"the thinker, the one who marks the pause, the hook if you like. This is the best word for it, hooking the midfield with the strikers, and naturally the Spanish "enganche" is the most commonly used (though Fifa's dictionary of football terms doesn't include the word). Inside-forward, the suggested English term for the position, doesn't even begin to describe it."
Examples of such players include Juan Roman Riquelme, Diego Maradona, Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti are all examples of sublimely skillful creative players. But currently in England there is a shortage of such players, the only examples I can think of is Arsenal man Cesc Fabregas and even then, his club have him wearing the number 4 shirt (although he is number 10 for Spain) and possibly at a stretch Ashley Young for Aston Villa. This lack of an attacking central playmaker in teams I feel was clearly shown in this weeks match at Stamford Bridge between Manchester United and Chelsea.
With both sides playing with a 4-4-2 shape there was no room in the formations for a player to operate "between the lines". Personally I'm a romantic when it comes to the beautiful game and particularly enjoy watching a maverick number 10 pick apart an opponents defence. So this seasons Premier League hasn't been my favourite when it comes to aesthetic pleasure.
I don't understand English footballs aversion to a central creative figure in a team. Last seasons Champions League winners Inter Milan had Wesley Sneijder as their creative fulcrum which clearly shows that their is room for players of his ilk at the highest level. Players who have played the this role and moved to England have more than often had to change their role within a team to gain first team football. Two players who are a prime example of this are Jon Obi Mikel of Chelsea and Manchester United man Anderson.
Both players mentioned were originally attacking creative midfielders, lynch pins for both their previous clubs respectively. Now I know that this would be a shock for most Premier League followers, as Mikel is now accepted as a holding player occupying the "Makelele role" and Anderson is a "water carrier" for Manchester United, helping with the transition of the ball from the defensive third of the pitch to the attacking third, without taking up particularly threatening positions himself.
Andersons stats show a downward trend in his goalscoring record. Prior to his move to England he scored 8 goals in 37 league appearances for Porto and Gremio respectively, he has now played 66 league games for Manchester United scoring 1 goal. With Mikel his national team manager Samson Siasia has spoken out against how Chelsea have transformed him into a defensive player saying,
"Chelsea destroyed the player Mikel once was," Siasia says, groaning. "They did a lot of damage to Nigerian football. Here was a young, enterprising midfielder who was going to be like Jay-Jay Okocha. He was about opening up defences, not protecting them."
One explanation for this lack of advanced play-makers playing in the British game could be the importance put on the quick tempo of the game. Watching most games in the Premier League the midfield is packed with hard working midfielders or two wingers with possibly one deep lying play-maker like Mikel Arteta, Charlie Adam or Luka Modric (who was recognised as a number 10 for his former club Dinamo Zagreb). With this kind of line up there is an culture in teams to get the ball forward as quickly as possibly. There are two problems sides would experience in the Premier League playing with a trequartista. Firstly a traditional number 10 would slow down the progression of the ball into the penalty area and secondly the direct style of play produced by teams in England leaves the enganche bypassed and a mere spectator in most games.
Unfortunately the footballing climate in England doesn't encourage creative attacking players, this has been well documented every time England are knocked out of a major tournament. The problem is that things don't seem to be changing, the only team bar Arsenal I can think of who play with a creative maverick at the heart of their team is Queens Park Rangers who have Adel Taarabt as their trequartista. More and more teams have shifted towards a very functional way of operating which I feel is part of a legacy which Mourinho left in England with his after his spell at Chelsea and also the influence of Sam Allardyce after his successes at Bolton with a very limited budget. Lets just hope more progressive managers like Arsene Wenger are introduced to the Premier League so that we can start enjoy more expressive forms of football more suitable for creative players to flourish in.
Examples of established trequartistas moving to the Premier League and experiencing a difficultly performing to the standards expected from them, include Juan Sebastian Veron, Deco, Alberto Aquilani and Gaizka Mendieta. All these players were highly rated playmakers plying their trade in Serie A and La Liga respectively but all of them I can safely say their moves to England weren't as successful as their spells elsewhere. Players of this type have often been described by pundits as lacking a work ethic, not being "team players" and have been moved on or used sparingly.
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| Joe Cole an example of creative talent in English football wasted |
I hope that this outlook changes as I feel that this part of the game is something English football is missing out on. Hearing the stories of both Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United rejecting the chance to sign Zinedine Zidane, the former doing it in favour of Garry Flitcroft, players like Tuncay Sanli and Joe Cole having their careers and development frozen by distrustful management, both make you realize what is lost from our game.
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