They are essential in modern football, they’ve been the key of success and they established themselves in the central midfield: The deep lying playmaker, also known as ‘regista’.
Deep lying playmakers weren’t always as vital as they are today, more than 5-10 years ago only used by very few teams because of their slow pace and slight of stature. A deep lying playmaker is neither a box-to-box midfielder nor a classic holding midfielder nor a traditional playmaker. However, a modern deep lying playmaker originated from the traditional playmaker and it combines work on both sides of the field (box-to-box). It’s not that deep lying playmakers didn’t exist in the past, but they are absolute crucial for nowadays game.
The main duties of a deep lying playmaker are to dictate, structure and organise the build up, open spaces and support other players from a deep lying withdrawn position. A deep lying playmaker has to have a great vision and long passing skills to pick out strikers/wingers from the own half. Strong short pass and dribbling abilities are also required as a mistake can easily end in a counterattack from the opponent. The ‘regista’ is often protected by a hard tackling midfielder in a double pivot.
Depended on the system, a deep lying playmaker can be more defensive, taking the ball from the central-defence and distribute the ball from there. Important here is that the player has to possess a good first touch when receiving a ball from the defenders and a good vision to also play a long ball. Examples are, the genius himself, Andrea Pirlo, Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid or Michael Carrick at Manchester United.
There are also ‘free’ deep lying playmakers, who orientate themselves towards the ball and not to their actual position. They are always near the ball and very versatile. It’s mostly a central midfielder or even attacking midfielder who plays this type of deep lying playmaker. A great stamina and strong tackling are very important here. Typical examples are Xavi Hernandez, Ilkay Gündogan, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Luka Modric, Joao Moutinho or Yohan Cabaye.
The double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 is crucial to win the battle in the midfield and to have a structured game. We have often seen this season that the defence was outplayed too easy at counters (e.g. the games versus Athletico in the UEFA Supercup), while in the attack, our reliability on Mata and Hazard too big. A strong deep lying playmaker can take off pressure of our attackers, help to regain possession quicker and hold the ball longer in our game.
A deep lying playmaker might also help Torres to score more often. At Liverpool, key passes mostly were made from a very deep position (by Alonso or Gerrard) and Torres used his pace to beat the defenders and end in a 1-vs-1 situation with the goalkeeper. He also had better support from wingers back then, but that’s is a different topic.
The missing deep lying role in our holding midfield
Lampard: Our Frankie is turning 35 this summer. Consequently, he doesn’t have the dynamism, nor the fitness for the intensity for such a pivot role anymore.
Ramires: A running monster and a decent tackler. But his (long) passing, vision and creativity are quite poor for a central midfielder.
Mikel: Defensive specialist with important physical presence. However, Mikel’s build-up is too slow and his abilities to play key passes limited. Mikel is obviously more suited as the other half of the pivot.
David Luiz: Luiz has a good vision and a powerful shot, but he is far too casual sometimes. He has a lack of composure, can be caught out of position and he often gives away the ball in dangerous situations from his unnecessary dribbling.
Oscar: At the moment too inexperienced for a pivot role, but he showed good approach to play as a deep lying playmaker someday. It’s the job of the new manager to decide whether to try and risk Oscar in a more deeper role.
Oriol Romeu: Romeu is a classic holding midfielder, but he has good attributes to play as a deep lying playmaker. However, his performances here at Chelsea were not high above average. Don’t get me wrong, I like Romeu a lot, but he isn’t more than a squad player.
Essien: Returning from his injury in early 2012, Essien could never reach his form from the good old times. Essien is also more the box-to-box midfielder, similar to Lampard or Ramires . He also can’t provide the creativity and vision of a deep lying playmaker.
Nearly every European top club has their ‘regista’ in the pivot and it’s time that we get our own conductor. To continue having success, especially in the Champions League, a new central-midfielder is desperately needed, in my opinion more needed than a new striker. We need a player, who can dictate the rhythm of the game, bring in stability to the defence and create more space and freedom for our three amigos up front. It won’t be cheap and there aren’t a lot options available, but can a option probably be Luka Modric?
(Note: An article about Modric in connection to deep lying playmaker to follow soon)
What do you think about a deep lying playmaker? Who’s your favourite ‘regista’? Leave your thoughts in the comments! Jonny (@jonny9fan)