How to Properly Use a Regista in Football Manager

Who is a Regista in Football Manager?

A regista is a playmaker who plays in the Defensive Midfielder position. He is the heartbeat of the team and every attack starts from him. He controls the tempo his team plays at, speeding up play and slowing it down as he sees fit.

His ability to read the game and his superior passing, vision and ball retention makes him to always want the ball at each and every opportunity, his teammates will also actively seek him out to progress play and push the team up the pitch with accurate long balls to the forward players or overlapping fullbacks. 

Despite playing in defensive midfield, he is not expected to primarily defend, instead he is put alongside willing runners who will mask his defensive shortcomings. Modern examples of the regista include Jorginho of Chelsea, Pjanic of Barcelona, Verratti of PSG and Ruben Neves of Wolves.

Attributes Required for a Regista in Football Manager

The regista should primarily have excellent passing, technique and vision. These should be atleast 16 before considering playing anyone as a register. If you are playing in  a lower ranked team or division, aiming for above 14 in these key attributes should be your aim.

Moreover, the regista is also required to have good off the ball movement as he is expected to roam from his position, good decision-making to always pick the right pass, good team work rating and a good first touch to reduce the number of times he will put himself under pressure from a poor touch.

Player Preferred Moves (PPMs) Suitable for a Regista

A regista should preferably have these Player Traits in order to get as much out of him as possible;

1. Dictates Tempo

This comes as no surprise, as the regista is supposed to be the heartbeat of the team. He will deliberately slow the game when his team needs a breather then up the tempo accordingly when he is trying to unsettle the opposition with quick passing, or when his team is chasing an equaliser.

2. Tries Long Range Passes.

The passing range of a regista on should be second to none on the pitch. This trait will ensure he uses his passing ability to quickly get the team up field with accurate balls to the forwards as often as possible.

3. Tries Killer Balls often

While “Tries Long Range passes” will make the regista try to find players located further up the pitch rather than near him, “Tries Killer Balls Often” means that the regista will be more likely to try to make defence splitting passes from deep in midfield.

This is where his technique, vision and passing ability will come into play to minimize the number of times his team will lose possession as he attempts to put his attackers through on goal.

4. Plays one-twos

The regista should have the ability to pass to his teammate, move further up the pitch, then receive the returning pass from the teammate as he progresses his team forward. This trait is complemented by good passing, off the ball movement and teamwork.

Player Preferred Moves Unsuitable for a Regista

1. Runs with ball often

The regista is expected to control the game with his superior passing and vision, having a player who is always looking to run with the ball defeats the purpose of what you are trying to achieve. This trait is best left for tricky wingers with good dribbling to beat the fullbacks tasked with nullifying them. 

2. Stays Back at all times 

Training this player trait on your regista will greatly hinder his output as he is expected to roam from his position in order to make himself always available to receive passes from his fullbacks, centre backs and other midfielders.

The regista is expected to bail out any player who is being pressed by the opposition, and not  having the licence to move as he deems fit will limit his game.

3. Plays No Through Balls

This trait can only be useful to Centre Backs and destroyers in midfield who have poor passing, technique and vision, basically the complete opposite as to what a regista is supposed to offer the team.

Football Manager Formations With a Regista

As mentioned earlier, the regista is a playmaker who plays in the defensive midfielder position and true to that, he is only available at that position in football manager with a support role.

To get the best out of the regista, you need a possession based tactic, with runners around him to cover him out of possession and when he also roams from his position. Here are two ways you can set up with a Regista in football manager;

1. 4-1-4-1 DM

In this tactic, the regista should have willing runners around him. A box to box midfielder alongside a ball winning midfielder on support duty can work.

If you are managing a big team where you have superior players in most match ups, a box to box midfielder with an Advanced Playmaker or Mezzala will also work.

Though, with having many runners from midfield joining the attack, you will have to instruct your wingers to stay wide to avoid the central part of the 18 yard box from being overcrowded with players.

As a result of instructing your wingers to stay wide, put your fullbacks in the fullback support role, since there is no point in making them more adventurous on attack duty or as a wingback because the space ahead of him won’t be evacuated by the winger from cutting in. 

This tactic should also work for FM18, FM19 and FM21 as long as you copy the roles and instructions from the screenshot above. Always tweak the tactic slightly to suit your players

2. 4-4-2 DIAMOND NARROW

Same as the above tactic, the key is surrounding your regista with willing hard-working runners, the difference is that we have no wingers, and an attacking midfielder is present to alleviate some creative burden from the regista. 

However, I prefer putting the attacking midfielder in a shadow striker role so that he can make more forward runs into the box and generally focus more on the goal scoring side rather than creating chances. 

The two strikers on Advanced Forward and Deep Lying Forward roles will sometime move towards the wings to offer width, but wingbacks will shoulder the majority of that burden. 

This tactic is particularly useful if you have an abundance of options in central midfield while being limited out wide. It is clearly a possession centric tactic, but should you wish it, it can be tweaked to make it a counter attacking tactic with the midfielders feeding the attackers balls over the top.

There are still a few other ways the regista can be integrated into your team, so keep experimenting, especially during the friendlies, and you may just strike gold with a killer one