I was once told Football is a game played predominantly without the the ball. 90 minutes match only have the ball in play roughly about 65 minutes, of that 65 the keepers on both sides then attribute to over 10 minutes, a really good midfielder can have about 4 minutes of influence over the ball.
That is why players like Saiss, Henry and there style are important. If you look through the best managers (Paisley, Ferguson, Sacchi, Wenger) all had a ball winning midfielder during their best sides, even with the change in not having a 'water carrier' type the more modern coaches still deploy a screener or what ever the official term you see banded about (double pivot or something?) Such as Busquetes or whoever you spell his name.
