The Hierarchy of Positions

Imagine you're the manager of a team that has just been promoted to the top league in your country. you have a group of average players in every position, but what positions are the most important to improve?

What position on the football pitch is the most important?

The positions:

Goalkeeper
Central Defender
Full back
Central midfield
Winger
Forward.

IMO the hierachy of importance goes:

Forward>Central midfielder>Central defender>Goalkeeper>Winger>Fullback.

Would you agree? and does this hierarchy differ depending on the league?

Nope!

Forward>Goalkeeper>Centre Back>Central Midfielder>Winger>Full Back

for me Goalkeeper is one of the most important!
Imagine Charlton,Watford and Newcstle without Carson,Foster and Given

Central midfield>Striker>Goalkeeper>Central defender>Winger>Fullback.

You can have the best striker in the World but if your central midfield is pants, you won't get anywhere. At least with a quality midfield they can provide goals as well.

I'd put goalkeeper in front of central defender because how many times have you seen a team with average defenders or players playing out of position in defence and getting away with it as the whole team has defended well.

In form of Hierarchie....?



Goalkeeper
Central Defender
Central midfield
Forward.

fullback

winger

Deaño-WHUFC wrote:Nope!

Forward>Goalkeeper>Centre Back>Central Midfielder>Winger>Full Back

for me Goalkeeper is one of the most important!
Imagine Charlton,Watford and Newcstle without Carson,Foster and Given

Aye, but a good defnesive partnership or midfield partnership can also make a huge difference.

You have to remember that the GK is just one player opposed to all the other choices

A good defence will mean not losing many games, i think Rafa won la liga with his Valencia side scoring around 53 goals.

Tweedle wrote:

Deaño-WHUFC wrote:Nope!

Forward>Goalkeeper>Centre Back>Central Midfielder>Winger>Full Back

for me Goalkeeper is one of the most important!
Imagine Charlton,Watford and Newcstle without Carson,Foster and Given

Aye, but a good defnesive partnership or midfield partnership can also make a huge difference.

You have to remember that the GK is just one player opposed to all the other choices

true...but if you have a shit Keeper..you will concede....look at Newcastle who have a terrible defence to be fair...but the keeper saves them! can you imagine Roy Carroll in goal there!

Baraja, Albelda, Aimar and Vicente were hardly 'average' midfielders though.

Central midfield>Goalkeeper>Striker>Central defender>Winger>Fullback.

You first have to build the skeleton of the team.... The axis is the
most important but then you have to build from defence to attack
because the more you play in defence the more you have to read the
game!



I can't see why people choose for a forward over a goalkeeper. A
goalkeeper is the most important player. He also is the leader of the
defence! the defence have to position the midfield so they are second
most important and then we just get a forward....



every one on the left and right side is next...

Ricardo Jol wrote:You first have to build the skeleton of the team.... The axis is the
most important but then you have to build from defence to attack
because the more you play in defence the more you have to read the
game!



I can't see why people choose for a forward over a goalkeeper. A
goalkeeper is the most important player. He also is the leader of the
defence! the defence have to position the midfield so they are second
most important and then we just get a forward....



every one on the left and right side is next...

Forward and Goalkeeper are most important...
If you haven't got a decent forward who can score you are fucked!

Good topic

If you look at the highest tarnsfer fees and rank positions:

Attacking Midfield (Zidane) > Winger (Figo) > Striker (Crespo) > Goalkeeper (Buffon) > Central defender (Rio) > Defensive Midfielder (Eissen) > Fullback (Thuram).

But let me do an analysis of the top 5 in each, and how much they have cost - that might give a better indication...

Chelsea won the league twice when they had no World Class strikers or there strikers were not in form.

This season Drogba is the best in Europe but Chelsea might not win the league.

Deaño-WHUFC wrote:

Ricardo Jol wrote:You first have to build the skeleton of the team.... The axis is the
most important but then you have to build from defence to attack
because the more you play in defence the more you have to read the
game!



I can't see why people choose for a forward over a goalkeeper. A
goalkeeper is the most important player. He also is the leader of the
defence! the defence have to position the midfield so they are second
most important and then we just get a forward....



every one on the left and right side is next...

Forward and Goalkeeper are most important...
If you haven't got a decent forward who can score you are fucked!

The team that don't concede the most goals is 99% the best team! So the defnce is more important than the forward!

bluenine wrote: Good topic

If you look at the highest tarnsfer fees and rank positions:

Attacking Midfield (Zidane) > Winger (Figo) > Striker (Crespo) > Goalkeeper (Buffon) > Central defender (Rio) > Defensive Midfielder (Eissen) > Fullback (Thuram).

But let me do an analysis of the top 5 in each, and how much they have cost - that might give a better indication...

Its obvious that fullback is probably the least significant, followed by winger but if you're doing a price analysis then you have to account for the fact that flair players generally cost a lot more - not because they are more valuable footballers but because the sell more merchandise and therefore command higher fees

Ricardo Jol wrote:

Deaño-WHUFC wrote:

Ricardo Jol wrote:You first have to build the skeleton of the team.... The axis is the
most important but then you have to build from defence to attack
because the more you play in defence the more you have to read the
game!



I can't see why people choose for a forward over a goalkeeper. A
goalkeeper is the most important player. He also is the leader of the
defence! the defence have to position the midfield so they are second
most important and then we just get a forward....



every one on the left and right side is next...

Forward and Goalkeeper are most important...
If you haven't got a decent forward who can score you are fucked!

The team that don't concede the most goals is 99% the best team! So the defnce is more important than the forward!

