Focusing, the "the bane of my existence"

[mal from cessnock]

Focusing, the "the bane of my existence" – I’m hoping some of you can help me better understand my equipment.
I submitted an image for critique a year or so ago only to be told it was not focused and that subsequently the image “failed”. The contributors told me that using the focus recompose method wasn’t ideal if the subject were to move, just a frac after locking in the focus. It was suggested I use the “Al Focus”, the middle position AF selection which once the focus is locked, activates the servo if it detects the subject has moved. I like the suggestion but it has limitations which this thread relates to.
[http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?53531-Bubble-Boy&highlight=bubble] image no longer there?

I just shot a pseudo rock concert and was determined to at least get critical focus on an eye of the moving subject. But herein the trouble lies. I have a Canon 5DM2 which has 9 focusing points, Canon suggest you only use the centre dot since they consider it the most accurate.
So consider, when using the “Al Focus” facility it is a given that you line up a focus point (albeit the centre) with the eye of your subject.
Ok, I can relate to this but it dictates the composition making it impossible to capture the subject anywhere other than in the centre of the frame at least lined up with one of the eight other points (which Canon say aren’t very accurate). Getting the eye in this position probably means shooting from a greater distance than desire necessitating a massive crop in order to get the composition you are after.

If you’re still with me, am I getting it? Do you have experience with this and can you make any recommendations?
I have included an image from the shoot where I nailed good focus, but if I had a better understanding of the correct focusing technique I’d get many more nicely focused subjects.
The light was poor, even the spots so I needed to use 6400iso, between F/4 and F/2.8 with a shutter of about 160sec.

Thanks for any help you can give which will lead to better focusing.