The Division of offence and defense in soccer

Soccer players are governed by laws of the game but without any specification on the positions the game itself has evolved into positional playing. The players come under 3 categories based on their positions or specialized roles – the strikers (also known as forward position), the defenders and the midfielders. All these players are commonly addressed as outfield players, and then there is also the goalkeeper. The main duty of the midfielders is to dispossess opposition, protect the ball from going into the hands (or rather legs) of the opposition. They also need to tactfully pass it on to their strikers so that goals can be scored. The strikers as the name suggests need to score goals with the balls passed on to them by the midfielders. Then there are the defenders, here to as the name suggests these players defend the ball from scoring goals by the opposite team.

The above category is further subdivided into 3 divisions depending on their placement on the field. These are central defenders, the left midfielders and the right midfielders. Although such a demarcation exists there is no hard and fast rule that the players must and should play from that position only.

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