Beyond the limelight of the Messi/Ronaldo duopoly, the 21st Century has seen the revolution of the Regista. Its redefined the requirements of a midfield that had – in England at least – sought combativeness and stamina at its core. In an attempt to predict and analyse another developing revolution, this article explores how this role is being extrapolated to the player between the sticks.

The Regista

Let’s build from the bottom (that sentence alone might arouse possession-football aficionados). Without wishing to get caught up in the jargon that seems more suited alongside classical music than football, a Regista is essentially a Deep-Lying Playmaker. The reason I chose to refer to the “Regista” is because of its meaning in italian:

The role of the Regista is to initiate attacking phases of play from a primarily deep position. Pirlo emerged as the archetypal Regista under Ancelotti at Milan, having been converted from a more advanced position. He was tasked with picking the ball up in space and playing balls forward into more offensive areas, no doubt being a major trigger in such commentating cliches such as, “pulling the strings”, “dictating play”, “keeping them ticking over” and “running the show”. For all my disdain of cliches, these aren’t too far from its translation – a Regista is the director of a film about creating goalscoring opportunities.

As Jonathan Wilson (who is to football tactics what St Luke was to The Gospel) puts it:

…the regista has come to refer to the pivot in a possession-oriented team that presses high up the pitch, an unpredictable creative outlet from behind the attack who seeks to maintain intense pressure by constantly looking for new chances as his more advanced team-mates get into goalscoring positions.

English football seems to a bit late to the Regista Revolution and it should come as no surprise that Spain have produced many of the top recent examples. It was Johan Cruyff’s legacy that affected Guardiola, who went on to define the role as a player first and as a coach second, with his requirement for Barca, Bayern and now Man City to have what he refers to as a pivote.

Pirlo, for example, would occupy the CDM spot for Milan’s 4-3-2-1 formation as per this diagram. The same idea is true of Barcelona’s 4-3-3 system, with the LAM and RAM pushed into winger positions higher up the pitch and Busquets acting as the Regista at CDM.

Our go-to Premier League example would be Fernandinho, who has undergone a rebirth under Guardiola. Whilst often understated, his role to City is vital. Fernandinho acts to force transition and constantly recycle the ball, ever-present to receive and distribute with minimal time on and touches off the ball. It looks incredibly simple, but as the old adage goes, the most difficult thing in football is to play simple.

For a team that value possession, as is the way with modern football, the importance of having a player like this in your team cannot be understated. They might come in different shapes and sizes and with slight nuances, but I challenge you to find a title-winning side over the past decade who doesn’t have one they rely on.

In possession, an effective regista is capable of relieving pressure without conceding possession of the ball. They are capable of playing through an opponents press and quickly transitioning play, taking advantage of a loss of opponent’s shape with quick and direct passing, whilst offering themselves as a ‘bounce’ player, creating angles which can link players whose passing lanes would otherwise be closed off. They are also capable of holding and recycling the ball until team shape has been regained – the only way possession-based teams can effectively protect against the counter. More often than not, Registas will be facing the ball, which cannot be said for many other players than the goalkeeper.

During Out-of-Possession phases of play, a player like Fernandinho will usually be screening the space in front of the back four. This is important – it is rare, particularly with Guardiola teams – that players mark man-to-man however popular this has traditionally been in British football. They defend zonally, protecting the space between the midfield and defence, either intercepting loose passes or challenging players to regain possession and transition (turn defence to attack).

In both phases, as any good director would do, they are vocal in their description and directions of what they want to happen. This is facilitated by constantly trying to have the game played in front of them.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Like any innovation in football, it doesn’t take long before someone starts copying a new idea, or develops their own idea to nullify it altogether. A regista has become the staple for most teams, and no doubt many of you reading this can think of a few examples from your own sides. Furthermore, a high enough press can thwart the ability of a regista to create, particularly if they are man-marked, as Oscar did for Chelsea against Pirlo and Juventus in 2013. Of course the top quality player will still find space – its likely to appear more often when you have to think about marking several other players in a world class side like Man City.

Nonetheless, there has been a demand for another type of playmaker – one who can always find space amid the congestion of a midfield battle. It has to be a player who finds themselves deep on the pitch – defenders have been tried, notably at Chelsea with Luiz and Christensen, but to limited success (and only possible with a back 3). A high press also means they could be nullified. Who’s left?

Enter the Goalkeeper

Keepers like Schmeichel, Reina and Neuer have shown us that the idea of goalkeepers being useful in attack shouldn’t be a revelation. The wheels have been in motion ever since the back pass rule came into effect, forced the ‘keepers of yesteryear to start using their feet for more than punting the ball.

For the best part of a decade, we’ve watch Neuer redefine what’s expected of a goalkeeper; to be aggressive defending space in behind and brave in your starting position. The 17/18 season has seen this approach taken a step closer to the Cruyffian principle of Total Football, with the Dutch’s vision comprising of 11 players capable of playing multiple positions. For once, we in the UK are lucky enough to be the innovators, rather than the delayed imitators.

