The inverted fullback has become a crucial part of modern football. Many top Premier League sides utilise this new role within their teams. Pep Guardiola is associated as the coach who invented this position, but it was in fact his mentor, the legendary Johan Cruyff who first experimented with this. Cruyff’s Barcelona side played a 3-4-3 formation – where one fullback drifted into midfield to create an extra body in the middle of the park.
Above is an image of a standard 4-3-3 formation with the number six being the pivot in the CDM role. The two fullbacks, numbers two and three are standard fullbacks that stay wider and help to support wingers by overlapping and creating overloads.
An inverted fullback is number three, who takes and receives the ball in midfield instead of providing width on the wing. A good example of this is at Arsenal where Zinchenko would be the number three and supporting his CDM by creating a ‘box in the midfield.’ This allows for more passing options for the centre backs and in this case, the number two who will support the winger by overlapping but also fall into a more defensive position when building out from the back.
How do inverted fullbacks compare statistically to ‘normal’ fullbacks?
When comparing Oleksandr Zinchenko with Kieran Trippier (a more traditional fullback) there were some key differences in statistical performance. Obviously, both players play in different sides but Trippier is still considered to be one of the best fullbacks in the Premier League so this should make for interesting reading.
Zinchenko averages more passes per ninety minutes and has a better pass completion rate than his English counterpart. He also makes more tackles which is to be expected considering the fact he is operating as a midfielder and therefore has exposure to a larger number of opponents. However, Trippier attempts nearly seven more crosses per ninety than Zinchenko and that is because he operates on the wing and can launch balls into his strikers whereas the Ukrainian is urged to hold onto the ball in order to feed the midfielders ahead of him such as Martin Odegaard.
Answering the question:
The reason more Premier League clubs are operating with inverted fullbacks is to overload teams in midfield. This is prevalent when a top side faces a team operating a low block so can help trap the opposition in a confined area, making it hard to counterattack. This is the reason why Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and more teams prefer to utilise this extra man in midfield, allowing more attacking players to be unleashed knowing they have two players behind them who can feed them whilst also preventing opposition attacks.
Also, these clubs generally have the funds to go and purchase a player who fits the mould for an inverted fullback with players like Zinchenko, John Stones and Pedro Porro all commanding fees in excess of £35million.
Porro is class at this
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