It is quarter of a century since Jack Charlton observed after the 1994 World Cup that full-back had become tactically the most important position in football, and with each passing year his words have come to seem increasingly true. It is entirely possible – likely, even – that Saturday’s Champions League final could be decided by the performance of the respective pairs of full-backs, something that would have seemed absurd even a couple of decades ago.
The statistics are emphatic. No defender has ever registered more assists in the top division of the English league than Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 12 this season. On the other flank, Andy Robertson equalled the previous record with 11. Alexander-Arnold also scored once. That is 24 goals either scored by or directly set up by full-backs, more than Huddersfield scored in total. Danny Rose’s and Kieran Trippier’s figures might not be quite so startling – three league assists each plus one goal for Trippier – but their sallies forward are also a key part of Spurs’ attacking plan.
Gianluca Vialli had a theory that the worst player on the pitch was usually the right-back. Left-footers, he reasoned, were in the minority, so they tended to be allowed to develop naturally. On the right, though, a technically gifted player would be pushed forward from right-back to operate as a winger or wide midfielder, while a defensively adept player, providing he were tall enough, would be moved inside to be a centre-back. Right-backs were what was left: hard-working players under 6ft tall with no great technical ability.
But even before Vialli retired, that had begun to change. What Charlton recognised was that when 4-4-2 met 4-4-2 there were some simple match-ups going on. The two centre-forwards were picked up by the two centre-backs. The midfield four dealt with their opposite numbers. But the full-backs had no direct opponent: they had time and space and so it fell to them to dictate the tempo and shape of the game.
They could tuck in to be auxiliary central defenders; they could push up to support their wingers; they could move forward and inside to join the battle in midfield. They were the players with flexibility. That realisation, combined with the increasing prevalence of back-threes that required the full-backs to become wing-backs, changed the conception of the role.
The term “full-back”, which referred to their origins as the two defenders in a 2-3-5, is a complete misnomer today. Full-backs, rather, have grown into the Spanish or Portuguese term for the position, “lateral” (wide players), a linguistic quirk that came about largely because other languages started naming positions after the evolution had taken place.
The straitjacket of 4-4-2 may have largely disappeared today but full-backs still have a freedom denied other players. Even the hardest press is unlikely to pursue a player back into his defensive corner; fundamentally the game is safe when the ball is there. That means although shapes have changed and 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 have largely replaced 4-4-2, the full-back is still a player with space and time – combined with the sense that he can push forward without leaving potentially catastrophic spaces behind him in the way an advancing centre-back would.
In addition, the tendency for wide forwards to cut inside means full-backs are encouraged to get forward, either to offer an option on the overlap, or simply to draw the opposing full-back slightly wider to create a path for the wide forward cutting infield.
That has changed the profile of the full-back, particularly on the right. (It is a historical curiosity that tends to support Vialli’s theory that the first great attacking full-backs – Giacinto Facchetti, Nílton Santos, Silvio Marzolini – played on the left.) Trippier has had a difficult season but he was arguably the best right-back at the World Cup, even if that is an assessment largely based on his dead-ball delivery. Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, is an extraordinary crosser of a football and, as his quick corner to set up Divock Origi’s winner in the semi-final showed, he has the wit and imagination of a playmaker.
Alisson Goalkeeper
Season apps 50
The great-grandson of an amateur goalkeeper in his hometown, the Brazil No 1 replaced his brother, Muriel, at Internacional.
Trent Alexander-Arnold Right-back
Season apps 40 Goals 1
When Liverpool last won the Champions League in 2005, he had just signed for the club as a six-year-old.
Andy Robertson Left-back
Apps 51 Goals 0
Released by Celtic aged 15, he worked at M&S in Glasgow while playing as an amateur for Queen’s Park. Has never lost a Liverpool game at Anfield.
Virgil van Dijk Centre-back
Apps 53 Goals 6
World’s most expensive defender at £75m. Worked as a dishwasher at the Oncle Jean restaurant in Breda when he was 16.
Joël Matip Centre-back
Apps 30 Goals 1
Born in Bochum, he represented his father’s country, Cameroon, before retiring from international duty in 2015.
Dejan Lovren Centre-back
Apps 18 Goals 1
Said he should be recognised as “one of the best defenders in the world” after helping Croatia to the World Cup final. His family escaped to Germany during the Bosnian war.
Joe Gomez Centre-back
Apps 24 Goals 0
The versatile defender joined Liverpool from Charlton, where he made his first-team debut aged 17. Has represented England at every level.
Georginio Wijnaldum Midfielder
Apps 46 Goals 5
His double against Barcelona sent Liverpool to the final. Started his career at Sparta Rotterdam, where his younger brother, Giliano, plays.
Fabinho Midfielder
Apps 40 Goals 1
Before joining Monaco, the Brazilian had a spell on loan at Real Madrid from Rio Ave in 2013, making one appearance.
Jordan Henderson Midfielder
Apps 45 Goals 1
Given his England debut by Fabio Capello. The only English player to miss in the World Cup shootout against Colombia.
James Milner Midfielder
Apps 44 Goals 7
Last season, his nine assists broke the record for a single Champions League campaign. He is England’s most-capped under-21 international.
Mohamed Salah Forward
Apps 51 Goals 26
Was excused military service in Egypt to focus on football. The fastest Liverpool player to score 50 Premier League goals, taking 69 matches.
Roberto Firmino Forward
Apps 47 Goals 16
He used to help his father in the family business selling water bottles. Was the Bundesliga’s 2013-14 breakthrough player of the year.
Sadio Mané Forward
Apps 49 Goals 26
Scored the fastest Premier League hat-trick for Southampton against Aston Villa in 2015 in two minutes and 56 seconds.
Divock Origi Forward
Apps 20 Goals 6
His father played 120 times for Kenya. His double against Barcelona was the first time he'd scored in the Champions League.
Xherdan Shaqiri Forward
Apps 30 Goals 6
The only player in the Liverpool squad to have won the Champions League.
Harry Vavasour
The reaction to that is that wide forwards now also have to be prepared to defend, and at least part of the reason for Paris Saint-Germain’s and Barcelona’s defeats at Anfield this season (and although PSG lost only 3-2, they were hammered) was the failure of Neymar and Lionel Messi to do so. Quite apart from his qualities as a centre-forward, that is another reason for Tottenham to hope Harry Kane is fit; if he plays, Son Heung-min can move to the left where he seems a more natural tracker of Alexander-Arnold than Lucas Moura.
That said, battles on the flank often become a game of chicken. Perhaps Mauricio Pochettino will not tell his wide forwards – Christian Eriksen will probably play on the right – to track their full-backs but will have them stay high ready to exploit the space behind Robertson and Alexander-Arnold on the counter.
Either way, with the centre of midfield likely to be congested and evenly balanced, this is a final that will probably be decided on the flanks.