There is now a growing requirement for goalkeepers to affect the in-possession phase of football (and the transition from defence to attack) in the same way a regista would. They too defend space rather than man-marking (think of Neuer’s sweeping) and play facing the ball and direction of play.

The goalkeeper’s role in relieving pressure has always been accepted, but it currently manifests itself in playing beyond – that is, kicking long into areas considered safe (e.g. the wings). Nowhere is this more evident than the tiers of lower and non-league football, where possession is only valuable in said areas.

The developments of the England DNA provides the framework and terminology that describes the change in requirements. In the same way Fernandinho recycles the ball, goalkeepers will more often being required to move the ball from high pressure areas to low pressure areas by playing around, using their centre backs and wide players, moving opponent’s players and giving their own team more time to regain shape. In the same way that a regista is able to play balls that bypass a press, goalkeepers will need to play through and into their midfield. Pickford perhaps embodies the England DNA – this type of performance in possession is why for me he starts ahead of Butland in Russia:

The effectiveness of these principles successfully achieved cannot be understated; by increasing the way in which we use the goalkeeper, not only do we increase the percentage chance of retaining possession, but also affect the space in which to play by creating overloads in deeper areas of the pitch. By drawing strikers towards the ball, for example, a defender is left free. If the defender is pressed by a midfielder, your own midfielder should be free. If your own midfielder is pressed by a defender, your forward is likely to be 1v1 if you play beyond, as shown below:

Put simply: when training, 2v1s should always end up with the 2 winning. The same is said of 3v2s, 4v3s etc. The goalkeeper who thinks like a regista is able to create these scenarios. The burden of creativity is being shared, and no-one evidences this more than Ederson at Man City. Consider this video (a favourite of mine):

I’m not even as calm as Ederson is here and I’m sat at home on my sofa in my dressing gown. pic.twitter.com/fxfImG0uLx — David Preece (@davidpreece12) February 3, 2018

Ederson’s willingness to receive the ball immediately creates a 3v2 scenario. Playing through the press allows the retention of the ball, and with 3 Burnley players now committed, there is now an 8v7 in Man City’s favour on the rest of the pitch. That’s a pretty good situation to build a positive attack. It’s the exact same principle as a player like Fernandinho or Busquets. A well-positioned goalkeeper can recycle the ball between centre backs and full backs like a deep-lying playmaker can do with his centre midfielders and wingers. Both have the eye for a direct ball beyond the striker too. Are there any similarities with this clip of Sergio Busquets?

The idea behind the philosophy is all about transitions – in The Numbers Game by Chris Anderson and David Sally, they suggest that the key to winning games lies not just in possession of the ball, but control over the transitions – Arsenal for example control transitions by maintaining possession; Stoke in comparison control transition by conceding possession in areas which aren’t dangerous (route 1). This regista-type of goalkeeper offers another way to control the transitions within a hectic game.

Some quick numbers taken from whoscored.com is shown below. This is a simple comparison of Manchester City goalkeeper’s passing since the 2011/12 season. The average passes made don’t really change, but the accuracy jumps dramatically. What might we infer from this trend? Are goalkeepers suddenly better at passing? Or are the passes themselves different? Is it a combination of the two?

Yes, the role of the goalkeeper is changing – this shouldn’t be new to anyone. It’s the tactical understanding of what changes are occurring that is interesting however, as it can teach us a thing or two about our own training and/or coaching. From the individual perspective, are we training/coaching to build goalkeepers capable of this style of play; confident on the ball, composed with vision, ball control and technique across a range of different passes? Are we setting aside time to work on the distribution aspects of our game?

It has to be mentioned that the correct team environment must be created – there is a reason teams who dominate the ball want goalkeepers who are able to retain possession and teams like prime Pulis’ Stoke couldn’t care less. There has to be a match. But perhaps worthy of consideration are the goalkeepers who, in my opinion, have found themselves stuck in the middle of this revolution – unable to fulfill the changing demands of their sides. Petr Cech at Arsenal, Courtois at Chelsea and Hart’s current plight with Man City spring to mind and i’m sure there are a few more examples to match.

To return briefly to the beginning, this article is somewhat of a prediction of where football might go in the next few years. There will be disparities, and without doubt there will be managers who refuse to recognise the possibilities of the goalkeeper in possession – there will never be a one-size-fits-all approach. But it’s certainly interesting to consider, perhaps for the first time, that the goalkeeper is absolutely central to his team’s ability to control a game. Going a step further, it’s also time to consider goalkeepers as a possible creative outlet – is the perceived riskiness worth it? Does this change our approach to training, from either a coaching or playing perspective? Is the ‘sweeper-keeper’ now evolving to the ‘regista-keeper’?

Get involved in the conversation in the comments or on twitter – I want to know your thoughts!