Yeh great post and smart post Ricky90.
Footy isn't a 2k time trial straight out then game over, it's a red ball being kicked around an oval and players are jogging, stop, sprint, jog, sprint, stop, walk for abit jog again and sprint so it's burst with little recovery parts when your in the jog, stop walk part when the ball isn't near you is your chance to recover when not on bench.
Being good at time trials is just a handy bonus that every footy player should try there best to improve but with midfielders being so big and bulky i don't look into it that much as like ricky90 has said different people have different muscle fibers, fast twitch and slow twitch. i would rather be gifted with skills and footy smarts than be a great 2k runner.