I thought that ‘no-one wanted to grow up to be a Gary Neville’?

The importance of the full-back in the modern game.


10 December 2023

So why do England have 3 undoubtedly world class full-backs, and 3 on the periphery? Why are these players so integral to their club sides, and when did this evolution of the full-back truly happen?

Kyle Walker, Reece James and Trent Alexander Arnold are so phenomenally talented that when one gets left out of the England team, there is an absolute furore. Ben Chilwell, Luke Shaw and Kieran Trippier are not quite as influential as the aforementioned, however their importance to their club teams are self-evident – Trippier is Newcastle’s captain and lead assist maker this season, Manchester United look lost without Luke Shaw, and Ben Chilwell, when fit, is one of the key attackers of the Chelsea team at left Wing-back.

The 10 most expensive full-backs have all been signed since 2016.

The clearest example showing how full-backs have dominated the modern game is by looking at the below transfer list: the 10 most expensive full-backs have all been signed since 2016.

table

What is a full-back?

A full-back in football is a wide defender and historically was responsible for marking the opposite winger, bombing forward and overlapping their teammates to create chances from wide.

However, modern full-backs must be very athletic and determined, as they have equal responsibilities of defending and attacking, and are constantly running the length of the pitch.

What have full-backs offered historically?

Every team that has won a World Cup has usually had the best full-backs in the world at the time. Cafu and Roberto Carlos for Brazil, Thuram and Lizarazu are just examples of this. However, you could also say that this is just a coincidence, every World Cup winning team is also likely to have the best player in every position at that specific time.

However, the statistics are clearly showing that modern full-backs are having a much bigger impact on the style of a team’s play, creating more chances per game, and becoming the stars of their respective teams. Trent Alexander Arnold is Liverpool’s Starboy. Reece James is Chelsea’s captain despite Thiago Silva, one of the most decorated defenders of all time, being in the squad.

This undeniably shows that these players are holding the influence, and often other teams need to find a way to nullify their abilities in order to win. To best understand the reasoning behind this, we need to first see where the attacking nature of full-backs originated from.

The attacking notions started in Brazil. They described a full-back as a ‘lateral’, aka a ‘wide’ player and not defensive. Anyone who knows football will understand the strengths that Roberto Carlos gave Real Madrid and Brazil. Marcelo soon became his successor and went on to achieve even better things. The space given to the wings allowed full-backs to bomb on, as man to man marking became a thing of the past. Fabio Capello saw Carlos as a key attacking component of his team rather than a defensive one. This completely changed his philosophy and the way in which he perceived full-backs.

As the 4-4-2 formation became less used in modern football, the full-backs role became even more prominent to the team; in essence they did not have a winger that they needed to track back and mark; their role could be so much more advanced.

However, this evolution became slightly stunted when teams figured out, that they could reduce the threat that full-backs brought.

A Champions League game in 2009 between United and Inter Milan showcased this. Sir Alex Ferguson changed his team selection to accentuate the use of Patrice Evra. Ji Sung Park was selected ahead of Wayne Rooney to nullify Maicon, Inter’s right back. He stuck to him all game. This allowed Evra to surge constantly down the left-hand side and give Manchester United, effectively an extra man.

Thus, midfielders could be utilised to nullify key full-backs and reduce their influence on a game; Luiz Felipe Scholari had such success with Bosingwa and Ashley Cole early on, but this was soon stopped as other teams caught on and figured out a way to stop them.

So why did the modern game certify the brilliance of full-backs?

Gary Neville offered some great insight, that in his day, ‘60-70 per cent of your training ground work would be defensive’. The requirement of what is expected of a full-back is now radically different, they can effectively win games. Full-backs are dynamic and ever adapting, their role has been at the forefront of the intensity that the modern game brings.

A key reason why modern full-backs can be so effective is because they play outside of the opposition’s defensive blocks and can stretch their defence to create space in the centre of the pitch.

These are some key statistics to highlight their evolving importance:

  • The number of full-backs creating 20+ chances in the Premier League was 7 in 2009/10, and 20 in 2015/16.

  • Joao Cancelo was involved in 44% of City’s open-play sequences in 2021-2022.

  • The amount of touches taken by a full-back in the final third of the pitch has increased from 22.7% in 2012 to 26.8%. They now contribute to 20.4% of chances created by Premier League teams.


Their effectiveness is largely down to the tactics deployed by individual managers in exploiting their talents. The below examples ultimately show why full-backs are so key in the modern game:

  • The use of the inverted full-back:

The brainchild of genius Pep Guardiola, where in his possession based teams, he needs his full-backs to be very technical, where they cut inside and leave the wingers out wide, creating overloads in midfield and giving an extra man advantage. This means that the winger will have more opportunities in one-on-one situations, and the full-backs are ready to stop any potential counter attack.



  • The revolution of Wingbacks:

Antonio Conte won the Premier League with this system: his success was down to his 3-4-3 formation in which he used the effectiveness of Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses. Conte’s front 3 was narrow so that the wingbacks could manipulate the open spaces. He used 2 defensive midfielders in Matic and Kante to counteract any potential imbalances in the team.


  • The sheer athletic and technical talent of modern-day players:

Kyle Walker is the fastest defender in the world and one of the strongest. When France played England in the World Cup, he is probably the only defender in the world that is capable of beating Mbappe in a footrace. The modern game has benefitted because of his sheer athleticism.

Trent Alexander Arnold has become a revelation, so much so that Jurgen Klopp and Gareth Southgate have moved him into midfield: he can switch play, play immaculate through balls, overlap wingers, and score from distance. Would we have ever considered the possibility of Gary Neville or Branislav Ivanovic to move into midfield and control the tempo of a Premier League fixture? In 2020, Alexander-Arnold became the first full-back to reach double-digit assists in two consecutive Premier League seasons. The modern game has been so fortunate that he is that talented. Manchester City and Liverpool have been able to capitalise and gain success as a result: Manchester City have cultivated a new football Dynasty, winning the Treble, 5 Premier Leagues and achieving a 100 point season. Liverpool have won every trophy there is to win in the past 5 years.

Therefore, the game is an entirely different entity to what it used to be. But the evolving importance of the full-back is at the forefront of success, and can manipulate the way in which a manager chooses his tactics, formations and overall style of play. Their existence is at the crux of any successful footballing dynasty: Dani Alves at Barcelona, Kyle Walker at Manchester City, Marcelo at Real Madrid, Phillip Lahm at Bayern Munich. This is undisputed, and in 10 years, it’s even possible that the original essence of what a full-back is meant to be, will completely vanish.

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