Playmaker

In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativity and passing ability.

In English football, the term overlaps somewhat with an attacking midfielder, but the two types of midfielders are not necessarily the same, as playmakers are not necessarily constrained to a single position. Several playmakers can also operate on the wings or as a creative, supporting striker; some can also function in a more central midfield role, alternating between playing in more offensive roles and participating in the build-up plays in the midfield. Other players still function as deep-lying playmakers, in a free role, behind the midfield line. Playmakers are not usually known for their defensive capabilities, which is why they are often supported by a defensive midfielder. As many midfielders and forwards have the aforementioned creative and technical attributes, they tend to be the playmakers of a team.

Advanced playmakers

The most complete and versatile playmakers are often known as advanced playmakers, or free-role playmakers, as they can operate both in central, attacking midfield positions, and in wider positions on the wings. The attacking playmakers are sometimes called the "number 10" of the team, as they often wear the number 10 jersey. The attacking midfield playmaker will sit in a free role between the midfield and the forwards, either in the centre of the pitch or on either flank. These offensive playmakers will often make incisive passes to the wingers or forwards, seeing them through on goal or to deliver killer crosses, as well as scoring goals themselves. They are also usually quick, agile, and highly technical players with good vision, shooting, passing, crossing and dribbling ability; they are known for scoring goals as well as providing assists, through-balls, and initiating attacking plays. In Italian football, as creative, technical, advanced playmakers are known not to be reserved to a single position, they are often described as the "fantasista" or "trequartista". In Brazil, the offensive playmaker is known as the "meia atacante", whereas in Argentina, it is known as the "enganche". In the English language, this position is sometimes colloquially referred to as playing "in the hole", as these playmakers often link the midfield and attack by essentially operating in the gap between the opposition's midfield and defence. Diego Maradona, Zico, Michel Platini, Marta, Pelé, Zinedine Zidane, Jay-Jay Okocha, Roberto Baggio, Rui Costa, Michael Laudrup, Gheorghe Hagi, and Francesco Totti are some examples of footballers who have been fielded as advanced midfield playmakers throughout their career.

Deep-lying playmakers

Deep-lying playmakers, who often wear jersey numbers 8, 6 or 5 (particularly in South American football), operate from a deep position, in or even behind the main midfield line in a seemingly central or defensive midfield role, where they can use space and time on the ball to dictate the tempo of their team's play and orchestrate the moves of the whole team, not just attacks on goal. Deep-lying playmakers are often known for their vision, technique and passing. Many are also known for their ability to switch the play or provide long passes that pick out players making attacking runs, as well as their striking ability from distance. Although several deep-lying playmakers are not known for their tackling, work-rate, or defensive skills, it has become more common for a box-to-box midfielder with good passing, technique, vision and ball-winning ability, such as Yaya Touré, to play in this role, since it is in a similar position to that of a defensive midfielder, and the role allows them to break down plays and subsequently create scoring opportunities themselves after winning back possession. In a 2013 article for ''The Guardian'', writer Jonathan Wilson described this unique creative holding midfield role as that of a "creator," citing Xabi Alonso as a typical example of player who operated in this position, noting that: "Xabi Alonso, although capable of making tackles, focused on keeping the ball moving, occasionally raking long passes out to the flanks to change the angle of attack like an old-style ''regista''."

In Italy, the deep-lying playmaker is known as a "regista", whereas in Brazil, it is known as a "meia-armador". In Italy, the role of the ''regista'' developed from the centre half-back or ''centromediano metodista'' position in Vittorio Pozzo's ''metodo'' system (a precursor of the central or holding midfield position in the 2–3–2–3 formation), as the ''metodistas responsibilities were not entirely defensive but also creative; as such, the ''metodista'' was not solely tasked with breaking down possession, but also with starting attacking plays after winning back the ball. Xavi, Andrea Pirlo, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, Miralem Pjanić, Jorginho, and Pep Guardiola are some more examples of players, who operated as deep-lying playmakers throughout their careers."The Question: What is a playmaker's role in the modern game?"
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 31 October 2014

Other variants

Playmakers are not necessarily constrained to a single position; many attacking playmakers in modern football play a combination of these different attacking roles, often operating in a free position. Some playmakers can also function in a more central midfield role, or can even be given the freedom to alternate between playing in more offensive creative roles and participating in the build-up plays and controlling the team's tempo in a deeper midfield position, such as Zinedine Zidane, Nécib, or Juan Román Riquelme

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