(UPDATE: SUMMER 2025) The season of randomness just keeps on giving! You’d think by now that I’d have ran out of ideas for this season, but, in the spirit of the great Johan Cruyff: “Football is a never ending cycle of tactical and philosophical revolutions” (I don’t even think he actually said that… 😅).
In today’s episode, we’ll dive into the intricacies of one of the most impactful roles within today’s game: The ‘Box to Box Midfielder‘. Back in season 4 (UPDATE GANG!💪), I explained that the ‘Box to Box’ role is for players within the middle of the park who are necessary for being the main engine within our midfield. As I furthered my education, I’ve came to the realization that not all ‘B2B’s’ are made equal and therefore deserve some specialization…
The following are the different types of ‘Box to Box Midfielders’ that you will find within S.M.W, and we’ll be going over each within this episode:
‘Traditional Box to Box Midfielder‘
‘Technical Box to Box Midfielder‘
‘Explosive Box to Box Midfielder‘
TRADITIONAL BOX TO BOX MIDFIELDER
These are your M(C)’s that primarily perform the regular type of responsibilities that you will expect from your ‘B2B’. They are very energetic, have great movement, and tend to always be up for a physical scruff.
ATTACKING PHASE
They are not the greatest on the ball (compared to the other types), but where traditional ‘B2B’s’ thrive is their exceptional running capabilities. They are an athletic type of midfielder who excel at making late, gut busting runs into the box in order to make an impact (wether through scoring or through creativity).
DEFENSIVE PHASE
This is also the same compared to the atttacking phase in terms of their running capability which gives them the power to aid in the protection of their backline. In modern day footy, almost every ‘B2B’ is decent in defence, with ‘Traditional B2B’s’ arguably being the most adept out of the bunch.
POSITIONAL TRAITS
What you will come to realize is that the predominant position that every ‘B2B’ operates in is the M(C) position, but some have the capability to also play as a DM(C) or AM(C), so let’s keep that in mind. Additionally, ‘Traditional Box to Box Midfielders’ can easily adapt and play as a ‘General Midfielder‘ if you wanted them to. (UPDATE: Fast forward 2 years and I’m taking back that last sentence. I now have more respect for the ‘General Midfielder’ role and it can only be played by a select few ‘B2B’ merchants.)
KEY ATTRIBUTES (From SM25 and beyond)
I’ve decided to give each ‘Box to Box’ role a particular set of attributes that aid in your understanding of which type you have at your disposal (in addition to the traditional attributes that every ‘Box to Box Midfielder’ already possesses). I will also place an asterisk (*) next to each attribute that is specifically for the type of ‘Box to Box Midfielder’ we are discussing. Additionally, these attributes should be at least 70 within SM23 (or 24… or 25) for a player to be considered worthy of playing said role:
Tackling
Positioning
Movement
Long Shots
Strength *
Stamina
Work Rate
Aggression
Concentration *
BEST PLAYERS OF ROLE IN SOCCERMANAGER WORLDS
(UPDATE) Now, here is where the changes are going to be the most impactful… Brace yourself, as I’ve found 15 different players per type of ‘B2B’ (so, you’ll have a whopping 45 different players in total to choose from).
TOP 15 ‘TRADITIONAL BOX TO BOX MIDFIELDERS’ WITHIN S.M.W:
Jude Bellingham 🏴
Declan Rice 🏴
Scott Mctominay 🏴
Leon Goretzka 🇩🇪
Sergej Milinković-Savić 🇷🇸
Mikel Merino 🇪🇸
Piotr Zieliński 🇵🇱
John McGinn 🏴
Marcos Llorente 🇪🇸
N’golo Kanté 🇫🇷
Amadou Onana 🇧🇪
Marcel Sabitzer 🇦🇹
Conor Gallagher 🏴
Tomáš Souček 🇨🇿
Mattéo Guendouzi 🇫🇷
TECHNICAL BOX TO BOX MIDFIELDER
Here is where things start to get very interesting…. Also known as a Creative Box to Box Midfielder, ‘Technical Box to Box Midfielders‘ are players who can perform all of the work necessary within the engine room with the addition of being very skilled on the ball which makes them an alternative creative option for their team. They are very good on the ball technically and have a passing range that makes them quite dangerous when in possession, and we must also remember they will perform the regular stuff within a match that a ‘B2B’ normally does as well.
ATTACKING PHASE
Basically, if you decide to choose a ‘Technical B2B’ within your midfield set up, it is imperative to have them as the only kind since they need to be the one and only midfield driver surrounded by players of different strengths and capabilities. They will take the ball from anywhere and display their dribbling, passing, and football IQ which makes them very flexible when it comes to a variety of different playing styles.
