Difference Between Anchor-Man and Defensive Midfielder?

[Corkey]

Hi,

Could someone please help me figure out the difference between an Anchor-Man and a Defensive Midfielder.

I want to set up an 4-5-1, but not sure what to set the DMC as...........

[benegerton1985]

i was wondering this also, i presume a defensive midfielder will occasionally get forward and an anchorman won't at all?

[Marinho]

watch a game and you´ll see.

An anchorman can only be set to defend, while a DM can have several roles. The anchor man is a special sort of DM, real life examples would include Makelele, Gattuso or maybe Dietmar Hamann. Guys who spend the whole game trying to fill gaps (be it with relentless activity or superior knowledge of where to be) and then give the ball up to a guy right next to them.

He doesn´t need good technical attributes at all, there are quite a few DCs in the game suitable for this role (Mats Hummels f.e.)

A normal DM has more responsibilites of playing more complex passes, hold up the ball or support the attack and needs some more technical skills.

[Keniris]

watch a game and you´ll see.

An anchorman can only be set to defend, while a DM can have several roles. The anchor man is a special sort of DM, real life examples would include Makelele, Gattuso or maybe Dietmar Hamann. Guys who spend the whole game trying to fill gaps (be it with relentless activity or superior knowledge of where to be) and then give the ball up to a guy right next to them.

He doesn´t need good technical attributes at all, there are quite a few DCs in the game suitable for this role (Mats Hummels f.e.)

A normal DM has more responsibilites of playing more complex passes, hold up the ball or support the attack and needs some more technical skills.

I think you are wrong. Gattuso is definitely not an anchor man. He is clearly a ballwinner! The main difference between anchor man and defensive midfielder is that an anchor man doesn't have a high closing down setting. He will not get out of position and will stay in front of the back four. A defensive midfielder will close down the opposition, and as such, will get caught more out of position as he might be needed to cover the flanks.... you are right about getting forward, look at it in a Makelele - Vieira way. Makelele will never get forward whereas Vieira might burst forward if the right occasion arrises. Anchor man will play easy short passes, whereas the defensive midfielder will attempt more 'risky' passes such as through balls.

[Marinho]

just picked Gattuso out of the Tactical Theorems ´10 Personally agree, although he´s not a ball-winning midfielder in the way that FM10 designs it, imho.

But to be honest i haven´t see him play a full game for like 2 years i guess.

What i found weirdly effective is playing an anchor man and a CD as stopper at the same time.

[KunAguero10]

I play 4-5-1 and use Anchor Man, he is mainly just to break up play and get the ball to the CMs or Wingers, well that's what he does for me.

[Corkey]

So......

What I could do is if I have a DMC who have reasonable Technical Skills such as First Touch and Passing. Then he would perform the Defensive Midfielder role. Whereas If I have a player who is just purely a physically strong player with good Tackling skills, but no Passing Skills, then he should be set as a Anchor Man.

[moomoomoo]

its my understanding a anchor man will sit in front of your back four and protect it and play simple passes, where a dm will look to try and win the ball and close down more and have a bit more freedom in terms on passing.

[Bluebeard]

Corkey, I agree, but I think the key difference here is mobility - an anchor man (like Makalele) won't have the physical prowess of e.g. Vieira or Gattuso and that's reflected in the 'stay back at all times and don't close down like a madman' role. Note the tactics wizard gives acceleration and stamina as key stats for a defensive mid and anticipation and heading as keys for an anchor man (others largely the same).

Good passing and first touch, as well as creativity and decisions, would tend towards a deep-lying playmaker a la Alonso, though I agree that someone awful at passing should probably play anchor man as defensive mid has TTB on mixed and a bit more creative freedom.

Personally I think there aren't many situations where you'd want an anchor man as it is quite a limited role but I guess if the FBs/WBs are very attacking then you might.

[Uorf]

The difference in closing down is very important. I noticed this during a match, I was being pinned down by the opposition, so I thought, I'll take one of my midfielders and slap it in the middle as an anchor man to try and break them up. Instead, it turned out I left a hole in midfield, because my anchor man just waited at the back leaving the opposition att mids free to build up play and run into my box. That's when I noticed that in that case a ball winning midfielder or a defensive mid. would have been more useful, and I immediately changed his role. Situation improved quickly.

