It is widely accepted that modern football originated in England. Despite this, being a native English speaker doesn’t always help when trying to immerse oneself in the history of the game. For example, take the emergence of the now widely used terms “mezzala”, “carrilero” and “regista”. Just what do these terms mean and how can I act like I know what I’m talking about at the pub next week?
In summary, the regista is a deep lying central midfielder that acts primarily as a playmaker, with little defensive responsibilities. They can loosely be compared to the quarterback role in American football. Both carrilero and mezzala are terms used to describe midfielders that play on either side of a central midfielder. The carrilero is a more defensive role and is tasked with defending the flanks and disrupting the oppositions attacks. While a mezzala is more offensive minded and is tasked with pushing up the pitch and supporting the attack.
I did some research to unpack what all of this means.
Table of Contents
What is a Carrilero?
Carrilero is a term used to describe a variant of a wide central midfielder; playing on either side of a central center midfielder.
The carrilero can be compared to a traditional box to box (B2B) midfielder, with less of a focus on attack. Instead, their role is to protect the wide areas of the midfield. They do so by shifting across the pitch to provide cover and usually not advancing far into the opposition’s half.
The carrilero does the “dirty work” of breaking up the oppositions play and screening the wide areas. They are also tasked with recycling the ball. However, they tend to only play sideways, “non-threatening” balls, typically to fullbacks and wide attackers.
The word carrilero translates, from Spanish, to “rail trailer”. This is because the carrilero is often compared to the “middle train cart” between the attack and the defence.
An effective carrilero must be highly industrious and have high positional awareness to disrupt the flow of the opposition. Some examples of high profile carrileros are N’golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi, Ander Herrera and Allan.
The carrilero has been adopted to almost every formation, but is traditionally used in 3-person midfields. They will often cover for attack minded fullbacks, by covering the spaces left behind during an attacking play.
In fact, because of their natural tendencies to cover wide areas, players that fit the mold of a carrilero have also been known to play as fullbacks. These players may not be as fast as most fullbacks nowadays.
However, they make up for their lack of pace with excellent positional awareness.
Examples of Carrileros
Embed from Getty ImagesHigh Profile Examples of these versatile players include Joshua Kimmich, Fabian Delph, Fabinho, James Milner, Sergi Roberto and Philipp Lahm. For a more detailed description of the fullback position, take a look at this article.
What is a Mezzala?
A mezzala is another variant of a wide central midfielder. Originating in Italy, mezzala translates to “half winger”. Unlike the carrilero, the mezzala is more attack minded. Their role is to operate in the half spaces between the midfield and the attack, linking up with the fullback and wide attackers.
They can also be referred to as inside forwards. This is because they are typically excellent at getting forward in support of the attack and contributing with goals and assists.
Similar to the carrilero, the mezzala is traditionally placed in a midfield 3. They push forward, while the remaining midfielders rarely travel far beyond the halfway line.
In the past, these players were not tasked heavily with defensive responsibilities. However, with the push towards team pressing in the modern game, this is no longer the case.
In addition to requiring great dribbling skills, agility and vision, an efficient mezzala must also have very high stamina.
Examples of Mezzalas
Embed from Getty ImagesA point of interest is that the nature of the traditional mezzala role lends itself to the use of natural wingers playing in the midfield. This has been seen with players such as Bernardo Silva, who plays in the Manchester City midfield more often than not.
Side note: I’ve been fascinated in the background of this role since seeing Bernardo Silva’s excellent performance against Liverpool in 2019. This was the only game that Liverpool lost this season. Further examples of natural wingers that have played the mezzala role are Angel Di Maria, Julian Draxler and Pavel Nedved.
It is not uncommon that players adapt to filling more than one wide midfielder role, based on circumstance. For example, N’golo Kante who has predominantly played as a carrilero throughout his career, has also been used in the mezzala role under Mauricio Sari in 2018.
Examples of more natural mezzalas (mezzalees?) are Kevin De Bruyne, Paul Pogba (in his Juventus days), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Naby Keita.
Here is a great video by Tifo Football explaining the role further.
What is a Regista?
The regista is a central center midfielder that operates directly in front of the defensive line.
In this role, they are tasked with playmaking, dictating the tempo of the game and dribbling the ball in high-pressured scenarios.
As such, a regista needs to have excellent long and short passing abilities and quick feet to dribble the ball in tight spaces. However, the two most important characteristics an effective regista must have are high game intelligence and composure.
The regista role in its traditional format is becoming more and more scarce in the modern game. This is because a defining trait of a pure regista is that they are not always the strongest defensively.
That’s not to say that they are do not participate in their team’s defensive efforts. A good regista is able to spot when the opposition is building their play and read their passes to make interception. However, that is not their primary focus.
Examples of Registas
Embed from Getty ImagesThe best example of a pure regista in the recent memory is Andrea Pirlo. When playing for both Juventus and AC Milan, he sat just in front of the defence and controlled the game almost effortlessly.
At AC Milan, he was flanked by Grennaro Gattuso, Massimo Amrossini or Clarence Seedorf. These players took on the majority of the defensive work in the midfield, allowing Pirlo time and space on the ball.
At Juventus, more of the same occurred, with players like Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal doing the dirty work in the midfield.
Embed from Getty ImagesAn honorable mention for a modern day regista goes to Paul Scholes towards the end of his career. Under Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United typically played in a 4 man midfield where the wide players were more attack focused.
The central midfield 2 usually consisted of a deep playmaker/regista and a box to box (B2B) midfielder or ball winning midfielder (BWM). Although Scholes was known as a B2B midfielder in his early playing days, he filled the regista role excellently during the clubs most successful period.
I’m sure that we’re all sick and tired of hearing about how underrated Scholes was, but there is an element of truth to it.
The regista in modern football
Much like the mezzala, the regista has been forced to adapt to the high pressing, fast pace of the modern game. However, unlike the mezzala, the regista has not found the same joy in adapting.
Instead, the emergence of the deep lying playmaker (DLP) has taken center stage in its place. The DLP possesses most of the traits of a regista with the added focus on defence.
These players dictate the tempo of the game while also participating in team pressing and filling the defensive midfielder role.
Embed from Getty ImagesGreat examples of DLPs in the modern game are Michael Carrick, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso and Thiago Alcantara.
Summary
With that being said, below is a summary of each role:
Carrilero
- Usually played in a wide central midfield position.
- Has high defensive work rate and a low to medium attacking work rate.
- Can potentially be played in the fullback position if required.
Mezzala
- Played in the wide central midfield position.
- Has a high attacking work rate and a medium to high defensive work rate.
- Plays high up the field and contributes goals and assists
Regista
- Played in a deep central center midfield position.
- Has a low defensive work rate and medium attacking work rate.
- Has very high passing range and positional awareness.
In conclusion, the carrilero, mezzala and regista roles are all unique, and highly specialized. These roles require technically and physically gifted players.
For more detailed descriptions of player roles and positions, be sure to check out the articles below: