He’s not the usual playmaker: he helps the defenders, builds the game, dictates the times, from Luis Monti to Jorginho whoever wins has one. It all started after the war, with a ship on which young Carlos embarked for Italy
If the coach asks a South American boy to play in front of the defence, as a classic Methodist midfielder, he tells him: “You play the steering wheel”. To clarify the role: Pirlo was a steering wheel, Falcao was a steering wheel, Mascherano was a steering wheel, Casemiro was (and is) a steering wheel, Busquets was (and still is) a steering wheel. Not the director as it has always been understood in the Italian style: that is usually a task that is carried out by the midfielder, whether right or left, gifted with talent but not inclined to defend. The steering wheel, on the contrary, is above all an aid for the back department, and in particular for the two centre-backs, and then it constitutes the first game builder, the man who initiates the manoeuvre. A sort of architect of the team, to make the idea better, who however must also possess the skills of a matchmaker and the spirit of sacrifice of a halfback.
