(UPDATE: SUMMER 2025) In our previous episode, we took a look at everyone’s favorite midfield role (that is, everyone except for me. UPDATE: Sooo yeah, that’s kinda changed… 😅). That’s right, the Soccermanager Experience’s favorite role in the ENTIRETY of Soccer is the ‘Ball Winning Midfielder’! (UPDATE: 😶🌫️)
An unsung hero on the pitch, the ‘Ball Winning Midfielder’ does all of the work that may be considered “boring” or “dangerous”. He allows the rest of his attack to do the ball progression and creation while he screens his defence in an attempt to prevent the opposition from getting into harmful positions on the transition. Many dislike these types of players due to their limited ball playing skills, but I couldn’t care less about that because I know that defences win trophies, and there’s no more important role in the middle of the park than the ‘B.W.M’. (UPDATE: Okay, here me out… I still believe that ‘Ball Winning Midfielders’ are indispensable, but this written when I had an obsession with a fast flowing, wingback overlapping style of football which required an anchor in the middle of the pitch…)
ATTACKING PHASE
Majority of ‘Ball Winning Midfielders’ do not have any attacking responsibilities thus allowing them to keep things concise on the ball by passing it to their attacking teamates and despite modern day soccer forcing them to adapt more expanisveness on the ball, their primary objective will always be to keep things simple and focus on the phase below.
DEFENSIVE PHASE
Here is where ‘Ball Winning Midfielders’ earn their contract. The reason why I consider this position as my favourite is due to the amount of work that this role requires during the defensive phase being so underrated (UPDATE: I still have that perception! 💯). ‘B.W.M’s scan the pitch to create angles making opposition players feel they can attempt a pass only to then inercept it, they are aggressive in the tackle, they have to constantly listen to the information their D(C) is providing them while still using their own intution to sniff out danger as well as informing their teammates in front of them ALL while playing within the area of the pitch that is the most fatigue inducing. Don’t even get me started about the fact that all of the above traits are done off the ball which requires incredible amounts of Concentration and footballing IQ. No other role can surpass the importance of this one. (I was such a fan boy of this role… 😄)
POSITIONAL TRAITS
‘Ball Winning Midfielders’ are another specialist role in that they are only capable of playing as a DM(C). In order to ensure that your player is playing the ‘B.W.M’ role, you’ll need to point his arrow to defending, but unlike the ‘Deep-lying Playmaker’, you should NEVER use your ‘Ball Winning Midfielder’ as your playmaker (ever!). They’re some ‘B.W.M’s’ who can play as a ‘D.L.P’ ( Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Emre Can, for example), but even in these situstions you still shouldn’t tick the ‘use playmaker’ box. You can place their name in the slot, but just don’t tick the box. (UPDATE: With the new player role set up it’s easier to pick your ‘Ball Winning Midfielder’ without the indecisiveness. However, you still should NEVER use a ‘B.W.M’ as your playmaker!)
Lastly, because of their defensive prowess, almost every Ball Winning Midfielder can play as a D(C) (even if it says that they cannot play their within SMW. Think Casemiro, Souček, or Palhinha, for example)
KEY ATTRIBUTES (From SM25 and beyond)
Marking
Tackling
Positioning
Control
Stamina
Strength
Work rate
Aggression
Concentration
Leadership
BEST PLAYERS OF ROLE IN SOCCERMANAGER WORLDS
(UPDATE) As we head up the field the options are getting more and more challenging in terms of choosing whom I consider are the 15 best B.W.M’s in operation within Soccermanager. If I don’t choose your favorite, please remember that this sport is subjective (oh, and I’m also pretty good at my job, so…).
My top 15 ‘Ball Winning Midfielders’ are:
N’golo Kanté 🇫🇷
Carlos Casemiro 🇧🇷
Wilfred Ndidi 🇳🇬
João Palhinha 🇵🇹
Thomas Partey 🇬🇭
Hernández Rodri 🇪🇸
Aurélien Tchouameni 🇫🇷
Moisés Caicedo 🇪🇨
Declan Rice 🏴
Tavares Fabinho 🇧🇷
Manuel Ugarte 🇺🇾
Frank Anguissa 🇨🇲
Boubacar Kamara 🇫🇷
Edson Álvarez 🇲🇽
Eduardo Camavinga 🇫🇷
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Yves Bissouma 🇲🇱
Bryan Christante 🇮🇹
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg 🇩🇰
The Soccermanager Experience 