Wingate & Finchley vs Enfield Town

[andyetfc]

What's the definition of a stopper?

[TheCameraMan9]

 

Goals from another angle from Tuesday

 

Enjoy

[Chase Side Towner]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXKsx9qMh8A

 

Goals from another angle from Tuesday

 

Enjoy

 

Great celebrations from Kirby. They don't like it up em!

[Steph]

What's the definition of a stopper?

 

The most dangerous time in a game of football is the breakaway when the forwards are running at the defence. In order to make a legitimate tackle the defender has to turn and get in front of the player or challenge the player from the side. Recently Joe O'brien did it and was red carded.

 

A stopper, in my view, is the player in midfield who stops that charge. They have to put their body on the line and either force the forward wide or make a challenge which can often see them penalised.

 

Come to Rudi's testimonial and we may have the rare privilege of seeing 4 "stoppers" on the pitch at the same time. Rudi himself, Andy Jones, Al James Hannigan and Jon Stevenson. (A ref's nightmare if ever there was one)

[Steph]

From Wikipedia

 

Defensive midfield (DM)

 

A defensive midfielder (holding midfielder or midfield anchor) is a central midfielder who is stationed in front of the defenders to provide more defensive protection, thus "holding back" when the rest of the midfield supports the attack. The defensive midfielder screens the defence by harrying and tackling the opposition teams' attackers and defenders. They also help tactically, for instance, by directing opposing attacking players out to the wing where they have more limited influence, and by covering the positions of full-backs, other midfielders and even the centre-backs if they charge up to support the attack.

Although the duties of defensive midfielders are primarily defensive, some midfielders are deployed as deep-lying playmakers, due to their ability to dictate tempo from a deep position with their passing. Sometimes a defensive midfielder will be paired with a central midfielder who will act as the deep-lying playmaker. When ever the central midfielder ventures forward the defensive midfielder will hold back.

Defensive midfielders require good positional sense, work rate, tackling ability, and anticipation (of player and ball movement) to excel. They also need to possess good passing skills and close control to hold the ball in midfield under sustained pressure. Most importantly, defensive midfielders require great stamina as they are the onfield players who cover the greatest distance during a professional football match. In a typical Premier League football match, a midfielder may cover up to 12 kilometres for a full 90-minute game.^{[citation needed]} Deep-lying playmakers typically require a good first touch under opposition pressure and the ability to play long crossfield passes to attacking players further upfield.

[andyetfc]

Steph. You have too much time on your hands. :-)