What Happened to the Classic Number 10 Playmaker? The Death of an Art

Close your eyes and think of the number 10. Who do you see? Perhaps it is Zinedine Zidane, gliding across the pitch with elegance. Maybe it is Juan Román Riquelme, standing still while chaos erupts around him, before playing the perfect pass. Or perhaps Ronaldinho, smiling as he destroys a defense with a no-look flick. For decades, the “Classic Number 10” (known in Italy as the Trequartista and in Argentina as the Enganche) was the most glamorous position in football. They were the artists. They didn’t run much, they didn’t tackle, and they certainly didn’t press. Their only job was to create magic.

But turn on a Premier League or Champions League game today, and they are gone. The slow, luxury playmaker has become extinct.

Why did football kill its most beautiful role? In this tactical analysis, we explore the death of the classic number 10 playmaker and where those players have gone in the modern game.

The Role of the “Luxury Player”

In the 90s and early 2000s, football was played at a slower pace. Teams often played in a 4-4-2 diamond or a 4-4-1-1 formation. This allowed one player to float in the “hole”—the space between the opposition’s midfield and defense.

The deal was simple: The other 9 outfield players will do the running and defending, so you can save your energy to win us the game.

Players like Mesut Özil, Juan Mata, and James Rodríguez were the last survivors of this era. They required a team to be built around them. When it worked, it was spectacular. But when it didn’t, the team was effectively playing with 10 men defensively.

The Killer: High Pressing and Athletics

The primary reason for the decline of the classic 10 is the physical evolution of the sport.

Modern managers like Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola revolutionized football with “High Pressing” (Gegenpressing). Today, defense starts from the front. If the striker and the attacking midfielder don’t sprint to close down the opposition defenders, the whole system collapses.

The classic number 10, who used to walk around waiting for the ball, became a liability. You can no longer afford a “passenger” when the opposition is running 12km per game.

As we discussed in our article about the Evolution of Football Tactics, the game became a battle of space and intensity. The luxury player simply couldn’t keep up.

The Claude Makélélé Effect

Another factor was the evolution of defensive midfielders. In the early 2000s, teams started deploying dedicated “destroyers” like Claude Makélélé (and later N’Golo Kanté or Casemiro).

These players were tasked with man-marking the number 10 out of the game. The space “in the hole” disappeared. With a defensive midfielder breathing down their neck and center-backs stepping up aggressively, the time on the ball that players like Riquelme enjoyed vanished forever.

The Evolution: Where Did They Go?

The creative players didn’t disappear; they just had to move. The skills of a number 10—vision, passing, dribbling—are still valuable, but they have been redistributed to other positions.

1. They Moved to the Wing (The “Inside Forward”)

Players who would have been number 10s in the 90s moved wide.

• Example: Neymar or Lionel Messi (in his early years). By starting on the wing, they can find space away from the congested center and cut inside to create. They get the freedom of a 10 but without the constant physical battle against defensive midfielders.

2. They Moved Deeper (The “Number 8”)

Some playmakers dropped back to become “Deep-Lying Playmakers” or “Free 8s.”

• Example: Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos, or Kevin De Bruyne. De Bruyne is arguably the best passer in the world, but he is not a classic 10. He is an engine. He runs, he presses, and he tackles. He combines the creativity of a 10 with the work rate of a box-to-box midfielder.

3. They Moved Upfront (The “False 9”)

If a playmaker has good finishing, managers push them further forward.

• Example: Roberto Firmino or Harry Kane. Kane wears the number 9, but he plays like a 10. He drops deep to pick up the ball and sprays passes to the wingers. This allows the team to have a playmaker without sacrificing defensive structure.

The Last of a Dying Breed

The 2010s saw the slow, painful death of the pure playmaker.

• James Rodríguez: Won the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup as a pure 10. Four years later, elite clubs couldn’t find a place for him because he couldn’t press.
• Mesut Özil: A genius of vision, but as the Premier League got faster and more physical, he was criticized for being “lazy” and eventually phased out of Arsenal.
• Juan Román Riquelme: The ultimate enganche. He refused to run, refused to move to the wing, and played football at his own walking pace until the very end.

Conclusion

The classic number 10 playmaker is a relic of a romantic past. The modern game is too fast, too athletic, and too systematized to allow for a player who plays only when he has the ball.

However, the spirit lives on. We see flashes of it in Martin Ødegaard or Bruno Fernandes, but they are “Modern 10s”—hybrid athletes who work as hard as they create.

We may never see another Riquelme standing still with the ball under his foot while the world stops to watch, and perhaps, that is why we miss them so much.

Do you prefer the modern high-intensity football or the old-school “slow” magic? Who was your favorite Number 10? Tell us below!