The central midfielder (number 10) in football: what are the key qualities required when you wear the number 10 on your shirt?

Do you have good technical skills, like to see the game in front of you and pass the ball to your team-mates? The number 10 could be just the place for you.
The central midfielder (number 10) is critical to a team's operation. They are creative, visionaries, leaders... we could even call them Maestros!
Positions in a football team have been changing over the years. Some, such as the playmaker, have taken on more responsibilities, while others have disappeared, such as the lateral defenders, the sweeper or the centre-half.
Today's number 10 may be attacker, winger or even defender all at the same time.
Do you play this position and want some tips to help you improve? It's on the house…

Many well-known players in the history of football, such as Zidane, Platini, Maradona and Karim Benzema have played in this position. In today's football, trainers and selectors are tending to use a playmaker less and less in the choice of their teams. One can see this with the current system employed by the French national team, where a more modern and rapid form of the game sees Antoine Griezmann, who is basically an attacking player, taking on the job of playmaker.

The number one quality for playmakers, as the name suggests, is being able to direct the direction in which the team should play, putting their vision of the situation there for the team to take advantage of. 
The person possesses superior technical skills. In a way, they are the "conductor of the orchestra" for the team, seeing what happens or is about to happen before all the others.
They must be the spearhead of the attacks, the player through whom all balls, or almost all, must pass. 
To direct the run of play, the player needs that essential vision - ability to see before receiving, as one often hears soccer players saying. They have to be capable of putting attacking players into the best possible positions, by being the link between defence and attack.
But having that essential vision is not sufficient - such a player needs to have a perfect set of skills to direct the course of play. If you see everything but you are not capable of carrying out what needs doing, it does not help you very much! So you need both a long game (e.g. long cross-field passes to change the angle of attack), and a short game where pass accuracy is paramount (in crowded space with lots of players involved) but also be capable of playing in small areas and to be able to shake off your opposing marker. Mastering both the long and the short game enables you to break down the defensive lines with passes into the gaps, which your team-mates can easily pick up. Often, it is the playmaker who sets in motion the action leading to a goal. If it is not the direct decisive pass, this player creates an overlap or is the one who gives the last-but-one pass.
Of everyone on the pitch, this is the player who probably has to work hardest on correct positioning. The thinkers of their team, time is valuable for them.

Having a star number 10 is a huge technical and tactical advantage for today's teams. 
The position is one of a leader and is an essential pillar of a modern football team. The number 10 will always have the most opportunities to try complicated passes, long or close shots at goal and to demonstrate dribbling skills. Let's not forget, the number 10 is a creator!!!
If you wish to find out more about the other positions in a football team, see below.

Today's football players should try out all the positions in the team at least once in their careers.
You can start as attacker, change to being a central defender, then a wing-back, followed by a stint as a number 10, become for a time a wide midfielder, go back to being a wide defender and finish your career again as central defender.
At the start of every new season, the coach has various types of players in the squad. The coach will try to find the best combination, the highest level of understanding between players, taking full account of each one's skills and qualities. 
It's all a question of the tactical plans to be adopted and the ability of each player to adapt to the reflexes and skills of the rest of the team. Coaches aren't going to force players to play in this or that position. But the coach will want to adapt tactics to suit the capabilities of the players, and also as a function of the opposition's choice of tactics and a knowledge of the players to be faced.
See below the advantages of playing in various positions!