Defensive Midfield, Where At Thou?

Defensive Midfield and the player who defined and changed it. Here is my story.........
Like most of you, I have played and watched football (soccer to our American brothers & sisters) pretty much all my life since I was a kid. I remember when I started playing at my wee age of 6(in Nairobi, Kenya) our soccer balls were made by stuffing old newspapers into the plastic shopping bags(we were recycling way before this phenomenon caught on here in the western society). We would tie it with a sisal rope and kept working on it until the end product was an almost spherical object. Our nets would be made of 2 stones 6 feet apart. A few weeks of playing I realized that as much as winning was important something about letting goals go in my teams net didn't sit well with me. That is when I made it my mandate I will stop this goals from happening so I started playing goalie I would envision myself as the great Toni Schumacher back then in the 80s a TV show called football made in Germany was all the football news we had on TV besides our Kenyan league. A few months of the street little league my net minding actually earned me the name Schumacher after my goal keeping hero. My daddy bought me an actual football, I’m guessing he felt sorry for me seeing that I would have to build a ball from scratch every time we had to play. My opponents didn't like the fact I was a good keeper so the first day of using the new ball I remember this other kid in an attempt to beat me unloaded a fierce shot my way. Emulating my hero I prepared to receive the shot by bringing it towards my chest with my 2 hands. I must have miscalculated the speed and weight of this ball because when the ball met my chest I couldn't explain the pain I felt. I could have sworn my lungs switched places involuntary. As you would expect that was my last day in net. With my mandate not to allow goals I moved not too far up to the defence position.
Defensive players and goalies have always been my heroes. That was until a small name by the name of Gianfranco Zola. This is man that made start appreciating strikers work rate..... well some of them. I don't need to spell out everything to you Chelsea fans but this was a complete man he was gracious both on and off the field the best and complete player in every way, I would advise any young player aspiring to be a professional to look at this man and model themselves after him. Other than retiring I don't think there is anything Zola did wrong. It was after I saw him in a Chelsea shirt that I also fell in love with Chelsea. I thank Zola for coming to Chelsea because I almost became a scoucer(Liverpool to some of you)..... phew that was close and again I thank you Zola. At this time in my recreational playing career I had moved to the left wing position after realizing that goals will always scored on my team but it is better to score more. I embarked to helping the strikers put away more. After Zola's retirement I needed to broaden my knowledge in football world thanks to his efforts Chelsea made the Champions league. I started watching Seria A, La Liga games as well so that I can size up our next Champions league opponent. It was a Real Madrid game that I noticed a man that wasn't there but he was there. The player was none other than the one and only Claude Makélélé.
I almost became a Real Madrid fan I couldn't stop watching their games because of Makélélé. Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo etc were great and were "La Galacticos" but Zidane himself couldn't have put it better by comparing Makélélé's role in the team to the Engine of a car. I was in love with this man (the only time that has happened to me) he covered a lot of ground that the Galacticos didn't want to cover and he did it with very little effort. Makélélé read the game like the coach in the dugout if not better. He knew exactly when to stroll to the left, right front and back, ran walk and stand. His opponents didn’t see him coming, it was like magic he wasn’t here but now he is. It was after watching him play that I learnt the way to help the defence while still serving the forwards. Did Real know that they had this rare gem? In 2003 when Makélélé asked to get improved wages like the “Los Galacticos” Real laughed at the request. The then and now club president Perez went as far as proclaiming that "Makélélé won't be missed". My prayers were answered and Makélélé became a Chelsea player.
In 2003 the then Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri "The Tinker Man" (as he was well known in the English Premier League) knew that this is the best £16.8m he ever spent. He proclaimed that Makélélé (Maka to the Chelsea fans and players) was the "Battery" of the team. Chelsea has always and will always be known for its defensive prowess and records but Maka emphasized that plus became the player that every ball from defence to the offence had to go through him. Basically the ball wasn't distributed right if Maka didn't touch it. Lampard, Duff, Cole, Robben were all allowed to parade their skills game in game out because of Maka defensive skills. The reason that I like the EPL over other leagues is that it appreciate every role not just the guys that score the goals. At Real other than the players and the then coach no else noticed Maka, I don't think the other teams in La Liga knew what he did hence why only Chelsea were the only one bidding for him. Maka perfected the defensive role that in the 2004-2005 season he helped Chelsea cruise to their 1st EPL trophy in 50 years. Maka’s role was so troubling to other teams that coaches started working on tactics that bypass Maka, only in the EPL that you will find coaches trying to stave off a guy that doesn't score. Maka's popularity in the EPL finally spread to other leagues and teams tried to buy or mould into the "Makélélé role" as it was eventually called. In 2005 this Unsung Hero finally got what he deserved, he was selected to the World XI an award voted by professional football players from 40 countries. Maka helped Chelsea win 2005-2006 EPL title, 2005, 2007 League cups, 2007 FA Cup and 2008 Champions league final which they lost to Manchester United. During his time at Chelsea several records were set like longest unbeaten home record, the most points achieved in season by a team (95) the least amount of goals conceded in a season (15) the most wins in an a season (29) the most clean sheets in a season (25)and the most consecutive clean sheets in a season(6) all these in the 2004-2005 EPL season. All these could easily be accredited to his role. In 2008 Maka went back to France to play for Paris Saint Germain. Chelsea has had to change its tactics since the departure of Maka. He is duly missed at Chelsea..... I miss him. We have young promising talent in Obi Mikel trying to bring this role back and he surely is trying but the "Makélélé role" left with him. PSG has always flirted with relagation in the Ligue 1for a few seasons but with the inclusion of Maka they challenged for 1st but a poor ran towards the end of the season saw them tied for 4th at the end of it all. Is it too much to credit 1 player? I don't think so. As you can guess I adopted this type of role for my recreation team and I think I have been a good understudy of Maka although he’s miles away.
From time to time I keep wishing there will be another Makélélé to grace the Chelsea team. I know the team has to adapt and move on..... Yes I know I have to move on as well but I can’t help hoping that the next Makélélé type of player to grace this sport better belong to Chelsea. The question that still lingers though, will there ever be a Makélélé type of player ever again? Or has he become a legend and the type of player that will often be imitated but will never to be duplicated?
Well if that is the case I'll keep playing my damn best to help my team keep the goals to a minimum maybe set a few records along the way while I imitate my defensive hero. Makélélé I'll forever miss you and I'm indebted to you forever for advancing my football knowledge.