Ranking the 5 best defensive midfielders this season
The defensive midfielders seem to not have garnered enough attention in this era of modern football. Their offensive counterparts, on the other hand, have seen a rise in popularity, following Philippe Coutinho's transfer to Barcelona from Liverpool in January 2018.
However, the defensive midfielders often play a significant role for their teams as they are instrumental in retaining possession. They also offer a great deal of protection in the center of the park and would be the much-needed players to start a counterattack. As the 2018-19 season is nearly over, we have witnessed many changes in the list of the world's best anchormen.
N'golo Kante has switched position to a much more advancing role at Chelsea, while Casemiro has endured a disappointing season. Thus, I will exclude those two in this list. Now, let's take a look at this season's top performing defensive midfielders.
#5 Allan Marques
It is no secret that Napoli have been Juventus' greatest league rivals in recent seasons. The Partenopei might have lost Jorginho and Marek Hamsik but they still have Allan in their ranks. The Brazilian has been Carlo Ancelotti's most reliable performer alongside Kalidou Koulibaly this season.
Allan is known as a dynamic, physically imposing and energetic anchorman. He also has excellent technique, dribbling skills, pace and sublime long passes, which enables him to start attacks after winning back possession.
He has recorded a solid three tackles and 1.1 intercepts while maintained a high 89.6 percent passing accuracy on average. His Champions League record was even more impressive, despite Napoli narrowly missing out on reaching the knockout stage.
Allan racked up massive 6.3 tackles on average at the elite European competition, arguably the best among the defensive midfielders in the Champions League group stage. Overall, his incredible playmaking abilities and outstanding defensive contributions have enabled him to slip in among the elite anchormen this term.