DEFENSIVE PHASE
As I mentioned earlier, every ‘B2B’ type player will participate in their defensive responsibilities, albeit their effectiveness will vary based on their overall attributes and capabilities. ‘Technical B2B’s’ tend to be the weakest in terms of their defensive abilities prioritizing their effectiveness whilst in possession (but make no mistake, they’ll still run around the gaf as if they’re possessed).
POSITIONAL TRAITS
We still aim to locate ‘Box to Box Midfielders‘ via their ability to play the DM,M,AM(C) positions, but what makes ‘Technical B2B’s’ so special is that they can also play in the M(C), AM(RLC) positions (granted that they have the right physical attributes). Some can also be used as a ‘Playmaker’ due to their creative prowess.
KEY ATTRIBUTES (From SM25 and beyond)
Positioning
Movement
Dribbling*
Long Shots
Crossing*
Control*
Long passing*
Passing*
Creativity*
Stamina
Work Rate
Flair*
BEST PLAYERS OF ROLE IN SOCCERMANAGER WORLDS
TOP 15 ‘TECHINCAL BOX TO BOX MIDFIELDERS’ WITHIN S.M.W:
Nicoló Barella 🇮🇹
Alexis Mac Allister 🇦🇷
Bruno Guimarães 🇧🇷
Youri Tielemans 🇧🇪
Ilkay Gündoğan 🇩🇪
Mateo Kovačic 🇭🇷
Tijjani Reijnders 🇳🇱
Teun Koopmeiners 🇳🇱
Lourenço Éderson 🇧🇷
Pablo Gavi 🇪🇸
Adrien Rabiot 🇫🇷
Bernardo Silva 🇵🇹
Gonzalez Pedri 🇪🇸
Curtis Jones 🏴
João Neves 🇵🇹
EXPLOSIVE BOX TO BOX MIDFIELDER
In our final type of ‘B2B’ we take a look at one of my favorites. ‘Explosive Box to Box Midfielders‘ are truly a joy to watch with their ability to use their explosive prowess to ghost past the opposition as well as tending to be one of the more agile and electrifying player within the entire game. They are quick, effective on the ball, and have a knack of making match changing displays when in possession.
ATTACKING PHASE
If it’s one thing that you can expect from your ‘Explosive B2B’ is his ability to take the game “by the scruff of it’s neck” via doing an act of brilliance whilst in possession of the ball. They will tend to drive the team up the pitch with their dribbling ability, make a dynamic run into space to free up a teammate, or display hunger to be effective via getting into 50-50’s while also getting the fans on board with thier display of individual explosivity.
DEFENSIVE PHASE
It’s the same occurrence for your ‘Explosive B2B’ as he also has to perform basically the exact same defensive role when out of possession, compared to the other types. Another added benefit from this M(C) gem is that he tends to have a decent amount of pace which makes him a key component in dealing with counter attacks or fast breaks in addition to having an interest for getting more physical against his opps.
POSITIONAL TRAITS
Similar to the ‘Traditional’ (and unlike the ‘Technical’) Box to Box Midfielder, ‘Explosive B2B’s’ can be identified by their ability to operate in the DM,M,AM (C) positions. Additionally, ‘Explosive Box to Box Midfielders‘ can also be identified due to their ability to play in the M,AM(R,L) positions with some even being capable of playing as a DM(R,L) (which makes them good ‘General Midfielders’) due to the fact that they have great pace and can explosively dribble past their opponent for fun.
KEY ATTRIBUTES (From SM25 and beyond)
Positioning
Movement
Dribbling*
Long Shots*
Pace*
Stamina
Work Rate
Aggression*
BEST PLAYERS OF ROLE IN SOCCERMANAGER
The last 15… ✨️
Federico Valverde 🇺🇾
Jude Bellingham 🏴
Nicoló Barella 🇮🇹
N’golo Kanté 🇫🇷
Eduardo Camavinga 🇫🇷
Douglas Luiz 🇧🇷
Marcos Llorente 🇪🇸
Pablo Gavi 🇪🇸
Warren Zäire- Emery 🇫🇷
Manu Koné 🇫🇷
Cassio Joelinton 🇧🇷
Weston Mckennie 🇺🇸
Mattéo Guendouzi 🇫🇷
Pape Sarr 🇸🇳
Amadou Haidara 🇲🇱
And here ends today’s episode. Now, I was actually considering calling it a day on season 8, but the beauty about this season in particular is that any new scenario could suddenly come up and lead us into the creation of another episode. As a matter of fact, we may have a few more episodes from this season coming your way pretty soon. So, stay tuned, Soccermanagerite! 🤞
The Soccermanager Experience 