacking player.
Or he’s neither. He’s just a central midfielder. He doesn’t sit back like the defensive #6, he doesn’t attack like the attacking #8.
Watching the Champions League this week, the two big matches, who were the #6s? Rodri the only that came to mind. The rest were interchanging and versatile.
Except 6 in English football shirt numbers is a centre back… 4 is that role. So to avoid confusion, saying the name of the positions is usually easier.
Kante has always been more of a roaming box to box player, than a 6, who sits at the base of the midfield and, moreso than the 8, needs to hold his position in front of the defence.
Vieira was basically the last great of the allround midfielders who were equally comfortable holding as they were going forwards. And him and Petit were basically the last proper pairing of two such midfielders.
I certainly wouldn't want to have played Scholes as a 6.
There have always been some players who could do both to a fairly good level, but most central midfielders (even the top ones) are obviously much stronger at one than the other. And as everything has become more specialised over the last 20 years that has probably become even more true.
Caicedo, Bennacer, Rabiot, Ugarte and Valverde off the top of my head and possibly Lavia in time and I’d say all of them are attainable. I’d personally be happy with Caicedo and Rabiot or Bennacer and Lavia coming in this summer which pound for pound should work out similarly money wise.
An 8 is mainly a transition player which is where Kanté thrives. What made Kanté great was his ability to start and kill transitions. A traditional 6 is a purely defensive midfielder like Edmilson, Makélélé or Marcos Senna.
Spot on.
Andre Trindade
Enzo Le Fee
Enzo Le Fee
That's not the case. We always had a 6 and 8. The 10 is what changed from being a forward to a 3rd midfielder.
How you use your 6 and 8 varies. But whether it's a midfield 2 or 3, those 2 are key and those 2 are there. And it is absolutely not the case where they can play in the other role. Could Scholes play in Keane's role? Could Keane play in Scholes' role? There we had Keane as a 6 and Scholes as an 8. Others have the playmaker as the 6 who holds space and the ball winner as the 8 (think Jorginho - Kante).
It's absolutely key to have a 6 who understands how to hold position, how to close and cover space. It is not an all action guy who is tackling all over the pitch, it's a player with positional sense and makes sure the space in front of the defence is ALWAYS protected. They can have other aspects to their game, but that bit is consistent, and without a player in midfield who understands that positioning is a key skill and not one that can be easily learned, a team will never be properly balanced. 30 years ago that held true, just as it does now.
I wouldn't say that for the 6. I'd say a 6 is just the player who is the guy who controls the deep spaces. Positioning is the most important there. But they can be a playmaker and don't have to be a traditional defensive midfielder. Jorginho for example is a playmaking #6, same with Carrick, same with Busquets but in a different way. They sit the deepest, they don't move that much out of position, they tend to cover spaces but you can have a ball winner like Kante next to them in a different style of 6 - 8 partnership.
Kroos was the 6 in a deep playmaker sort of way, Modrić and Valverde the roaming 8's. For me it's key for a 6 to not be a roaming player. Doesn't mean they are a clear DM, more so they are stationary in terms of positioning to make sure the space is covered. Tonali for Milan, Lobotka for Napoli, Kimmich for Bayern, Brozović for Inter... Haven't paid much attention to Benfica but I think that's Florentino Luis for them? Though not sure how him and Chiquinho, who is the more stationary one and who roams more. For us for example, Casemiro doesn't roam much. Eriksen might pick the ball up deeper, but he moves all over and transitions forward.