The Death of the Pure 10 and the Evolution of the Advanced 8.

A thread:

In the early 2000’s to 2010’s, teams loved to play in a formation with an attacking midfielder. They were the most coveted and dangerous position on the field.

Some famous players in this position are:
- Kaka (Bdo winner)
- Zidane (Bdo winner)
- Sneijder (UCL winner)
- Özil

Clubs started using the 4-2-3-1 formation a lot more to counter the common 4-4-2 formation.

Attacking midfielders had more time and space on the ball to create and disrupt opposition midfields.

Attacking midfielders tended to be smaller in stature and less physical than their other teammates so managers liberated them of any defensive duties.

But as time passed, managers recognized the problem and to nullify the opposing teams’ CAM, they also played a 4-2-3-1 as well.

This allowed them to have TWO defensive mids marking out the CAM and prevented them from having any time and space on the ball.

This is when football evolved.

Lead by Pep’s famous Barcelona team, teams switched to a 4-3-3 formation as they wanted their more technical players to have more time and space on the ball.

This meant that the CAM had to drop deeper, hence the rise of the advanced 8.

The advanced 8 coupled with the discovery of “inverted wingers” that cut inside and occupied the same space as CAM’s, caused the attacking midfield position to become obsolete.

The games became quicker and more physical and teams couldn’t afford any players to be lax in defense.

Attacking midfielders were faced with a difficult choice:

Adapt or watch the game evolve around them. CAM’s commonly adapted by dropping deeper into midfield or moving out wide.

Some players that adapted from a traditional 10:

- Thiago - CM
- D.Silva - CM
- Fernandinho - DM
- Verratti - CM
- B. Silva - CM/Wing
- Draxler - Wing/CM
- Mata - Wing/occasional CAM

Luka Modric is the greatest example of this adaptation, along with hi fellow teammate and former CAM, Toni Kroos.

Players who failed to adapt were shoehorned into different positions in midfield. Özil was made to play on the wing, CM and even as a forward but all to no avail, because of his lack of pace and physicality.

The same treatment was given to Coutinho at Barca and James at Madrid.

Isco was the only player who was able to persist in playing as a traditional 10 and continue to produce world class performances.

But this was due to the fact that Zidane changed his entire formation to a diamond 4-4-2 to bring the best out the Spaniard in 16/17.

If players like James, Ozil, Coutinho etc want to flourish then they will have to overcome their physical disadvantages and learn to adapt to the modern game.

Until then, they’ll forever be a shadow of their former self.

Retweets greatly appreciated btw this shit took me bare long