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The boys from Brazil still lead the charge for attacking fullbacks
Tactics expert Jonathan Wilson recently wondered if fullbacks had finally converted to out-and-out attackers, arguing that this is the culmination of a natural progression that has been underway since the 1950s. It’s a thread that, when pulled, begins in Brazil with the 1958 World Cup-winning fullback Nilton Santos and has spread to the rest of the footballing world, something that really took off with the age of color televisions when Brazil captain Carlos Alberto scored the fourth and final goal in his side’s 4-0 victory over Italy in the World Cup final in 1970.
Europe had by then taken note and already followed suit. First in Italy, where Helenio Herrera tweaked the catenaccio system so that his left back at Internazionale Giacinto Facchetti scored as many as a forward and was second in the 1965 Ballon d’Or, also picking up a runners-up medal in the 1970 World Cup.
The next to develop the role were the Netherlands with coach Rinus Michels and his vision of Total Football. The fluidity of positions meant that fullbacks could feasibly pop up anywhere else on the pitch and would need to be able to attack as well as any attacker. Players such as Ruud Krol and Wim Suurbier were nominally fullbacks but offered much more, while Johan Cruyff would often dictate the play from a position that would traditionally be occupied by a left back.
Peak fullback
The 1980s saw even more attacking fullbacks prosper, particularly in Germany where Paul Breitner was followed by Andreas Brehme before a range of even more forwardthinking fullbacks exploded in the 1990s. The World Cup final in 1998 was perhaps peak fullback in this regarded. For Brazil there was Roberto Carlos and Cafu, two marauding footballers, while France lined up with Bixente Lizarazu and Lilian Thuram, a player not known for his attacking output but who had single-handedly getting them to the final with his first and last international goals seeing off Croatia in the semifinal.
The French may have triumphed, but it was the Brazilian pair who would win the next World Cup and redefine the expectation of what a fullback should offer their team. This was the decade where attacking fullbacks would become de rigueur and it took a Frenchman to help make that happen. While Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson had made attacking fullbacks such as Denis Irwin, Paul Parker and Gary Neville a key part of his trophywinning sides of the 1990s, it was his great rival at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, who went a step further. The fullbacks of Wenger’s first truly great side – not the first he won a trophy with but the first where it was not built around players he inherited – were Ashley Cole and Lauren. Wenger himself had taken Cole from being a forward in the youth setup and repurposed him as a left back, whereas Lauren had built his reputation as a midfielder before being positioned at right back.
Evolution
It was an idea that was developed further by Pep Guardiola at both Barcelona (where the irrepressible Dani Alves was a foil to Lionel Messi) and Bayern Munich (where Philip Lahm was often trusted to handle
the whole right-hand side of the pitch on his own). Lahm, who is about to retire at the end of the current season, was one of Guardiola’s most trusted lieutenants during the Spaniard’s time in Bavaria, playing both fullback positions and as a defensive midfielder – a role that has seemingly been copied by his teammate David Alaba.
Interestingly this season’s English Premier League will likely be won by the team with the most attacking fullbacks. Whether that’s Chelsea’s wingbacks of Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso – a pair of players who have been reinvented under Antonio Conte this campaign – or Tottenham Hotspur’s trio of Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier. It’s a stark contrast to the Manchester sides struggling to find the right balance or personnel in their fullback positions and one of the reasons that the Premier League title will be in London at the end of the season.
Today’s vision
But it was this week’s Champions League semifinals that gave probably the most accurate gauge of where football sees its fullbacks in 2017 and two players who are direct footballing descendants of Nilton Santos: Alves and Marcelo. Alves scored one and set up the other goal as Juventus beat Monaco 2-1 – not to mention he assisted both of Gonzalo Higuain’s goals in the 2-0 first-leg victory. Not bad for a 34-year-old who was cast aside by Barcelona. Meanwhile his international teammate Marcelo has quietly become one of Real Madrid’s key players and is arguably having his best season in a white shirt. Marcelo’s side may have lost the second leg to Atletico Madrid but he has been a fundamental part of why they had such a comfortable 3-0 lead in the first place.
No fullback can go on forever and more players will have to pick up the mantle and continue the tradition. Again, this week’s Champions League may have given a glimpse of that. Monaco’s fullbacks Benjamin Mendy and Djibril Sidibe impressed over the two legs, while many clubs will be looking at their teammate Fabinho as an option at fullback next season despite him being redeployed further up the pitch by the Monegasque. Elsewhere, Alex Sandro has made the Juventus left back slot his own and has been argued to be the best fullback in football this season. The nationality of Fabinho and Sandro? It’s not going to surprise anyone that the boys are from Brazil.