'It’s a position that coaches highlight' - Why MLS continues to embrace No. 10s while Europe's top leagues move away from it

It’s worth, first, pointing out exactly what is meant by “playmaker” here. For a long time, they were a crucial part of the game, usually a classic “No. 10.” Started in Italy in the 1990s, and redefined in Germany in the early 2010s, the position became a place where managers would stick their most creative presence.

In effect, this was the guy that everything ran through. And there were clear benefits here. Your No.10 was more skillful than everyone else, read the game more effectively, and was therefore relieved of all of the traditional defensive responsibilities associated with the game. Any off-ball nous was considered a bonus. An intense work rate, in general, was not required.

But they have since lost their appeal in the global game. These days, especially at the highest level of Europe, teams are defined by their work rate and ability to basically run longer than everyone else. Football is a grind, with 11 players working with the same gusto and looking for the minuscule advantages that can give them an advantage over 90 minutes.

Too often, if one person decides not to run - especially at the highest level - then the whole thing can collapse. There is still room for some - Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes occupy similar roles. But for the most part, they are a dying breed.

In MLS, though, things are different. There is still room for the creative maestro and several teams rely on No. 10s as their catalyst.

“There is still a level of when you hit your playmaker position in MLS, they will stick out. They will be real quality,” former New England Revolution forward Taylor Twellman told GOAL.

At the highest level, this much is clear. Look at the MLS MVP award winners of the last 10 years, and you will find a glut of playmaking attackers who neglect concepts of “defending” and “off-ball work.”

The last five winners - Lionel Messi, Lucho Acosta, Hany Mukhtar, Carles, and Alejandro Pozuelo - are all the kind of creative presence who (except Messi) wouldn’t have a place at the upper echelons of European football. The same goes for 2017 winner Diego Valeri. Carlos Vela was also shifted to a No. 10 role towards the latter half of his LAFC days.

There are more, too. Thiago Almada, Evander, and Nicolas Lodeiro - all finalists within the last five years - function in similar ways.

Part of this is a money problem. MLS salaries are capped. General managers have to be creative with how they spend their money. More often, Designated Players and U-22 position spots - six instances where teams can operate outside of a traditional wage structure - are used on attacking talent. Defenders can be trained and used functionally. Having a game-changing attacking player is harder to come by.

“There’s a premium for the real attacking player,” Twellman said. “The fact that you can only spend as much money as you want on any of the top six players, with three of those under 22, there’s an ability to do that.”

And that is perhaps why it’s such an appealing spot for players. MLS salaries, in general, are dwarfed by the rest of the world. But designated players can make money outside of the usual restrictive bracket. The onus is on individual clubs to elect how much money they spend on DPs, but it is usually a lucrative business to be an attacking focal point of a side.

Messi, of course, blows the wage structure to shreds with his $20 million salary (which eclipses that of some teams.) But Gil, Acosta, Riqui Puig, Mukhtar, and Diego Rossi were all among the better-paid players in the league last year. Want to make a few bucks in a league that values your talent? Come to MLS.

“[Puig] brings certain qualities to the field and to the game,” LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney told GOAL. “We try to enhance those by how we create our movements, our rotations, and where we try to get people on the ball.”

But it's not just the bona-fide MVP candidates who can make a fine living. Lower down the leagues, teams employ similar talent. Colorado Rapids, traditionally tight with cash, pay Djordje Mihailovic $1.68m - making him their second most expensive player.

“We have up here a playmaker in Djorde. He can finish attacks. He's deadly on set pieces. He's one of those guys who makes a good 10, guys that can make guys around him better. He's our reference point,” Rapids head coach Chris Armas said.

New York Red Bulls’ Emil Forsberg, too, is traditionally an attacking midfielder. FC Dallas’ Alan Velasco plays that role - although that might change with their signing of Acosta. Minnesota’s Robin Lod functions in a similar way. There are complexities here - different teams require different things out of different players.

