It's important to recognize that an attacking midfielder is still a midfielder, not a striker - meaning there are important defensive responsibilities. The most important of these is not wining tackles but tracking runners. I can't emphasize this enough. It's wrong to think, "I can be reckless here; I have teammates behind me." Midfielders who dive into tackles and chase the ball leave the players behind them in numbers-down situations against good teams who pass and move. When you step to pressure an opponent with the ball and they pass it and move, you move with them - not after the ball. There are exceptions, of course, such as when the pass is very short, to a player you are very close to, or is mis-controlled. But good teams don't play this way, and chances are, you cannot outrun a soccer ball passed firmly.
All three midfielders - holding midfielder included - must be willing to play with positional fluidity, interchanging as the game demands. You may need to tuck in for an overlapping outside back, for example. A prime responsibility for attacking midfielders is supporting your teammates by showing for the ball whenever possible. Keep in mind that showing does not necessarily mean running all the way to them; it means getting into their line of vision and finding space to receive a pass. Below, you can see Player 3 has made a support run to show for the ball, getting out from behind the opponent in blue. Very basic - and very important.
Attacking midfielders can also open space for teammates by making creative runs. If you play a ball wide to one of the wingers, then make an overlapping run around them, you've just put the opposition outside back in a difficult position. Do they track you, or step to the ball? There is an upside for us no matter what decision they make. The more often we put the opposition into these confusing situations, the more success we have as a team.
Another critical element for attacking midfielders is speed of play. This does not mean running at speed with the ball; it means making and executing decisions quickly. The middle of the pitch is crowded. If you take extra touches or linger on the ball while making a decision, you will get tackled and/or the strikers ahead of you will get marked. The ability to play one and two-touch soccer is vital. Moving and playing the ball quickly keeps the opposition unsettled. Dallying on the ball and getting tackled repeatedly disrupts any momentum and makes it difficult to sustain offensive pressure.
Attacking midfielders have to look to connect with the strikers in front of them. One of the strikers should always be showing for a pass, and one of them should be playing off the last defender and looking to stretch the pitch vertically. A final important point is that midfielders must be willing to make runs beyond the strikers. If they do not, the strikers never have an option ahead of them, and we become very easy to track and mark. If a striker shows for you and you play to their feet, and there are other support players available, look to overlap. This, again, puts opposition defenders in difficult positions. Does a defender leave the striker with the ball to track your run? If not, you'll be unmarked; and if so, the striker will have room to turn. It doesn't always work this well, of course, and overlapping always carries the risk of being out of position if we lose the ball. But the attacking third of the pitch is where we take risks. We will not score goals if we don't.
There are fantastic creative midfielders around today: Fabregas, Xavi and Iniesta at Barca, David Silva at Manchester City, Eden Hazard at Chelsea, Luka Modric at Real Madrid, and Juan Mata at Manchester United, among many others. Check out some of Iniesta's best work:
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