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FOUR AT THE BACK
The flat back four provides a defensive foundation that systems such as 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 are built upon, and forms a base across the pitch from which to start attacks.
Reading the positions from left to right, we can see that we have a left-back; two centre-backs who are also known as central defenders (with one on the left and one on the right); and a right-back. In terms of the positional abbreviations that come with Football Manager, this would show up as having a DL, DCL, DCR and DR respectively.
​These four defenders put together were once most associated with English football, despite the fact that it was from Brazil’s 1958 World Cup winning side that the back four originated alongside a zonal marking system. As the 20th Century went on it became clear that England, their British counterparts and the Scandinavians preferred a back four with zonal marking and an offside trap (zonal marking makes - or did make - playing offside easier). This was in contrast to the rest of Europe where the sweeper system took centre stage instead.
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When you discover the best players in your squad are full-backs, this comprehensively answers the question whether you’ll be playing four at the back or not. Can you guess what the answer might be?
Managers may want to use four defenders to halt the other team’s attackers when they feel they have defenders who are able to cover more ground quickly (look out for high scores in acceleration and pace amongst your defenders when analysing your squad to see who’s going to feature at the back for the up-coming season). You may come to the conclusion yourself that you can get along with having just two defenders in the centre rather than a triple entity across the penalty area when you consider the attacking nature of some of these full-backs. Of course finding out that your best players in your roster are full-backs necessitates playing with a flat back four to accommodate them.
THE CENTRE-BACK PARTNERSHIP
The basic attributes for any centre-back include:
Heading
Marking
Tackling
Anticipation
Bravery
Composure
Concentration
Decisions
Determination
Positioning
Teamwork
Balance
Strength
At the heart of your attack-stopping quartet you will find the two centre-backs with one on the left (left centre-back or DCL) and one on the right (right centre-back or DCR). These defenders are the bedrock of any successful back four. They are the key to match-winning clean sheets and, consequently, any assault on the championship.
​You could argue that the centre-backs in a defensive four have to be even better than those found in a back three for the obvious reason of having one centre-back less. On top of that, they’re burdened with the possibility of having to cover the gaping swathes of turf left behind by the DL and DR when the full-backs leave the two DCs behind in their quest to advance into the final third to attack. But ideally a holding midfielder or two can do the required emergency running and leave the centre-backs in their place ready to head away any crosses or high balls towards the far post that might come in.
In a typical centre-back partnership, one of them is the good old-fashioned stopper with height, jumping reach and lots of strength to boot while the other may not necessarily be any less vertically challenged or lacking in muscle but is certainly more athletic with more nimble feet and positioning to cover. Of course it’s best if each of your centre-backs can mix it against the big boys of the opposition’s attack as well as the small.
​Complimenting and eliminating each other’s strengths and weaknesses can be done by giving the bigger and stronger of the two a stopper duty while the more quick-footed and positionally-astute reader of the game can play a cover duty.
The cover-stopper duty split works best against a solitary centre-forward or striker. While the stopper goes to engage with the striker, the covering centre-back stays put to see what happens next.
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If you can garner some information as to the forward’s favoured foot, then you can place the stopper on the same side as the preferred foot of the striker to block off that route towards goal (provided that the stopper actually remembers to close the striker down!) and force the attacker onto their weaker foot and towards the covering centre-back, egged on by the obvious choice in the opposition instructions to show the striker onto the weaker foot (or left or right foot if appropriate) and always closing them down.
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When the stopper closes the striker down, the stopper should approach the striker at a 45-degree diagonal angle while the ball’s being played to the striker, not before (in case the opposition change their mind and do something else instead) and not after because the striker can then turn onto their best foot.
Meanwhile the other centre-back should come inside and position themselves vertically in line with and goal-side of the striker while trying to use their positioning ability as best they can to keep a suitable distance from the battle going on between stopper and striker.
You can see the cover-stopper or stopper-cover combination in action in figures (a) and (b).
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Figure (a)
Defensive movement to force striker down the left.
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Figure (b)
Defensive movement to force striker down the right.
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An additional holding midfielder blocking the striker's favoured route to goal also helps to force the literal offender down the unfavoured side.
Putting both on a defend duty allows each centre-back to cover for each other.
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Figure (a)
Against a single striker you don’t know anything about, keep things tight and see which foot they use upon receiving the ball.
​When the fog of war looms regarding the opposition and the scout reports aren’t telling you anything (or maybe a report wasn’t filed at all for whatever reason!), then the defend-defend duty combination is a good set-up to default to when you don’t know what you’re up against.
Against a single striker and without prior knowledge from the scouts, the centre-backs can get tight to the striker both vertically and horizontally with the aid of some narrow defensive width in the team instructions (or forcing the opposition outside as Sports Interactive like to call it). You can ask the centre-backs to force the striker onto their weaker foot. The centre-backs and yourself can then wait and see which foot the striker tries to turn on while still blocking the way forward to goal (c).
