Opinion: Gleeson Is Our Unsung Hero

Gleeson is like Marmite to most fans; you either love him or you hate him. At the start of his Birmingham City career, I must admit, I was less than content. I didn’t think we should have signed him because he hadn’t even stood out at MK Dons in the league below, let alone at Championship level and his lack of discipline concerned me. I understand that tackles need to be made but Leicester City’s Kante has shown that you can be a defensive midfielder without getting sent off every other game.

Initially I thought that Gleeson was one of those players who get involved in rifts that are not warranted and I was of the opinion that his head often went down when we were losing and didn’t rally the troops in order to get back into the game when the chips were down. However, this article is about reassessing this initial statement and seeing whether or not this is still the case.

Defensive midfielders often get overlooked unless they are a goalscorer such as Matic with his thunderbolt drives. But they are really vital. They break up play in terms of stopping passes from the opposition physically but also by blocking channels of play. By this I mean, their positioning forces the opposition to play backwards of sideways because the spaces in front of them are blocked. A good defensive midfielder would do this but yet they are not noticed and this is not seen.

The more I focus on Gleeson, the more I realise how vital he is. He works harder than anyone in this position bar Davis whom I believe to be better than Gleeson, but this is just personal opinion. Gleeson has the brain to play in this way because he can anticipate where players are going to pass and run. This is almost a sixth sense ability to predict where he needs to be so he is 2 steps ahead of the opposition.

Rowett really has gotten the best out of Gleeson by allowing him to not man mark and to give him a zonal role. By doing this, it allows him to intercept more but it also frees up the more attacking players. Toral last year and Fab this year are more effective up front rather than tracking back. By Gleeson splitting between two players, it means that our attackers can stay high and this means that a member of the opposition has to stay back to mark them. Therefore meaning that opponents attacks are less potent.

In short, I would play Davis there next year but Gleeson needs more credit for the job that he does.