But that means having a good keeper....if you can't score you can't win many games and its as simple as this!

@Batmann..Crespo and Gudjohnsen were two of the strikers they had...both top class...

1-0 is enough to win.....



You can reach that by a standard situation... a distanced shot from a defender or a midfielder... You don't need a class forward

Midfielders can score though.

If you analyse the top 50 transfers, you will get the following ranking

1. Striker - 20
2. Attacking Midfielder - 9
3. Winger - 7
4. Central Defender - 7
5. Defensive Midfielder - 4
6. Goalkeeper - 2
7. Fullback - 1

Thats more or less how most clubs view the importance.

If you also look at the highest transfers by each category (below), you can infer that for an exceptions Attacking Midfielder or a Goalkeeper, the clubs are ready to make an exception to the above rule...

bluenine wrote: Good topic

If you look at the highest tarnsfer fees and rank positions:

Attacking Midfield (Zidane) > Winger (Figo) > Striker (Crespo) > Goalkeeper (Buffon) > Central defender (Rio) > Defensive Midfielder (Eissen) > Fullback (Thuram).

But let me do an analysis of the top 5 in each, and how much they have cost - that might give a better indication...

Deaño-WHUFC wrote:

Tweedle wrote:

Deaño-WHUFC wrote:Nope!

Forward>Goalkeeper>Centre Back>Central Midfielder>Winger>Full Back

for me Goalkeeper is one of the most important!
Imagine Charlton,Watford and Newcstle without Carson,Foster and Given

Aye, but a good defnesive partnership or midfield partnership can also make a huge difference.

You have to remember that the GK is just one player opposed to all the other choices

true...but if you have a shit Keeper..you will concede....look at Newcastle who have a terrible defence to be fair...but the keeper saves them! can you imagine Roy Carroll in goal there!

Whoa there hamster, we've got a better defence than you. Shay Given has missed 12 league games this season, he hasn't been the main man in our defence.


I'd say it is

Forward>Centre Back>Goalkeeper>Central Midfielder>Winger>Full Back

bluenine wrote:If you analyse the top 50 transfers, you will get the following ranking

1. Striker - 20
2. Attacking Midfielder - 9
3. Winger - 7
4. Central Defender - 7
5. Defensive Midfielder - 4
6. Goalkeeper - 2
7. Fullback - 1

Thats more or less how most clubs view the importance.

If
you also look at the highest transfers by each category (below), you
can infer that for an exceptions Attacking Midfielder or a Goalkeeper,
the clubs are ready to make an exception to the above rule...

bluenine wrote: Good topic

If you look at the highest tarnsfer fees and rank positions:

Attacking
Midfield (Zidane) > Winger (Figo) > Striker (Crespo) >
Goalkeeper (Buffon) > Central defender (Rio) > Defensive
Midfielder (Eissen) > Fullback (Thuram).

But let me do an
analysis of the top 5 in each, and how much they have cost - that might
give a better indication...

You
see on this how stupid 90% of the clubs are....! Clubs today trrow
money over the balcony without thinking about the structure of the
team.... Supporters want also a big name and a goal keeper is not sexy
enough so clubs decide to buy a WC striker....

Ricardo

Who will sell more shirts? An astute goalkeeper or a flamoboyant forward?

In my view:

Central midfielder>Winger>Goalkeeper>Centreforward>Centrehalf>Fullback

Tweeds



I am talking about the organisation of the team not on about the merchandise...



Why to have a WC striker when your defence concedes a lot of goals?

I think it depends...in a Cup competition you can go a long way if you have a goalkeeper who suddenly puts together 6 or 7 matches of great form (think Sergio Goycochea for Argentina in the '90 World Cup). In a league competition though, consistency is really the key and so a solid central midfield is maybe the most important (which is why Real Sociedad could finish 2nd in 02/03 thanks to the emergence of Xabi Alonso). Stikers are always important no matter what. But with them it's more about form and how they fit into the system. Like Morientes, he is nowhere near Ronaldo but for many years he fit in very well with Real Madrid and formed a great partnership with Raul and was able to deliver a lot of goals. Kanoute is a good striker but his form this year has been great, hence Sevilla are in 2nd place...

Deaño-WHUFC wrote:Nope!

Forward>Goalkeeper>Centre Back>Central Midfielder>Winger>Full Back

for me Goalkeeper is one of the most important!
Imagine Charlton,Watford and Newcstle without Carson,Foster and Given

Agreed totally, if he hadn't said i would have:k:

Central Midfielder>Striker>Centre Back>Goalkeeper>Winger>Full back

the reason clubs like chelsea don't sign keepers every year, is because it unbalances the squad to much.

imagine madrid with Iker
Boro without Mark
Charlton with out Ben

and if United had Tabi in goal, they would be fucked

Oleguerisntthatbad wrote:Central Midfielder>Striker>Centre Back>Goalkeeper>Winger>Full back

agreed.
It sounds on here as if goalkeepers win you matches. Take into account that a draw is only 1 point. You have to WIN matches. Like Cruijff said: you win as long as you score one more than the opponent.

Way too simplistic. Better probably:-

Shot-Stopping Goalkeeper
Commanding Goalkeeper
Experienced Defender
Fast Defender
Full Back
Defensive Midfielder
Sitting Midfielder
Attacking Midfielder
Crossing Winger
Fast Winger
Big Forward
FastForward

Sitting Midfielder > Fast Forward > Shot-Stopping Goalkeeper > Experienced Defender > Fast Winger > Commanding Goalkeeper > Defensive Midfielder > Attacking Midfielder > Big Forward > Fast Defender > Crossing Winger > Fullback