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When someone starts watching Football, s/he is mesmerised by strikers. As one starts watching Football regularly, s/he realises that tactically, the engine room of a team, the midfield, is where the real art lies.
The Regista or the deep-lying playmaker excels due to his vision, ball control, creativity and passing ability. They do not run through defenders as if they weren't there or depend on their physicality and acceleration to score or set up goals. They are artists with the ball at their feet and this is what makes them special.
As Italian legend Andrea Pirlo decided to call time on his glorious career, let's look at some of the greatest deep-lying midfielders of the modern era.
#1 Andrea Pirlo
My favourite memory of Andrea Pirlo was THAT Peneka penalty in the 2012 European Championships. The audacity to plan it and the finesse to execute it were the stuff of geniuses!
One of the best exponents of the deep-lying playmaker's role, Pirlo began his career as an attacking midfielder, like most registas do, with hometown club, Brescia. In his second spell with the club on loan from Inter Milan, coach Carlo Mazonne decided to field Pirlo as a deep-lying playmaker alongside Pirlo's idol Roberto Baggio, who played as an attacking midfielder.
The idea of shifting Pirlo from attacking midfield to deeper on the pitch is wrongly attributed to Carlo Ancelotti, though it must be noted that he brought out the best from the man nicknamed The Architect.
Transferred from Inter to crosstown rivals AC Milan, Pirlo won the Seria A and the Champions League twice. In 2011, Juventus signed Pirlo on a free transfer and in his four seasons with the club, Pirlo won the league four times.
Pirlo was one of the shining lights as Italy lifted the 2006 World Cup. Though Italy failed to replicate that form until the 2012 European Championships, Pirlo always received the plaudits for his performances for the Azzurri.
The deep-lying role allowed Pirlo time on the ball and this made it easier for the player to showcase his technique and vision. Composed on the ball and gifted with terrific close control, he always had the knack of playing the right pass to the right man at the right moment. He could do whatever he wanted with the ball as Joe Hart famously found out!
#2 Paul Scholes
My favourite memory of Paul Scholes was THAT rocket against Barcelona en route to the 2008 Champions League title. The ball fell right in front of him and the technique to hit it with his laces was exquisite. If there ever was an unsavable shot, this was it!
Paul Scholes remains the only English midfielder of recent times who could 'pull the strings' from midfield. At the beginning of his career, he was deployed as an attacking midfielder, sometimes even as a striker because of his shooting skills and because he could also score headed goals.
Technically astute, Scholes had the ability to find a man 70 yards across the field with an accurate pass. His ability to read the game was unparalleled and his distribution was supreme.
His partnership in midfield with Roy Keane, deployed as a destroyer, was instrumental in Manchester United winning multiple major trophies. After having first retired in 2011, He eventually came out of retirement in 2012 picking up his 11th league title in 2013. He also won Champions League twice, in 1999 (though he missed the final due to suspension) and in 2008. He scored 109 league goals adding a further 26 in the Champions League.
His international career was much less successful and he retired in 2004, aged just 30, after winning 64 caps. One of the main reasons for his retirement was then England coach, Sven Goan Eriksson's, decision to play him on the left side of midfield instead of the more favoured central midfield. He ended his international career with 14 goals including a hattrick against Poland.
Some of the quotes about Scholsey are phenomenal. Brazillian legend Socrates said that Scholes had the technique to get into the Brazil side. Barcelona legend Xavi rates him as the best midfielder of his generation.
Leo Messi has stated that he is mentioned frequently at Barcelona's academy, the La Masia. Thierry Henry has opined that Scholes is the greatest player to play in the Premier League because he could 'do anything'.
99 Yellow cards in the league apparently are a testament that he couldn't tackle. Well, one can't have it all!
#Xavi
Known as the 'Puppet Master', he has the ability to not only dictate the way his teammates played but also influence the way the opposition game. He formed an almost invincible partnership with Andres Iniesta, who played as an attacking midfielder and Sergio Busquets, who guarded the back four.
This ensured that Xavi, all by his own around the centre circle, had the time and space to create magic. Playing with some of the finest forwards to have ever graced the game, Ronaldihno, Rivaldo, Leo Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thierry Henry and Neymar, Xavi won a host of trophies with Barcelona. In all, Xavi won the La Liga 8 times and also triumphed four times in the Champions League.
His career with Spain was as stellar as with Barcelona, if not more. 2 European Championships (the first in 2008 was Spain's first international trophy in 44 years) and the 2010 World Cup make him the most decorated Spaniard in history.
He assisted Fernando Torres's goal in 2008 final and repeated the trick four years later with the assist to Jordi Alba, thus becoming the first player to have assisted a goal in the finals of two European Championships.
#Xabi Alonso
My favourite memory of Xabi Alonso was the way he orchestrated the comeback against a much superior AC Milan side in the 2005 Champions League final, now known as the miracle of Istanbul. Trailing by three goals at halftime, Liverpool managed to level the game in a devastating six-minute spell which included an Alonso goal, when he scored the rebound after his penalty was saved by Dida.
A hardworking and versatile midfielder, he was adept at playing as a deep-lying midfielder as well as a defensive midfielder shielding the defence due to his technique, strength and physique.
Teammates have long admired his vision and long passing abilities, most notably Steven Gerrard who said he was the best player he played alongside at club level. Cristiano Ronaldo was set to have been upset with the Real hierarchy when Alonso was sold to Bayern Munich in 2014. Alonso was also considered a set-piece specialist and has scored some memorable long-range free kicks over the years.
Famously never winning the league with Liverpool despite being so close in his last season with the club in 2009, Alonso won La Liga once with Real Madrid and the Bundesliga thrice with Bayern Munich. He won the Champions League twice, once with Liverpool in 2005 and once with Real Madrid in 2014.
He won the European Championship twice (2008 and 2012) and the 2010 World Cup with Spain. Having retired in 2017, he is now working on his coaching badges and hopes to get into management.
#5 Juan Roman Riquelme
The least famous player on the list, Juan Roman Riquelme's European adventure was under-par in every sense. Dubbed as a political signing by the then Barcelona manager, Louis van Gaal, who famously fell out with fellow South Americans Rivaldo (who was the holder of the Ballon d'Or at the time) at Barcelona and Angel di Maria at Manchester United, he played infrequently and when he did, he was played out of position on the left wing.
He was much more successful with Villarreal, though his finest moments came with Argentine giants Boca Juniors. Winning the Copa Libertadores in 2000 as well as the Intercontinental Cup (now known as the Club World Cup), he caught the eye of Barcelona scouts and was signed in a deal worth €11 million.
Falling out with LvG and Barcelona signing Ronaldinho signaled the end of Riquelme's Barça career. He rekindled his art with Villarreal, helping the club to reach the last four of the 2006 Champions League.
Had he converted his penalty at El Madrigal against eventual runners-up Arsenal, he would have been in line to face his parent club Barcelona in the final. Despite stalwarts like Ronaldinho, Zidane and Raul playing in La Liga, Riquelme was named as the most artistic player by Spanish outlet Marca at the end of the 2004-05 season.
His career with the Argentine national team was better than his European career. His silky skills, phenomenal vision and a passing range of note helped the national side to reach the finals of the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany, where they lost 4-1 to arch-rivals Brazil.
However, Argentina were unable to rediscover their form in the 2006 World Cup in the same country and bowed out in the quarter-finals despite Riquelme assisting some goals, including a Hernan Crespo goal that was the conclusion of 24 uninterrupted passes.
The playmakers are a dying breed and one of the last true Registas, Riquelme retired from football in 2014.
