Jonathan Wilson recently composed an article published in the Guardian on why the full-back position is the most crucial on the football pitch. The popular football hype is about the forwards, but, according to Wilson, games are often won and lost among the full-backs.
The evidence: every World Cup won since USA 1994 has been won by the team with the best pair of full-backs. This of course does not mean that having the best pair of full-backs is the independent variable behind success, but it does allude to the important role played by full-backs in modern football games.
What distinguishes the modern full-back from historical incarnations of the position is the increasing reliance on the full-back to attack. The modern full-back is expected to be both a superb defender as well as the ability to forage into the opponent's territory and play a key attacking role.
A key contributor to the attacking role of the full-back, according to Wilson, has been the gradual move by managers in the world game to a single striker, which crowded the middle of the field. Coaches responded to this change by changing from the 3-man defense, which was popular in the 1990s, to the 4-man defense, with the full-backs expected to act as de facto wingers. The great full-back will both play as a winger, providing attacking width, and in doing so, allow for the left and right midfielders on his team in-front of him to move into the middle and ensure the central midfield battle is won.
Now this system is not faultless. Teams can deploy midfielders to restrict the movements of full-backs, as Russia discovered in Euro 2008. Players such as Man Utd's Park Ji-Sung play very far up the field, but are very capable of performing a defensive job, removing the often empty space that is afforded the full-back. If the winger cannot defend, and often wingers do not grow up playing defense, then the full-back will get space and advance, utilising his attacking abilities.
With this in mind, PlainSoccer.com is listing the best attacking right-backs in the Premier League. These players were measured by their attacking contribution to games, taking the form of passes, attempts created, goals and assists. According to many modern readers of the game, it is these players who are keeping their teams on the attack and their opponents fenced in, often making the difference on the field between winning and losing. This list should not be seen as comprhensive in its analysis, but rather simply as a list of good attacking right-backs constructed by a blending of basic attacking variables.
One thing that I noticed from this brief examination is that there is a shortage of attacking right-backs in the EPL in comparison to counterparts on the left side of the pitch. Outside of the top 3 listed below, there are no EPL right-backs whom one would say have a strong attacking game.
Plain Soccer Top 5 EPL Right-Backs.
1. Jose Bosingwa, Chelsea
Games: 29Passes Per Game: 48 (80% success)
Goal Attempts Created: 32
Goals: 2, Assists: 3
2. Alvaro Arbeloa, Liverpool
Games: 24Passes Per Game: 44 (83% success)
Goal Attempts Created: 23
Goals: 1, Assists: 1
3. Glen Johnson, Portsmouth
Games: 24Passes Per Game: 36 (70% success)
Goal Attempts Created: 22
Goals: 3, Assists: 5
4. Bacary Sagna, Arsenal
Games: 30
Passes Per Game: 52 (85% success)
Goal Attempts Created: 22
Goals: 0, Assists: 0
5. Vedran Corluka, Tottenham Hotspur
Games: 31
Passes Per Game: 46 (80% success)
Goal Attempts Created: 24
Goals: 1, Assists: 1
Granted - I may be a bit biased as a Pompey supporter, but looking at the goals and assists, shouldn't Johnson be #1? With assists there has to be some quality on the other end, but surely with 2 more assists than Bosingwa there has to be difference in the quality of ball that is being put in, especially given that Johnson has created fewer chances yet has more assists.
Good point.
I would say to start that Bosingwa creates more chances on average per game, as you recognize. As to him being a better passer, or a more creative passer, I disagree.
Johnson must improve his passing. He does not get on the ball near what would be expected of him at a big club, while his pass accuracy has a lot to be desired. From previous studies that we have done, it seems that this variable is player-determined more than team-determined, so he will not miraculously get on the ball twice as often and improve his pass percentage if he moves to a bigger club. If he does move on this summer, he will be a potential top player who still has considerable room for improvement in his passing game.