Midfield View: Dermot Earley on Football

What's the job of the modern day midfielder...where do I start? Well, a forward has to score and a back has to defend - or is it the other way round? - I'm not too sure these days, but the midfielders...well they have to do just about everything.

The modern day midfielder as opposed to the midfielder...to be honest I don't think much has changed since back in the day. The main function of the midfielder past or present is to win primary possession around the middle of the field from kick-outs. In the modern game we have seen a decline of high fielding mainly due to the kick-out tactics employed by goalies and the importance of keeping possession for the attacking teams. Why risk a 50/50 ball driven down the field when you can hit a short one to an unmarked defender and build an attack from there?

As a midfielder I found this very frustrating. For me one of the best feelings in football was catching a ball at full stretch high above the midfield. It was my opium. One catch as a young lad and I was hooked for life. There are so many factors to consider, so many variables to overcome and so many movements to execute to make the perfect catch. Timing is everything. It reminds me of Al Pacino's speech in the film Any Given Sunday. We all know that one: "One half a second too slow, too fast, you don't quite catch it". Mick O'Connell was arguably the best fielder ever. Niall Buckley was the best I ever saw and Darragh Ó Sé, Nicholas Murphy, Ciaran Whelan, John McDermott and Anthony Tohill were the best fielders I played against.

The goalkeeper's kick-out is the first variable. It has to be direct with a slight last second hang. This hang is vital for timing as it gives you the opportunity to get under the ball at the precise moment of landing. If the goalie gets under it and there is a slight breeze against you, you're waiting an age for it to come down and this leads to the inevitable wrestling match with your opposite number. If it's too firmly struck and comes like a bullet you're also done for and you end up looking like a fool because your man is 20 yards away with the ball and you're still cursing the keeper.

It all starts with your position on the pitch. You never want the ball to land directly where you are but maybe ten to fifteen metres to the left or right. You lick your fingers for that grip that no football glove can match. You wait, giving the signal to the keeper. As the ball leaves the keeper's tee, you make your run, negotiating your way through the bodies around you. You pick your spot where you think the ball will land. You have practised this hundreds of times in training and thousands of times in your head. You eye your leverage, the opponent that thinks this ball is his. As the ball hangs in the air you jump off your leading leg, raising the other leg up to place your knee on the hip of the player waiting for possession.

This movement puts off your opponent but more importantly allows you to set and hang for a spilt second while the other midfielders fall back to earth. With your eyes always on the ball you extend your arms full stretch, make the C within both hands with your thumb and index finger and embrace the ball into your grip. You know you have it and the roar of the crowd informs you of their appreciation. You pull it into your body and make your descent. You land and pass it to the runner off your shoulder. Poetry, physics, skill, pleasure and appreciation all rolled into one movement.

But that may only happen once or twice in a game, in an ideal football world where pulling and dragging are myths. Usually you're bouncing off bodies, holding on to opponents, shouting at the ref, cursing the keeper, the half backs and yourself. When faced with these factors, we see very little high fielding these days. If you can't make the catch you are going to make damn sure that your man doesn't get it. You don't want to look the fool. As a result we see more and more breaking ball. You know in those split seconds if a catch is on or not. If it's on then you go for it with all your heart, but if it's not then you break it with all your soul. This is where your half backs and half forwards play their part. They're not possessed with your height, but they're brave, pacey and powerful. They throw their heads, arms and legs into the cauldron just to win that breaking ball.

There are ways to help them and they can help you. If you break a ball with your fist only the Lord knows where it's going, but if you're able to flick and direct the ball then it's possession gained and setting up an attack in one swift movement. I used to use the heel of my hand and direct it down, left or right whatever side your teammate was on, straight into their path so that they didn't have to break stride. It's another art that cannot be defended against. Glenn Ryan and Anthony Rainbow were two of the best at winning breaking ball and Morgan O'Flaherty and Brian Flanagan are currently exceptional at this. They always made that run and always made you aware of where they were as the ball was in the air. "On your left" or "On your right." It was my job to direct it down and it was their job to win it. They always seemed to do it. This is still the primary possession I'm talking about.

The second job of the midfielder is to link the play, collect it from your defenders and deliver it into your forwards. You have to be able to get back, put yourself into a position where you can give your defenders an option, take possession and run with the ball and be able to deliver the ball forward off your foot and hand and begin an attack. Aidan O'Shea gave a master class at this in the quarter final against Donegal.

The third job of the midfielder is to support the play going forward. To be able to see where the ball is going, read the play so to speak. When it is heading for the forwards you pick your run, almost like a centre in rugby taking a line. Sometimes you make the run and don't get the pass but the odd time you do and break the line heading for goal. Michael Darragh Macauley is the king at this. He consistently makes these lung bursting runs in every game. No matter what pace you possess, no matter what the blanket is in defence, if the timing is right this cannot be defended against.

The fourth job of the midfielder is to offer your team a scoring threat. Simple as. Seán Cavanagh style, with dummy optional. He has mastered the art of leading with his hip, drawing the opponent in, side stepping at the right time to wrong foot the player and leaving him on his back while he kicks the ball over the bar yet again. So many people, myself included, have fallen for that dummy!

The fifth job of the midfielder is to defend, hassle, block, tackle, tackle and tackle some more. When I think of blocking I'm drawn to the 2010 Leinster Final. As the game was edging towards a Louth win, their first time in 53 years, Graham Reilly delivered a high ball into the square. The keeper and full back missed it and the ball fell to Seamus Kenny to the right of the goal. He side stepped left and with the goal at his mercy, he kicked. Paddy Keenan, playing a captain's role that year, invincible, powerful, an All Star elect, dived full length across the goal and blocked the shot. It was one of the best blocks I have ever seen but was sadly lost in the aftermath of what followed. It should have been a match winning block. It was a captain's block, a midfielder's block.

But for every Aidan O'Shea, Seán Cavanagh, Michael Darragh and David Moran, there is a Seamus O'Shea, Colm Cavanagh, Cian O'Sullivan and a Johnny Buckley. A grafter, a holder, a stopper, a blocker and a tackler. A player that allows the former to do what they do best.

My good friend Daryl Flynn was my midfield partner for the latter years of my career. A workhorse of a player who can also field a high ball. We had a great understanding when we played. He did all the donkey work and I got the credit. He called down to my house not too long ago to see how my back was. I told him it was good and he said that's funny because his back is an awful lot better since I retired. He then looked up and saw my 2009 All Star on the shelf. He turned to me and said "You're welcome!"

Midfield is the only position in the GAA that requires two players. It's that important. The anchor and the worker, without one the other is lost. It may be a minefield, without much high fielding of old but it's still the engine room of the team. Then again, I might be biased.

This is the latest of Dermot Earley's exclusive 'Midfield View' football columns, which feature on GAA.ie throughout the summer. The opinions expressed in this column are personal and are not necessarily those of the Association. For more from Dermot, and our hurling analyst Donal Óg Cusack, click here.