When we think of famous No.6, we often think centre-halves. Bobby Moore, Franco Baresi, Tony Adams, Sol Campbell all spring to mind.
But throughout the continent and vast majority of football, the No.6 is not a defender. Instead the squad number has become synonymous with a very specific type of midfielder.
Let’s take a look at one of most important positions in the modern game.
What is a No.6?
In a traditional sense the No.6 is a deep-lying midfielder, who will sit at the base of the midfield unit, regardless of the overall formation. They operate as the holding midfielder, receiving the ball in their own half and aiming to build attacks.
Teams with a three-person midfield can have either one or two ‘number sixes’ depending on the structure of the team. A 4-3-3 system, for example, can be deployed with a single deeper No.6, with two No.8s taking up advanced positions.
Alternatively, a more defensive approach would be to have two No.6’s with one midfielder further forward. The squad number of six has, as mentioned, in more recent years been used predominantly for defenders in the UK.
But it was on these shores where the origin of the term comes from. One of the earliest recorded uses of numbers in Europe, came back in August 1928 when Sheffield Wednesday faced Arsenal and Chelsea played Swansea.
All teams used the dominant formation of the day the 2-3-5 and all numbers, in the era of 1-11, were assigned accordingly. The number six for each team was the player occupying the left half back role, in modern terms a left sided defensive midfielder.
Who are the great No.6s?
If we look at the top clubs across Europe in 2024, nearly every one of them has a top quality No.6, often two. Declan Rice might wear his beloved No.41 for Arsenal, but he is arguably the best English No.6 since Michael Carrick.
Casemiro has struggled in recent weeks for Manchester United, but for the last decade his agility, ball retention and tackling ability made him for a long time probably the best No.6 on the planet. Along with Sergio Busquets who was one of the most important cogs in the Barcelona machine when they were regularly reaching the latter stages of the Champions League. Xavi may have wore the number, but Busquets was closer to the original role.
Bruno Guimarães has emerged as one of the best No.6's in the Premier League at Newcastle United. But conversely his game often focuses on dribbling and playing short passes, more associated with the No.8, to move his team forward, rather than long range passing in the mould of Carrick or Andrea Pirlo.
Going back further, Roy Keane in the second half of his career was perhaps the ultimate six in terms of breaking down the opposition attacks but also retaining possession in a positive manner.
Jorginho, Falcao (the Brazilian one) and Javier Mascherano are all other fine examples, but the list of transformative, truly great, No.6s is almost endless.
The common thread with all these players is that they could do very simple things well. Tackle and pass.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of playing with a No.6?
An intelligent No.6 who can find space, can help create overloads throughout a team’s own half. If a team builds from the back, playing at a slow to medium tempo, a capable No.6 is essential, rather than optional.
They are crucial to breaking through opposition presses and helping the team move up the pitch. There can be disadvantages though.
If your team plays with an extremely direct passing style, a No.6, at least in possession, can become obsolete. A deep lying midfielder playmaker, is useless on a pudding of a pitch where the ball spends the majority of the time in the air, even if they are a Rolls Royce on the ball.
More tactical explainers
We have several tactical explainers to help you understand more about football.
When it comes to midfields, we have pieces on what a box midfield is, how double-pivot midfields function and explainers on the No.10 and the No.6, as well as attacking and defensive transitions.
We also have explainers on what gegenpressing is, what target men are how inverted full-backs work and what ‘between the lines’ means, along with explainers on overlaps and overloads.
