Did Andrew Robertson change the game? How the fullbacks’ role in football has changed.
It is no secret that elite level football has evolved in the last ten years. Fergie’s Swiss army knife of a team that dominated the English Premier League ‘til he retired is a thing of the past.
A fusion of German pressing and Spanish tiki-taka has replaced what was once a very simple game. The era of the big man up top and long-ball Hail Mary’s when chasing a goal has been left in the dust for a methodical, relentless style of football that, more often than not, grinds the opponent down before the final whistle.
One of the most intriguing evolutions in top teams’ tactics has been how they use their full backs. A position once known for being “left-back on the bench” has become the most influential and adaptable cog in the machine of all the European giants. Made in Munich, but mastered in Merseyside, Guardiola and Klopp noticed the tactical advantages a flexible full back can give a team.
Firstly, a tactic used by the greatest defensive managers in the game, known as “protecting the v” ensured that the points of the pitch in which the opposition had the greatest threat of scoring was covered, but proved to the master managers that the position a full-back covers when in a defensive shape has no use to the team. Thus, the likes of Guardiola and Klopp
deduced that right-backs and left-backs can push higher up the pitch. This has led to full-backs having a higher attacking influence on games and less of a defensive impact – becoming more of a traditional winger tasked with beating their man and whipping crosses in to get assists. Comparing Andrew Robertson’s season heatmap in his last season at Hull City – in a traditional fullback role – to his first season at Jurgen Klopp’s front-footed Liverpool shows that he is deployed further up the park. This is signified by his increased goal involvements. At Hull he racked up just two assists in 33 appearances, whereas the next season at Liverpool he set up more than double the number of goals in 11 less games. And this was only in his first season where he was settling into the squad. In his next season he accumulated 11 assists in the Premier League alone, a stat line most midfielders/wingers would be proud of (source: Sofascore).
The domino effect of this tweak is that wingers can have a more direct influence on attacking the goal and can get in the box more often. The most pertinent example of this is the “Egyptian King” Mohamad Salah. The “winger” has led the way for goalscoring from the wide areas ever since arriving at Anfield. It is no surprise that Klopp unleashed him at Liverpool when he has one of the most creative and attacking right-backs in world football behind him in Trent Alexander-Arnold. As Trent could cover for Salah’s lack of wide creativity, it allowed for the Egyptian to drift inside and use his predatory instinct to burst the net more often than not.
With the wingers pushing in and the full backs advancing forward, it means that there is a lack of defensive cover. Most managers employ a deep-lying central midfielder who is tasked with screening the defence and preventing quick counter attacks. This means that the “v”
that defensive managers focus on defending is not as exposed as there is a player to cover the defenders.
An interesting variant of the fullback which was prevalent way back in the origins at Munich and was more recently seen deployed by Klopp and Guardiola is the inverted fullback. Some managers can be concerned about the lack of defensive solidity when deploying the deep-lying central midfielder and/or the winger is not clinical in front of goal. Thus, as seen with Lahm under Pep at Bayern, the inverted fullback is deployed. What Guardiola noticed in Germany was Phillip Lahm’s exceptional ball progression ability. This prompted Pep to move the legend into the midfield alongside the screening midfielder. This allowed the winger in front to remain wide and effect the play from there. This allowed for greater defensive security and ball progression from midfield and freed the winger to play his natural game. Klopp has recently moved Trent into this inverted role where he has thrived.
Overall, the role of the fullback has evolved greatly from the least desired role on the park, to the most adaptable and crucial position at elite level. The fullback is no longer left on the bench, but rather the first name on the team sheet, thanks to tactical tweaks from Pep Guardiola and fine tuning from Jurgen Klopp.
