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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.
#4 Rodrigo Hernández
Manchester City have been chasing the Atletico Madrid midfielder for some time now, and they have a good reason for doing so. The 22-year-old has made a name for himself since he got promoted from the Villareal academy.
Bought by Atletico for just €20 million in 2018, Rodri's reputation has now enhanced even more as he cemented his position in the Madrid-based team. He featured 38 times as a starter, combined in both the Champions League and La Liga this term.
Diego Simeone mainly used him as a central midfielder due to the manager's preferred 4-4-2 formation. However, Rodri's defensive-mind has not changed as he recorded an impressive three tackles, 1.2 intercepts and two clearances on average per game.
Aside from his solid defensive stats, Rodri is also a reliable passer and has completed no less than 90 percent of his deliveries on an average in all competitions. However, he seems yet to find his true potential as he failed to impress in the Champions League knockout stage. Nevertheless, he is young and still has plenty of time to improve.
#3 Fernandinho
The Brazilian has been a revelation for Manchester City since he arrived from Shakhtar Donetsk for a massive €40 million in 2013. Despite having no experience of playing at a top European league before joining the English champions, Fernandinho quickly established himself as City's regular in his debut Premier League season.
An all-around defensive midfielder who has no visible weaknesses, Fernandinho is often tasked to do the dirty work in the midfield, giving more freedom to the likes of David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne.
He has recorded a solid 1.7 tackles, 2.4 intercepts and 2.4 clearances on average in all competitions this season. He also has an impressive offensive prowess due to his great passing range and powerful long-shot abilities.
Despite Manchester City crashing out of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, he shouldn't be blamed for the loss as Pep Guardiola didn't start him in the second leg against Tottenham. If Guardiola would have given Fernandinho more time to play against Tottenham, the outcome could have been different.
#2 Fabinho
The Liverpool midfielder had to endure a slow start at Anfield after arriving from Monaco last summer. Many doubted that he will fail to cement his place in Jurgen Klopp's starting line-up, but he has gradually risen into prominence since he became Liverpool's Man of the Match against FK Crvena Zvezda in a Champions League group stage game.
A versatile player who excels at both attack and defense, Fabinho can fill several different positions, including the centre-back and full-back roles when needed. Klopp has deployed him mostly as a right or a left central midfielder this campaign, but he has excelled the most when switching to the middle of Liverpool’s midfield trio.
Jordan Henderson has also impressed in his natural box-to-box position after the former Monaco star played a deeper role in the team. The 25-year-old was key for Liverpool as the Reds made a miraculous Champions League comeback against Barcelona and has started eight times in his last 10 matches for the Merseysiders.
Had he played consistently since the beginning of the campaign, he would have been on top of this list.
#1 Sergio Busquets
The Spaniard has been one of Barcelona's most reliable players in the recent decade and deserves to top this list. His excellent passing, well-timed tackles and intelligence are the things that made the 30-year-old the gold-standard for every defensive midfielder in the world.
Many have criticized him for his lack of pace, but his excellent playmaking and ball-winning abilities can compensate most of his weaknesses. The Spaniard had not seen any considerable injury throughout this campaign, starting 30 and 11 times in La Liga and the Champions League respectively.
Barcelona might have crashed out of the Champions League in the semi-final stage, but he did well for his side at the competition. He has recorded a solid three tackles and 1.4 intercepts per game combined in the Champions League and La Liga.
His renowned playmaking skills are still intact as he completed more than 90 percent of his deliveries. Overall, Busquets has been way more consistent than Fabinho and thus, he deserves to be on top of this list.
