It's crazy how the deep-lying playmakers often don't get the recognition they deserve.

A thread defining the deep-lying playmaker in Modern football and their importance.

A deep-lying playmaker is a holding midfielder who specializes in ball skills such as passing, rather than defensive skills like tackling. When this player has the ball, they may attempt longer or more complex passes than other holding players.

When we talk about football, we mainly talk about the forwards & attacking mids. If you look at the winners of last 15 Ballon d'Ors, you'll notice that, 14 of them were attackers and the other one was Fabio Cannavaro —a defender. You see, the deep-lying playmakers are overlooked.

Now, if I asked you to name some of the greatest midfielders of last 15 years, you surely would add Paul Scholes, Andrea Pirlo, Xavi, Toni Kroos, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets into your list, right? Now, how many of these players got or still getting the recognition they deserve?

From Zidane to Leo Messi, everyone accepts Paul Scholes as one of the greatest midfielder of last 20 years. But, Paul Scholes never made it into the grandest stages of them all — he never won any major awards, never made it into the 'FIFA FIFPro XI' either.

Xavi, Alonso & Busquets, alongside Iniesta & David Silva, formed an incredible midfield for Spain between 2008-12. Since Iniesta & Silva are AM's, I am ignoring their achievements. Xavi & Xabi Alonso were 28 & 30 years old when they were selected for the 'TOTY' for the first time

Sergio Busquets never even made it to the list.
Vincente Del Bosque once said , "You watch the game , you don't see Busquets. You watch Busquets and you see the whole game."
Ironically , A player of Busquets' caliber never made it into FIFA FIFPro XI.

Andrea Pirlo is considered as one of the greatest minds in football history. He's well known for his passing range. He even has a nickname for his extra-ordinary passing skill from the deep — "The Architect".

Many a football pundits think, Andrea Pirlo was Italy's best player in World Cup 2006. But, did he get the recognition he deserved? Simply, no. He made it into the FIFA FIFPro XI only once, in 2006. Apart from that, he didn't win any major individual football awards.

Toni Kroos' passing range is so good that it's often said, it doesn't matter where you are, Toni Kroos could find you with a pass. Though Toni Kroos has been so far selected for the 'Team of The Year' thrice, he often doesn't get the appreciation he deserves.

Some staticstics which show the importance of DLP's in teams :

Italy won the 2006 World Cup using a deep-lying playmaker (Pirlo), Spain won World Cup 2010 & Euro 2008-12 using three DLP's (Xavi, Alonso & Busquets) and both Italy & Spain reached the final of Euro 2012 using them.

Furthermore, between 2007 & 2017 , 5 of the 7 Champions League winners used a deep-lying playmaker.

AC Milan ( Pirlo )
Manchester United ( Scholes )
Barcelona ( Xavi , Busquets )
Bayern Munich ( Kroos )
Real Madrid ( Kroos )

End of thread.