Trequartista? An introduction...

By: Ryan Noormohamed

While bouncing around a few ideas for my first article on this blog, I realized that our name, for some, needed some clarification. This article will attempt to demonstrate what a trequartista is, and the purposes it serves in a team, while providing also a nice comparison between two of the decade's seminal trequartistas in Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero. 

What is a Trequartista?

Firstly, where does the word come from? "Trequartista" translates roughly from Italian to mean "Three Quarters" or, rather, that he plays approximately 3/4 up the pitch. The modern trequartista is the central attacking playmaker of the team. In teams that play with a trequartista, the primary focus on attacking has been shifted to one player whose job is to create the final pass or move to finish the attack, and thus delegate possession and defensive responsibilities to the central midfielders behind him. By allowing one player to focus almost entirely on attacking creatively, it allows the team to get the most out of their player by playing to his strengths. Trequartistas have been used in teams playing with 2 strikers, 1 striker, wingers, a diamond midfield, and other options. There is no clinically proven formation to use a trequartista, however, in the modern game we typically see a 4-4-2 diamond midfield formation (also known as a 4-3-1-2), or a 4-2-3-1 in which the trequartista is playing in the middle of the bank of three. Because of this, the common "identifying number" for the team's trequartista is the number 10. Famous trequartistas who have worn the number 10 include but are not limited to Alessandro Del Piero, Francesco Totti, Zico, Roberto Baggio, and Zinedine Zidane.

Zinedine Zidane

The Trequartista in the Modern Game:

So, for those just now learning what a trequartista is, you're probably wondering WHO in particular I am talking about. For example, is Lionel Messi a trequartista? How about Ronaldinho? Wayne Rooney? They may all wear the number 10, and they are definitely all attacking playmakers, but not one of them fits the trequartista archetype. One player wearing the number 10 and fulfilling this role of late has been Wesley Sneijder. Before the 09/10 season, Sneijder left the sun of Madrid and joined Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan, eventually leading them to an unprecedented treble of Coppa Italia, Serie A, and Champions League titles, scoring 9 goals and notching 12 direct assists in the process. This world class form carried into the World Cup as well when, being the fulcrum of a rather dull Dutch central midfield, he scored 5 goals and tallied another assist, and was hailed by some as the standout player of the tournament.

However, while the exploits of Wesley Sneijder have been admirable, his role and his form within this role have not been replicated elsewhere recently. Modern tactics dictate the need for a holding midfielder and a deep-lying or defensive playmaker, which has nullified the effect of most wannabe trequartistas (more on this in a future article). Furthermore, in leagues such as the English Premier League or Scottish Premier League, a trequartista is often not given the time on the ball needed to do his job effectively, and thus some modifications to his role must be made. The prime example of this is the 08/09 use of Steven Gerrard in Liverpool's midfield. Manager Rafael Benitez's now popular 4-2-3-1 formation featured a world class central trio of Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, and Steven Gerrard, with Fernando Torres playing as a lone striker (albeit, sadly, when rarely fit). Mascherano won the ball, Alonso kept the tempo flowing, and Gerrard kept the goals roaring. In his best ever season, he notched a total of 24 goals and 11 assists in a season-long tour de force that saw Liverpool narrowly lose to Chelsea in the Champions League Quarterfinals and finish a mere 4 points behind Manchester United in the league. Gerrard was the attacking focal point of the team, and played centrally where a trequartista should play, but his skills were comparable to brute force rather than silky smooth finesse work. Compared to Sneijder or Baggio, it was clear that something is definitely missing in his approach. In this blogger's opinion, he did a good thing by managing to mend successfully (and for perhaps the first time) the traditional playmaking abilities of a trequartista and the English tendency to get "stuck in" as they prefer to put it, essentially a sense of physical discipline with regards to tackling and positioning. He may have blended effectiveness with grit, but he still can't be classified as a traditional trequartista. 

The Eternal Question (for Italians at least...)

Some would suggest that this question was answered with their success at the 2006 World Cup, however, in comparing the two greatest attacking players of their generation, a clear answer is still not found. Of course, I'm talking about the difference between Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti. 

Alessandro Del Piero

Of course, one's opinion could be heavily influenced by the team one sympathizes with or supports. Both happen to be legendary one-club men (or...pretty much...) who competed at the international level for the same position in the Italian national team. But whether one sympathizes with Juventus or Roma is irrelevant when determining the class and talent of the two players. However, which was the better trequartista? One can determine an answer by asking one very important question: Is a trequartista expected to score goals on a regular basis? Or is his overall contribution towards the attacking ability of the team more important? 

If you're in the "pro-goals" category (and in this particular case, some GREAT ones), the 282 goals in 683 games for Del Piero has him winning the cake (from wikipedia). However, why then did Marcelo Lippi choose to build his team around a half-fit Totti, himself a more assist-friendly player. Further adding fuel to the fire, it was Del Piero who scored the goal that sent Italy into the final, himself an extra-time substitute rather than a starter.

I suppose the easy answer would be that it comes down to the preference of the manager. However, some things that we know about trequartistas across the board are as follows:

1. They tend to be good passers. This is an obvious statement.

2. They tend to be strong leaders within the team. Take for example the two mentioned above. Both managed to become captains at their clubs. Include here the examples of Gerrard, Zidane, and Zico and you have yourself a case that a good trequartista is typically a good leader on and off the pitch.

3. They tend to be good free kick takers. Case in point, use the comments section below to name a few that aren't good at taking free kicks...

Francesco Totti

In conclusion, the advent of the trequartista allowed for teams to enhance the attacking contribution from an individual player with regards to goals (optional, see above) and assists. This threat was met with the "Makelele" player (possibly itself a future blog piece...) which resulted in modern football's current deprivation of the particular player. However, players like Wesley Sneijder and Steven Gerrard, as well as numerous others, have resulted in a small semi-revised revival of the role of the classic no. 10, arguably the game's most glamorous type of player.