[Aytumious]

I've found them to be useful if a team is attacking you down the flanks instead of through the middle because the anchor man will drop into the box to help intercept crosses more than a straight DM will.

They kind of act as another CB but just a hair further up the pitch.

[Corkey]

Did Liverpool line up with Mascherano as a 'Defensive Midfielder' and Alonso as a 'Deep Lying Playmaker'.?

[PeeKay]

Mascherano is a Ball Winner and Alonso is a Deep Lying Playmaker

I agree with Aytumious, an achor man is just another CB. I think you get more anchor men in the lower league where the skills are not available to give a player multiple roles (I think)

[Marinho]

As said i´m seeing some nice things happening playing an anchor man and one of the 2 CBs as a stopper moving out to intercept passes.

Works very well in a counter attacking setting away from home. Beat Arsenal 0:1 and Lyon 1:2 on their turf as Fiorentina (however got scorched by Milan after falling behind 0:1 and going to attacking without adjusting the stopper to defend/cover and lost 1:5)

[Corkey]

mmmm

So are we saying that a 'Anchor Man' is more Defensive than a 'Defensive Midfielder'.?

Also that it is best to implement a 'Anchor Man' when facing superior sides, then use a 'Defensive Midfielder' when playing weaker sides???

Thanks for replies so far though

[dz47]

The ‘anchor man’ can only be set on defensive, and his default set up (using the tactics creator) is very defensive. The ‘defensive midfielder’ can be on either defensive or support duty. Even with a defensive duty, he will not be quite as defensive as the anchor man; mainly in terms of mentality and closing down.

I’m not sure though that it is as simple as saying one should be played against good sides and one inferior sides. I think both types can be used to good effect against any type of side, but that it depends on the qualities of the player in question, his team, your tactics and the opposition’s tactics.

[benegerton1985]

I see it as this, when playing defensive use anchor man, when playing offensive use defensive midfielder.

[CMOZZA]

mmmm

So are we saying that a 'Anchor Man' is more Defensive than a 'Defensive Midfielder'.?

Also that it is best to implement a 'Anchor Man' when facing superior sides, then use a 'Defensive Midfielder' when playing weaker sides???

Thanks for replies so far though

Don't know whether you saw it but, Liverpool vs Villa from earlier this season? Well we (Villa) hadn't won at Anfield for a long time and we weren't expected to this time around.

O'Neill changed from his 4-4-2 and deployed Reo-Coker in the Anchorman role with Sidwell & Petrov just in front of him with Agbonlahor up top on his own, A.Young & Milner providing the width obviously.

Reo-Coker Dominated that entire game breaking up play and just sitting in front of the back 4 and plugging any gaps. So far this season, in my opinion there hasn't been a better "Anchorman" performance from anyone in the Premiership, there's not many examples though to be fair and I'm a bit biased being a Villa fan

Oh the final score being 3-1 to Villa

So a short answer to the question would be that it can be useful to play an anchorman against superior opposition, but don't expect it to work every time.

[Navy_Blues]

Played just the one season as Liverpool, but here's the way I did it. If I was playing a weak team, or a decent team at home, I would have my DMC Mascherano as a supporting Defensive Midfielder. If I felt I was under threat, or I needed more cover, I changed that support to defend. Away to Chelsea, or any time the opposition were penetrating my defence, and he became an anchorman.

The way I see it, an anchorman won't go chasing the ball, so he won't help much in regaining possession. But what he will do is step back and cover the holes in your defence the opposition can create. HTH.

[JBR]

I generally agree with the assumption that an anchor man has more focus on defense than the ordinary DM. But I think, when you think of deploying your DMC as anchor man or defensive midfielder, you'll have to take into account what other type of players you have in your midfield. For example; I play Barcelona in a 4-1-2-2-1 and with a centre midfield consisting of any combination of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Messi (depending on injuries), Ronaldinho (bought him back, hehe) I really don't need more creative/attacking power there. So even though I use Yaya or Marquez on the DMC spot, who are both fairly good on the ball passing/creative wise, I don't need them to create any magic. I'd rather want them to close down and play a smart conservative game in the back. Which on a sidenote has payed off big time in my first 21 matches. 19 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss only conceding 10 goals, 10 points ahead of Real Madrid.

