In association football a midfielder is a player whose position of play is midway between the attacking strikers and the defenders. Their main functions are to gain and keep possession of the ball, and to feed it to the strikers. However, some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and strikers.
A midfielder's many responsibilities — to fetch the ball forward, to defend against or tackle the opposing team, to score or assist the strikers to score — make them amongst the most valued members of a team. Most specialize in one aspect of these or the other.
Midfielders typically exhaust the most energy during a match due to the distance they cover on a pitch.
A defensive midfielder must be aggressive, intelligent, and tactically disciplined, providing cover in areas where his team is more vulnerable, and constantly harassing the opposing team's attacking players.
An attacking midfielder is often confused with a central midfielder.
Steven Gerrard is an example of a central midfielder, as are Michael Ballack, Lee Cattermole and Frank Lampard.
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