Football is changing, and so is the role of wingbacks

Fullbacks (or wingbacks), full throttle

Much like everything in life, football is changing. It’s not only the introduction of technology to the game. Its very character has altered, becoming more and more fast and productive, with more weight given to the offence as opposed to defense. Even the Italians have long now abandoned their famous Catenaccio approach.

And in terms of goals scored, take the UEFA Champions League, for example. In its experimental 1991-’92 season, the goals-per-game ratio was 2.55. In the 2023-’24 campaign, this number had risen to 3.00. And this season it’s even higher, at 3.22 goals per match. 

Attack from the back, or from the wingbacks?

So, where do wingbacks fit into all this? The definition of their role given by Wikipedia is this:

The full-backs (the left-back and the right-back) locate the holding wide positions and traditionally stay in defense at all times, until a set-piece. There is one full-back on each side of the field except in defenses with fewer than four players, where there may be no full-backs and instead only centre-backs.

Well, scrap this. “The holding positions”? “Traditionally stay in defense at all times”? Come on now. The way football has evolved over the past 20-30 years, the success of teams has been significantly, if not drastically, based on the dedication of their fullbacks to creating, not destroying plays. Take Liverpool, for example. They may easily boast of having the most productive wingback duo throughout the entire Jürgen Klopp era. Andy Robertson has scored 11 and set up another 66 goals since 2017, Trent Alexander-Arnold has netted 21 and created 87 since 2016!

Germans have mastered the art

Although the League Cup holders have collected significantly less from the pair this season, a number of other major sides keep profiting from their attack-minded fullbacks, particularly in Germany. Eintracht Frankfurt depend on Nathaniel Brown and Rasmus Kristensen, Stuttgart have collected four goals and 12 assists from their wingbacks, particularly Maximilian Mittelstädt. And of course Bayer Leverkusen, with a total of 7+18 G+A coming from the flanks of their back four (or five, on occasion) this season: Jeremie Frimpong has two goals and nine assists to his name, Álex Grimaldo 4+8!

Pazza Inter

A total of 25 goals contributed by their fullbacks for the reigning treble holders in Germany, nearly 20 (4+14 G+A) for the newly crowned Supercopa winners Barcelona coming from Alejandro Balde and mainly Jules Koundé (3+7). But perhaps no other team gains more from its men on the flanks than Inter Milan. It’s not just the amazing Denzel Dumfries (7+2) and Federico Dimarco (3+7), but also their stand-ins, Carlos Augusto and Matteo Darmian, who have contributed a total of 26 goals (14+12), an exact 40% of Internazionale’s 65 hits this season.

Ups and downs

And these are only but a few among a number of fullbacks enjoying an excellent campaign for their club sides. Glasgow Rangers captain James Tavernier has three goals and 8 assists under his belt, PSG’s Achraf Hakimi 3+7, Polish international Paweł Wszołek has 4+6 for Legia, Rayan Aït-Nouri 4+5 for Wolves, while Fulham’s Antonee Robinson and Lazio’s Nuno Tavares have created nine goals each for their teammates. 

On the other hand, things have not gone according to plan these past few months for a number of high-profile fullbacks. The likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid) and new Milan loanee Kyle Walker are all household names who’ve failed to chip in to a single goal since the start of the season. The same applies to Ben Chilwell, but the England international has only featured once for Chelsea since last April, not included in Enzo Maresca’s plans. A shame, really.

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