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Where a double dose of defend for your centre-backs really does come into its own is when facing two strikers. At least the opposition instructions are going to be simple; all you just do is always close down the pair of them and force the strikers wide by showing the STCL onto the left foot and the STCR onto the right foot.
When one of them goes out to close down, the other drops back to cover and vice-versa, rather like a pendulum.
The centre-back about to engage with the attacker should approach at a 45-degree diagonal angle while the ball’s being played to the striker, not before (in case the opposition change their mind and do something else instead) and not after because the striker can then attack with their best foot.
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Figure (d)
The right centre-back (DCR) closes down the left striker while the left centre-back (DCL) covers while making sure they can see the other striker as well.
​The centre-back that’s temporarily covering should be able to see the centre-back-versus-striker encounter while also being able to see any other possible striker that might be lurking about towards the other side (d). The centre-back providing cover should always be ready to come across and cover his or her centre-back partner in case the striker by-passes their hapless centre-back colleague (e) and ( f ).
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Figure (e)
The roles are reversed with the left centre-back defending and the right centre-back providing cover.
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Figure ( f )
Here the left centre-back is forced to provide their cover and become the active defender in the process.
FULL-BACKS
The basic defensive attributes for a full-back include:
Marking
Tackling
Anticipation
Bravery
Composure
Concentration
Decisions
Determination
Positioning
Teamwork
Acceleration
Agility
Balance
Pace
Strength
​Either side of the centre-backs you will find the full-backs, with the left-back to the left and the right-back to the right (just in case you really have to be told!)
​Obviously full-backs are defenders first and foremost, with their basic attributional requirements similar to that of the centre-backs. But they also need the quick-footed attributes of acceleration, agility and pace to cover the flanks and cope with that tricky winger on the opposing team.
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Their penchant for getting about at speed also comes in handy when asked to get up the pitch, to varying degrees, to support attacking moves with a range of skills that include passing, dribbling and crossing; all this while still having enough legs to get back to defend when the ball’s been lost. A capacious engine and enthusiasm to run - represented by high scores in stamina and work-rate - ensures that he can cover the length of the pitch ad infinitum. A healthy rating at the natural fitness attribute allows for recovery between games so that they can do it all over again next week.
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The ability to ratchet up the metres and kilometres (or yards and miles for the imperialists out there) and produce quality to show for it becomes more important when playing in narrow formations like the 4-1-2-1-2 (4-4-2 diamond), 4-2-2-2 or 4-3-2-1. But defensive priorities still reign supreme and you might have to conjure up some tactical witch-craft to gain attacking width from elsewhere when the full-backs are too occupied to do anything other than defend.
It can be a good idea to start both full-backs on a defend duty from the first whistle if you don’t know what you’re up against or when you know, as the underdogs, that you’re going to be facing an attacking onslaught.
Playing against three attackers (AML, AMR plus a striker) is also going to force you to use defend duties on both full-backs, at least as a pre-caution until you can see whether the AML and AMR stay up for the press (in which case, leave things as they are), go into a mid-block (allowing you to put both full-backs on a support duty) or whether the AML and AMR go deep into midfield to defend (allowing both full-backs potentially to attack).
​​​You might want to slap caution onto both full-backs anyway, even when you know your enemy inside out, as the manager in the other dugout might have a trick or two up their sleeve and make a tactical U-turn that you or your scouts weren’t expecting from the pre-match reports, or one of their starting eleven may have crocked themselves during the warm-up necessitating a tweak in approach from the other manager as they start with a different formation to the one you were adamant that they would start with. Once you’ve figured out their system then you can fiddle with the duties of your full-backs accordingly.
If you’re playing at home then you can perhaps afford to be a bit more bold and ask one full-back at a time to get forward, although be careful about doing this against the league leaders for example. Similarly, you can come out of your shell a bit more – even when playing away from home – if your table toppers are playing relegation strugglers, or you can see after the opening 20 to 30 minutes or so that your hosts aren’t as much as you thought they were when it comes to attacking.
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​But how do you know which one to send up for those forays into the midfield or final third? Easy; your best attacking full-back, right? Well isn’t attacking all about getting your most talented players into the final third?
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Figure (g)
While one of the full-backs (in this case the right-back) goes forward, the other defenders shift over to form a temporary back three.
Playing against two strikers requires you to keep one of your full-backs fully back and you can balance things out by putting the other full-back on a defend duty. What should happen is that while the lucky full-back with the attacking instructions goes forward, the other full-back should come into the half-space and the centre-backs shift along a little bit to form a temporary back three.
In our example from figure (g), we’ve identified that our right-back is our best attacking player, so the left-back comes inside to look after the centre-backs while the right-back is free to venture up the pitch to join in with the offensive fun.
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After tactics have been taken into account, a full-back’s pace, stamina and work rate generally determines how attacking they can be.
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