Are centre-forwards now interchangeable with full-backs?

Sarah Winterburn

“There’s only two things for a full-back: you’re either a failed winger or a failed centre-back. Nobody wants to grow up and be a Gary Neville.”

Thus spoke Jamie Carragher in 2013. And this wasn’t only a little jab at his fellow pundit, who was standing right next to him at the time: he really meant it.

He continued: “I bet you Glen Johnson was a winger. Ashley Cole was a winger. Nobody grows up and wants to be a full-back, you end up there by hook or by crook.” (Those last five words are especially enjoyable coming out of Carragher’s mouth, by the way.)

It’s starting to look like we can add an extra category to that list: the failed forward.

Over the past year, we have seen James Milner, Jesus Navas, Pedro, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sané and Victor Moses deployed as full-backs or wing-backs, largely successfully. “But they’re wingers,” I hear you cry, which is a odd thing to do, and if I can hear you so can your fellow workmates, commuters, flatmates or spouse. Have you never heard of an internal monologue? Weirdo.

Things might be going a step further though. The opening group games of the women’s Euros have seen Switzerland, Norway and Portugal play their number 9s (Ana-Mara Crnogorcevic, Elise Thorsnes and Ana Borges) at full back.

This isn’t just a jazz approach to squad numbers: both have spent most of their careers playing as out-and-out forwards, scoring prolifically. There are certainly plenty of defenders going around, so why select a centre-forward for the role?

We have had attacking full-backs for the past 60 years, through Tommy Gemmell and Ruud Krol, and through into the millennium in the form of Cafu and Roberto Carlos. Manchester City’s signing of Kyle Walker for ridiculous money shows how highly managers now prize number 2s and 3s who are, if anything, more comfortable in attack than they are in defence.

The wisdom is that, with a few exceptions, most clashes of tactical systems will see the full-backs or wing-backs as the only players without a direct, defensively-minded marker when the team is in attack – this is easiest to see if you imagine a clash between two teams playing 4-4-2, but also applies with, say, a 3-4-3 vs a 4-2-3-1. Regardless of who has the ball in that instance, one of the full backs will likely end up tracked by a primarily attacking player.

Exploiting that shortfall of personnel was previously the domain of either number 10s or, going back even further, liberos like Ruud Gullit, who would burst out of defence and exploit the lack of a natural marker. These positional headaches were both solved by improved tactical discipline in central midfield and increased popularity and understanding of the Makelele role.

However, the sheer numbers game means full-backs can thrive by effectively operating as a wide libero, becoming an extra number 10 playing around the corners of the penalty box or from the byline.

Dani Alves is the best example of this: when he left Barcelona last summer, he had laid on 27% more assists for Lionel Messi (42) than any other Barca player (Andres Iniesta and Xavi both assisted 33 for Messi). It’s no coincidence that his former manager, Pep Guardiola, pursued Walker so aggressively: though clearly there’s a gulf in quality between Alves and Walker, he’s the best and closest thing available with Premier League experience.

The best solutions to the loose full-back problem both have the same requirement: forwards have to be incredibly dedicated and defensively aware, and either choke off the full-back before they get going by implementing a high press as soon as they lose possession, or by busting a gut to track the marauding full-back all the way to their own byline.

This is largely the reason that hard-working defensive forwards and wingers like Park Ji-Sung and Dirk Kuyt became so popular ten or so years ago, and have been succeeded by the even more tireless Son Heung-Min, Willian and Roberto Firmino.

The push-and-pull of this symbiotic relationship means that full-backs have benefitted from becoming more and more adept in attack, and in turn, forwards who are willing to run end-to-end and are capable of defending well have become indispensable to the top clubs.

The reason we have seen number 9s playing at full-back, then, may well be because the two positions have finally met in the middle. Both roles now require such similar technical skillsets, tactical awareness, body types and athleticism that the personnel are virtually interchangeable.

If we ever see Pep play Walker at centre forward, we’ll know the transition is complete.

Steven Chicken