After struggling with persisting physical problems for most of the 2017 MLS season, on 8 October 2017, Andrea Pirlo announced his retirement from professional football at the end of the season. He made his final professional appearance on 5 November, 2017. The reason Pirlo’s anme is included here because he was the most ideal player that played as a ‘regista’.
Essentially, a Regista is a Deep-lying Playmaker but he has to do many more things on the pitch. The Regista has almost same duties like a Deep-lying Playmaker (DLP) who dictates the tempo from a deep midfield position with accurate long and short distance passing, the key difference is that a Regista is a more dynamic option than a DLP.
Generally, a DLP will hold their position and ping passes across the pitch while he also intercepts opposition passes in front of defence.
Like a DLP, a Regista will operate from the defensive midfield position, but instead of holding their position and acting as an interceptor, they are also tasked with pressing opponents when out of possession. Ideally, though, a Regista will rarely venture into an opponent’s half, instead covering the central space just in front of a defence, up to the halfway line.
But in modern time the role of a regista has changed a bit, thanks to Guardiola and other coaches that followed on his foot-steps. Now most of the big teams like to play beautiful football, they want the ball always on their feet. Hence, another task has been added to the role of a regista. Now a Regista require athleticism and dynamism as well as outstanding passing ability in order to truly master the role.
A Regista is therefore, perfect for a high-pressing team that likes to dominate possession. In away matches against a title rival, however, a Regista is perhaps an unsuitable role for a defensive midfielder unless paired with another player who has a more defensive mentality.
What key attributes do they need?
Quite simply a player needs to be an outstanding distributor of the ball in order to be a good Regista, he must be blessed with excellent vision to pick out a teammate in a more advanced area of the pitch while first touch, composure, and aggression are also desirable attributes.
Additionally, determination, concentration, positioning and stamina are good secondary attributes for a Regista to have.
So here is a list of 4 best examples of a Regista in Current Footballing World:
1.Kevin De Bruyne:
KDB started his career as a more advanced player, a winger who often scored or provided assists. But under Pep he does everything that an ideal Regista will do for his team.
2. Fernandinho:
Fernandinho is one of the most underrated player in the world football. He usually played as a defensive midfielder but he also provides accurate long pass for Sterling and Jesus. But the best thing is his ability to take the ball from the opposition in the opposition half.
3. Adrien Rabiot:
Rabiot is a 22 years old PSG midfielder. He often plays as a regista, and help the team by controlling the tempo of the game. His athletic ability and body strength helps him in dispossessing the ball from opposition’s feet.
4. Luca Modric:
At the age of 32, Luca Modric is considered as the best midfielder in the world by many pundits and analysts. He started his career in more advanced roles but under Zidane in Madrid he plays as a deep-lying playmaker and also helps the team defensively.
Off The Crossbar 
Nice article! Anyhow, I’d question if there really are Registas left in modern day football. In my opinion, Andre Pirlo was the last one. And that is not negative – the game has simply changed.
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