But the point remains: there is room for a type of footballer that the rest of the world has forgotten about. It is, all said, of little surprise that De Bruyne and Antoine Griezmann - both playmaking attacking midfielders - are the latest European stars to be linked with MLS.

Still, for all of the benefits of having an attacking focal point, change may be afoot. Although 10s can thrive here, other teams - with fresh tactical ideas - are working out how to counter them. Messi's Miami are perhaps the perfect example. Last season, they rolled through the regular season, winning the Supporters' Shield and setting a new points record.

But when it came to the playoffs, they were admittedly rather easily upset by Atlanta. The reasons here were many. A 40-year-old Brad Guzan turned in three straight immense performances in goal. Atlanta were certainly more opportunistic at the other end. But, perhaps most important, Rob Valentino's men simply played through Miami.

They knew that Luis Suarez's aging legs couldn't cover ground, and that Messi wasn't going to put in any legwork. Effectively, they were going be playing 11 versus nine on the counterattack. And so it proved, Atlanta routinely hitting on the break. Valentino outlined it all after the 2-1 series upset.

“It's not going to be one player that's just going to carry us, and that's not an underlying tone to anybody else. It's just the fact,” he told MLSSoccer.com. “I tell this group that you have to do this together. You can't have passengers. So whatever shape you play, whatever tactics we give them, it's going to have to be everybody in it together. And you could see that they really believe that they can do something.”

Cincinnati, spearheaded then by Acosta, suffered much the same fate - and lost on penalties in the first round. Columbus Crew, complete with reluctant runners Cucho Hernandez and Diego Rossi, were also bounced early by a New York Red Bulls side that simply ran more.

Other coaches simply prefer other systems. In 2025, LAFC, Columbus Crew, Montreal, and Minnesota have all set up without a traditional playmaker. The Loons, in particular, look like a throwback team, with two strikers and a trio of hardworking center midfielders behind them.

For Eric Ramsay's side, it becomes something of a give-and-take. They have allowed just three big chances all season and look like an excellent defensive side. But they have scored once - a scrappy dink from Kelvin Yeboah giving them a win over Montreal. Ramsay insisted that the goals will come.

"We've got a lot of variety in the front line, and it's only a matter of time. I'm trusting goals will come as that's the nature of the group we've got," he said before the Montreal win.

There are technicalities here. Some modern teams account for the issues that come with owning an aging star by building the right team around them. Messi's Argentina, for example, make up for their magical captain by surrounding him with hard runners.

The issue is, those hyper-specialized players are hard to come by, and they are elite, tactically intelligent players in their own right. If they did exist in America, it is unlikely a club could afford both them and a star advanced-playmaking talent.

So, for all of their benefits, playmakers stand at something of a crossroads. These days, the game is different. Acosta might have scored 14 and assisted 19 in MLS last year. Evander may have been an MVP candidate on the back of a memorable season for Portland. Moralez may have found his way back to NYCFC while his legs didn’t really work. But MLS is quicker than it used to be. Transitions are faster.

The general chaos demands better defensive work rate. The tactical intelligence in play is clearer. The league’s best playmakers have to be active both ways. Some are too talented for the holistic demands of modern football to apply - but the next generation might have to be more savvy.

Diego Luna, an emerging talent, and attacking focal point for Real Salt Lake, knows this.

"The game's changing," he said. "It's not where you can just be a 10 and sit around... unless you're Messi. He can definitely do that, but, unless you're him, in this age of the game, you have to do both sides of the ball."

The same goes for Puig. While his defensive numbers don’t jump off the page, the ground he covers alone is indicative of a player asked to do more than simply set the tempo of the game.

There remains room for passengers here. Messi is, of course, the exception to all of this. No one will ask Acosta, Puig, Evander, Moralez and others to change - their pedigree alone outweighs a wholesale adaptation. Going forward, though, there might be some tweaks. Playmakers can still thrive in MLS. But their days might be numbered.