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By • Lebo Mwamuka
Twitter- @lebzygold
Earlier this year, I wrote an article on my personal blog entitled "Rise of the mobile regista" (link: https://lebzygold.wordpress.com/2017/01/20/rise-of-the-mobile-regista/), where I detailed the impending extinction of traditional registas such as Andrea Pirlo and Sergio Busquets, as more and more teams attempt to intergrate more mobile registas, such as Amadou Diawara and Steven N'Zonzi. The reason for this is largely because traditional registas tend not be great dribblers and/or ball-carriers, and thus, when put under intense pressure (by a midfield trap, for example), they tend to struggle significantly. And because these players are positioned just in front of the back-line, should they lose the ball, they risk leaving their defenders very exposed. This is why mobile registas have been implemented; to negate this risk. The traditional regista, however, is not completely extinct, and there's a man in Germany representing them proudly and impressively. He goes by the name of Julian Weigl.
The Borussia Dortmund man has been a revelation since joining the club, quickly becoming one of the very best defensive midfielders in the world. Calm in possession, strong in the tackle, and an extremely precise passer, Julian Weigl has reportedly attracted interest from a number of top European clubs. Could he become the holding midfielder Pep Guardiola needs to make his Man City side complete? Could he make the infamous jump to rivals Bayern Munich? Perhaps he could serve as Sergio Busquets' replacement at Barcelona? That last option is particularly interesting as it generally accepted that Julian Weigl is made in the same mold as Barcelona's stalwart.
It is rather uncanny how similar the two players are in their roles in their respective sides, as well as their styles of play. As is the case with Busquets at Barcelona, Weigl acts as the link between the defence and the midfield. He helps create triangles with his defenders and midfield partners to assist with ball circulation, and thus, progression with the ball between the lines.
The image above (taken from spielverlagerung.com) shows the relationship between Julian Weigl and the players often situated close to him. Weigl's positioning and movement may seem simple, but he is always completely aware of his surroundings and looking for spaces in which he can be found by his ball-playing CBs and allow Dortmund to progress up the pitch. Another example can be seen below:
In the screenshots taken from the match above, Mats Hummels receives the ball and looks for a forward pass between the lines, rather then being forced to pass sideways and circulate the ball around the backline. Weigl quickly sees the space between the right striker and right midfielder, in front of the central midfielders, and receives the ball in a fairly large amount of space. With one movement, Weigl has broken one defensive line (the forwards) and opened up space to make a pass between another defensive line (the midfielders). This is the quality possessed by some the top registas we've seen in modern football, such as Sergio Busquets, Andrea Pirlo, Xabi Alonso and Thiago Motta. Tactically speaking, this may be the most difficlut role on the pitch to execute well, but despite his age, Julian Weigl is already at a world class level and capable of executing this role at the highest level.
Now let us statistically compare Julian Weigl with a legend of the regista role, Sergio Busquets:
This is a comparison between Weigl and Busquets during their respective 16/17 league campaigns. The similarities between the two are very uncanny and there's evidently very little to separate them. We often hear the cliche with Busquets that states: "if you watch the game, you don't see Busquets. But if you watch Busquets, you see the whole game". This is a rather cliche, but a very accurate statement as it does truly underline a top regista's role in the team. Weigl holds the same importance for Borussia Dortmund, further emphasising his class and his mantle as the final classic regista.
In a world with more and more ball-carriers being deployed as CDMs for various clubs at times, such as Mateo Kovacic, Sergi Roberto, and Saul Niguez, it is truly refreshing to know that the traditional maestros of our time are not completely gone and still hold significance in our game today. This is not to say that Julian Weigl is the last young traditional regista we'll see in world football today, but at the highest level, it is evidently a dying breed. Players such as Julian Weigl must truly be appreciated and cherished, as there are not many left. There soon may come a time when the German maestro feels the need to move on from Dortmund, perhaps to win more trophies, and if/when that time does come, there will be no shortage of clubs aiming to bring him in.
From both a defensive and attacking point of view, Julian Weigl is a special player for any system, and the Borussen outfit will certain do their utmost to keep him around. He's very intelligent too, understanding which parts of his game need work, and adapting to mid-game tactical changes easily. We have yet to see the best from the 22 year-old, and considering how good he is already, that is a truly exciting prospect.
"Last year I didn't always play the direct pass, but chose a safer option. I think that can be the next step" - Julian Weigl.