[Bluebeard]

The way I see it, an anchorman won't go chasing the ball, so he won't help much in regaining possession. But what he will do is step back and cover the holes in your defence the opposition can create. HTH.

I agree entirely, and actually just found a use for an anchorman actually - links with the suggestion that he behaves almost as a 3rd CB. I had two slow but otherwise effective DCs and they were being outpaced. My DMC is relatively quick and he really helped out when I changed his role from 'defensive midfielder'.

[Corkey]

I generally agree with the assumption that an anchor man has more focus on defense than the ordinary DM. But I think, when you think of deploying your DMC as anchor man or defensive midfielder, you'll have to take into account what other type of players you have in your midfield. For example; I play Barcelona in a 4-1-2-2-1 and with a centre midfield consisting of any combination of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Messi (depending on injuries), Ronaldinho (bought him back, hehe) I really don't need more creative/attacking power there. So even though I use Yaya or Marquez on the DMC spot, who are both fairly good on the ball passing/creative wise, I don't need them to create any magic. I'd rather want them to close down and play a smart conservative game in the back. Which on a sidenote has payed off big time in my first 21 matches. 19 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss only conceding 10 goals, 10 points ahead of Real Madrid.

So what did you set your DMC to???

[JBR]

Sorry, I thought i made it clear but I play him as an anchorman. The above mentioned centre midfield will give me plenty of creativity and attacking options so I don't need any of that from the DMC spot as far as I see it.

26 matches in the league; 23 won, 2 draws and 1 loss. 11 goals conceded and still 10 points ahead of Real Madrid.

[Snurre]

Can the usefullness of an anchor-man vs. a ball winning midfielder be seen as dependent on the oppositions use of through-balls?

If the opposition is using "pass into space" a lot, an anchor-man might be useful acting as a midfield sweeper. Whereas if the opposition passing is "pass to feet" a ball winning midfielder might be more suited.

Look at Barcelona for instance. If I were facing that side I wouldn't use an anchor man - I would use a ball winning midfielder. On the other hand, if I were managing FCB I would use an anchor-man to try an counter the oppositions counter attacks.

[lam]

If you wanted to take a very black and white view.... you could look at it as a Anchor man being a central defender pushed up, where as a defensive midfielder is a defensively minded (skills) MC pushback.

One is expected to stop play and the other is expected to interupt play and then start it again.

[sgw]

The support/defend setting makaes quite a difference as well. I'm playing 4-2-3-1 at the moment, with two DMCs. I initially went with an anchor and a deep lying playmanker (DLP), but found I wasn't getting enough cover for my fullbacks, and wasn't playing the sort of football I wanted to. I switched to having two defensive midfielders, one with the support instruction and one with the defend instruction. The two of them combine really well, with the difference in their roles defined only by the mentality.

I found having a DLP in a DMC position really didn't work very well for my team. He provided little energy or cover defensively, and failed to retain the ball in the way that I wanted. I also found the anchor man too static, and not the angry ball winner that I wanted.

[Marinho]

and not the angry ball winner that I wanted.

which he isn´t meant to be He´s more the "steady ball stopper" who sits right in front of the CBs and gets to balls adressed to the strikers, thus taking pressure off of the CBs.

I wouldn´t want my DM to be an agressive player running around tackling people anway, he´s supposed to be an insurance for your CMs and your offense in general, if he he is out of the play (due to a missed interception or tackle) you suddenly have a 3 on 2 opportunity up the middle for the opositions AM + Strikers.

In FM 10 more than ever imo agressiveness and too much activity gets punished by the other team.

Again, I think this role is best suited for a CB/DM, a guy with CB type attributes that is capable of playing at DM. Playing a normal defensive midfielder as an anchor man is a waste of talent. In my case it´s mats Hummels and Vadim Demidov as his backup.

Had similar success in FM 09 with german defender/midfielder Sinkiewicz as well as a regen that was a natural CB that could play in the DM spot, basically the same slider sets that now define an anchor man.