5 tactical changes of the past decade: Evolution of the Wingers (Part 2)

Like everything else, football is also evolving. In the olden days, the tactics were simple and easy to understand. Defenders defended, strikers scored and midfielders helped with both. Since the days of classic 4-4-2 formation, wide players were always important. They helped stretch the game and supplied crosses to the strikers. Left-footers played on the left and right-footers played on the right. It was simple and elegant.

Ronaldo is a perfect example of an inverted winger

In the past decade, with growing need for goals, classical wingers have been overshadowed by the ‘inverted wingers.’ With the emergence of 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 and such similar formations, the winger now has to do more than just whip crosses in; they are expected to also score and they can do that only by cutting inside and supporting the striker, who would otherwise be isolated. It is also possible to say that the addition of the defensive midfielder in these formations has played a significant role in the emergence of such wingers. With the added defensive stability, it is now possible to unleash the full-backs forward without compromising the defensive strength of the team.

Ryan Giggs can be considered to be one of the most famous conventional winger in the past decade and his goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final shows some of the most important traits that a winger needs – ball control, pace and, above all, the ability to run at defenders and beat them. Add to this the ability to hug the touchline and deliver an accurate cross, and you have a complete conventional winger.

As opposed to the conventional winger who plays on the side of his stronger foot, an inverted winger plays on the side of his weaker foot. This switch is made so that the winger can cut inside the full back, and onto the defenders weaker foot, and have a shot at goal with his stronger foot. Arjen Robben, Lionel Messi (before he was moved to the centre) and Cristiano Ronaldo are the best examples of the devastation that an inverted winger can cause.

With the emergence of the single striker system, the importance of the inverted wingers have increased drastically. With the wingers drifting inwards giving support to the lone striker, who would otherwise be isolated (dragging the defending full back with him), the overlapping fullbacks are able to exploit the space out wide. There are numerous examples of this kind of partnership – overlapping full back pairing like Arjen Robben and Philip Lahm (Bayern Munich) or Ashley Young and Patrice Evra (Manchester United) being the best known.

With the wingers cutting inside, the striker is able to drop deeper playing as a shadow striker or a false nine. This creates a huge hole in the position where the striker is supposed to play, allowing the midfielder from deep or the winger himself to run into this space and exploit the defensive frailty of the opposition team. The attacking midfielder can also make runs to the outside, making himself available at the wide areas, which creates further confusion for the defending team.

These wingers also play a vital role in the defensive side of the game. While width is always something every team craves for, the simple and obvious fact is that the centre is the most dangerous area. Inverted wingers usually stay more central than on the flanks which force the opposition winger to stay out wide, thus preventing overlaps of the full backs to an extent and, more importantly, crowding the central area, thus reducing space for the opposition midfielders and strikers to exploit.

Currently, there are only a few sides that operate with conventional wingers. Tottenham Hotspurs, with Bale on the left and Lennon on the right, employs the conventional winger system to great effect and is like a breath of fresh air, which provides a glimpse into the good old days. Since they use a two striker system (Defoe with Adebayor or Dempsey), the wingers can perform their traditional task as the 2 strikers occupy the penalty area.

With the growth of the inverted wingers, managers now has further ammunition and tactical options by playing one inverted winger and one conventional winger. Manchester United operates under this system. Ashley Young plays the inverted winger role, whereas Valencia plays as a conventional winger, staying out on the wings, while the former plays more centrally and drifts into the area between the opposition full backs and center backs.

Barcelona has further revolutionized wingers by using what can be tentatively called as ‘wide poachers.’ As opposed to the traditional poacher, who sits on the shoulder of the last defender in the center, the wide poacher does the same on the wings. With players as dynamic and versatile as Pedro, Iniesta and Villa (none of whom are natural wide players and predominantly looks to use their creativity and goal threat) in their ranks currently and outstanding Thierry Henry before (whose ability to drift out wide was evident even at Arsenal), this has become a remarkably successful strategy for them, and, by extension, for Spain.

Pedro and Iniesta are examples of ‘wide poachers’

When the possession is on the right flank, the wide player on the right makes the traditional winger runs while the other wide player behaves like a traditional poacher, running into the box diagonally from the wide area (doubling the number of strikers in the box), rather than move inside like an inverted winger or hold the touchline like a conventional winger. This effectively increases the number of poachers in the team to two without having two strikers and with the talent they have in the team, finding them is only a matter of time. While Barcelona’s tactics are very effective, their lack of wingers is a weakness that Chelsea exploited last year in the Champions League.

While the older generation would claim that nothing beats the beauty and simplicity of the conventional winger whipping a cross to the towering centre-forward or pulling the ball back to the centre from the by-line (arguably the most dangerous pass of the game) like they did in the good old days, with the game and its tactics getting more and more sophisticated, the evolution of wingers will very likely continue.

Read part 1 of the series here: 5 tactical changes of the past decade: Rise of the single striker system(Part 1)