If you want to play (or already playing) as the offensive soccer midfielder you need to pose some fundamental abilities in order to perform well on this position.

Here, I will learn you 5 fundamental skills you need to be good at while playing as offensive soccer midfielder. Let’s start to look on the first one…

Dribbling

Knowing how to get around your defenders is the most important thing you need to master while playing as offensive midfielder. Simply without solid dribbling skills your career as offensive midfielder will not be long.

When talking about dribbling I do not mean any super dribbling moves. Instead, by using simple but very effective dribbling skills (step over, pullback, Puskas and so on) you should be able to get around your defenders pretty easily.

Shooting

This is the second most important thing you need to master while playing as offensive midfielder. Without a good shoot you will not either score any goals.

A good soccer shoot is not about kicking the ball with maximum power. Instead, you need to analyze the current shooting situation carefully and choose the best option.

You will also need to shoot with both feet. However, your natural kicking foot will always be the better one.

You will not either have time to receive and place the ball on your kicking foot. Instead, you need to shoot fast and that’s why shooting with both feet is so important.

Speed

The third most important thing while playing as offensive midfielder is to have good speed abilities. It doesn’t matter how good dribbling skills you have if you can’t run fast.

However, running fast with ball and without is completely two different things. While playing as offensive midfielder you want to run fast with good control on the ball. Your speed won’t be much worth if you can’t control the ball.

Receiving

The forth important thing you need to master as offensive midfielder is the art of receiving.

While receiving the ball is pretty easy you will notice that receiving a ball is pretty hard when you put under pressure. I can admit that receiving looks pretty easy on TV but believe me it is a completely different thing when you are on the field.

Shielding

This is the fifth and last fundamental skill you need to master as offensive midfielder. Shielding is not about how big and strong you are. Instead it is about positioning your body right and make it hard for your opponents to steal the ball from you.

You will often receive the ball while having one or two defenders marking you tightly. It is therefore crucial to learn how to shield the ball properly in order to keep the possession of it.