I know they usually also put one or two true defenders on the roster, then move a couple of mids to fill out the defense. Middies play bothboffense and defense at their position anyway and most are very good at both. True defenders and attackers are typically only good at their trade, and most could not switch from defense to attack or vise versa, and most certainly could not handle the running at midfield. But most midfielders have absolutely no problem playing attack or defense. Collages do the same exact thing, recruit midfielders to play defense.
Agree that middies are expected to play D. Disagree that they can do it well. Some can, most are mediocre at best. They don't understand the slide, they don't understand how to read the offensive player, they foul when they've lost their player and they do lose their players a lot, they aren't that big on communication which is key when defending. Etc., etc., etc.
