Regista - Deploying Playmakers

[crouchaldinho]

After reading the following excerpt from an article on an English-speaking Italian football website, I thought I would post this thread to talk about how to best use the various playmaker roles in different formations/systems.

First of all, here is the excerpt:

Regista

This one has a very close equivalent to the English term ‘playmaker.’ The term ‘regista’ means ‘director,’ as in ‘film director’ or ‘director of the orchestra.’ This is not a position as much as a role - a regista can be placed in several spots on the pitch as long as he executes the operations demanded from him. A regista is the fulcrum of the game. He is the figure to whom defenders offer the ball as soon as they have conquered possession. He is also the figure to whom wingers and forwards return the ball when an offensive manoeuvre has been aborted and needs to be reset. Registi are very creative midfielders, endowed with superior passing skills from all ranges. If this part seems to overlap with our description of a trequartista, that is because a TQ is a regista by definition - however, a regista is not necessarily a TQ. A regista can lie further back than the latter or operate more often from the flanks. The role can be taken up even by mediani, when the latter are particularly versatile. The qualities of a specific regista will change depending on the position he is given on the pitch - a TQ will be more gifted in first-touch passing, while a deep-lying playmaker will have greater skills in possession. But a regista is defined by his tactical role, not by his position, and the only common attribute possessed by the myriad of players who have picked up this mantle is a strong disposition for passing. Two classical registi include Giuseppe Giannini from the past and Andrea Pirlo from the present.

So we can talk about the deep-lying playmaker, the advanced playmaker and the trequartista roles here and discuss how they are best implemented and deployed.

I've had a lot of success playing 4-2-3-1 with a creator/destroyer partnership in the DM positions. Here I used a deep-lying playmaker to dictate play from deep and I found this a really effective way to build a tactic focusing on keeping possession and slow build-up. The DLP becomes the focal point during build-up and you're really looking for someone here who has an outstanding long-range passing ability, great anticipation to look for the ball to the flanks and the technique to carry out the pass. This role is more about dictating and directing play and you're looking for a high number of passes and key passes.

In the 4-4-2, I've employed an advanced playmaker alongside a ball-winner to great success. Interestingly enough, I've been reading a biography of Capello lately, and it seems that this was the kind of role he played as a player. With the advanced playmaker, you need many of the qualities of the DLP, but also flair and creativity become more important, as well as acceleration and pace if using the attacking duty so that he can make runs from deep. I've mainly used this in the MC position, where I've experienced great success. However, in the AM position, I didn't find this worked quite as well due to the lack of roaming. I couldn't get it working to my satisfaction with the default settings anyway. For the advanced playmaker in the MC role, you are looking for key passes and assists as his main contribution to the team.

In the 4-3-1-2, I've deployed a trequartista as I have explained in another thread. The TQ is the most creative and gifted of all playmakers and requires pretty much everything that the other two have and then more. As well as having the passing ability, the creativity and so on, he has the X-factor, that is the ability to anticipate situations that others can't see and the flair and technique to try and succeed in carrying off things that other players cannot. Personally, I've only tried the TQ in the AM role. In this role, you are looking primarily for assists as well as the occasional goal.

So that's my take on the regista and the various roles in the TC. I'm interested to hear about what others have experimented with on FM. I know that some people have even tried multiple playmakers and I'm interested to hear how they balanced their sides in order to deploy them. So, share your experiences of using a playmaker in your tactics here.

[boomheadshot45]

I usually play a 4-2-4 with AMs on each side. The duo of Fabregas and Song works really well. Fabregas is an Advanced Playmaker Attack and Song is a Ballwiner Support but occasionally Defend. My AML is always an Advanced Playmaker Attack. I use Rosicky, James Rodriguez, or Nasri there. The AML will play some nice throughballs to my poacher on the left side, Vela or Eduardo, and he'll usually average a low 7 for rating. Fabregas can be an anomaly. My whole team will be making their passes but sometimes he'll struggle. I'm still tweaking his role.

[higgins]

In the 4-3-1-2, one of my preferred shape in FM 10, I had good success setting my central midfielder as a DL plamaker (defend) while the man in the hole acted as a trequartista; they worked quite well together, the first playing a simple passing game but still dictating tempo to my whole team, the first to cover and the first to restart the action, the second always looking for a killer pass, a dribbling or a shot.

[crouchaldinho]

I like that idea Higgins. I imagine that's a good way of deploying a classic regista and a proper TQ actually.

I've only used the DLP on support. What differences did you notice with him on a defend duty? I imagine you need a player with quality defensive skills as well as passing ability to play the DLP (defend).

[higgins]

I like that idea Higgins. I imagine that's a good way of deploying a classic regista and a proper TQ actually.

I've only used the DLP on support. What differences did you notice with him on a defend duty? I imagine you need a player with quality defensive skills as well as passing ability to play the DLP (defend).

Yes, you need a versatile player with good levels of stamina and workrate too, cause he sould cover a large area of the pitch, just to make an example I've got a player that I often used for that particular role, a nice little players called Sokolowski.

He's not a big name but he works well at every level, have a look at his stats, second year at Birmingham, he's able to link a great passing ratio with the ability to make a good numbers of assists.

[crouchaldinho]

Looks solid for that level. Good all rounder.

[SFraser]

I think the "regista" has become more and more important in football in recent years. The decline of the "trequartista" and the rise to prominance once again of explosive wingers, combined to the counter-attack, well organised and numerous defences, and the lone striker all seems to follow a pretty logical pattern. Less space directly through the middle, more space deep and wide, and so the man or men linking defence to attack become ever more the creative heartbeat of the team.

I would say that the sale of Xabi Alonso and the fate of Liverpool and Benitez is one of the most telling stories of the past season. Alonso was one of the most blatant "regista's" around in his role at Liverpool, and his sale seemed to rip out the heart of the team.

The cream of worldwide football talent also seems to exist in the "regista" role once you allow for/ignore the goalscoring and explosive attacking prowess of Ronaldo/Messi/Robben/Kaka etc. These players are clearly the hottest players in football for their ability in the final third, but the next group of "top footballing totty" is the regista, your Fabregas and Lampard and Xavi. To a lesser extent also your Scholes and Sjneider and Alonso.

Likewise the "trequartista" style of player seems to be suffering very badly. While Rooney and Eto'o and Torres and Van Persie flourish, Berbatov and Ibrahimovic and Gerrard and Nasri seem to really struggle. Again this makes sense considering the formations and tactics regularly employed today.

For me, both in real life and in FM, the "regista" is the fundamental, key player in a team. Whether he is 40 yards from your goal or 40 yards from the opponents goal, this is the man you want to do something good, but more than that is the man you need against the formations and defences you play against today. You need a player that can spark a counter attack, and you need a player that can unlock defences from deep positions inside the opponents half. Even if he gets bugger all assists you need that man that can put the opposition into trouble with his distribution from infront of their wall.

For me this season Lampard has been close to the cream of the crop. His goal return is rediculous, but his link-up play from deep is sublime, and his ability to drift unmarked into space to finish moves he started from deep with a great 40 yard pass is great to watch, even if it means your side isn't winning the title this season. In the last 5 games of the EPL, Lampard for me was easilly one of the best players on the planet.

[crouchaldinho]

Pretty much agree with that SFraser. Great invention of the phrase 'top footballing totty' too!