Analyzing Defender Value by Role (Part 5)

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Ekon Ayo is a fullback defender in the SSL academy S25 class.  New to the league, Ekon wants to grow into a defensive specialist for his club, but he doesn’t yet have a good sense for how he should prioritize his development to get there.  Over this series of articles, he learns the defensive behaviors that he should replicate to maximize value at his position.

Part 1 outlines the defensive stats
Part 2 analyzes the defender roles on the pitch
Part 3 considers broader team success
Part 4 dives deeper into center backs
Part 5 identifies role model fullbacks for Ekon
Part 6 focuses on wing backs
Part 7 appreciates defensive midfielders
Part 8 looks at differences in the minor league

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PART 5
COVERING THE FLANKS

Fullbacks solidify the outside flanks of the defensive formation when playing 2 center backs.  They operate in sparse areas of the pitch and need to be strong defenders in one-on-one contests to make it challenging for wingers to create goal opportunities for themselves and their teammates.

Similar to part 4 of this series that looked at the league’s center backs, the radar plot below visualizes the defensive plays per 90 of each major league fullback in S23 (18 FBs).



Of all defensive positions, the fullbacks had the most consistency to each other.  The only stat category where there was a large amount of variability across the group was in blocks; otherwise, most fullbacks made plays with similar frequencies.

All fullbacks are very active tacklers: among all defenders in S23, Liffeyside’s Alex Stain led with 4.3 attempted tackles per 90 and Catalunya’s Andres De Giron led with 3.2 tackles won per 90.  Fullbacks were also active in pressing situations but to a slightly lesser degree.  Trick Johnson of Shanghai led fullbacks with 11.7 attempted presses per 90 and Louie Duck of Buenos Aires led with 3.7 successful presses per 90.  The fact that all four of these stats are led by different defenders is evidence that the differences in tackling and pressing among fullbacks is minimal.  Successfully contesting individual attackers is the primary way that fullbacks create value for their teams.

Fullbacks are also important for maintaining defensive shape, and as such their positioning between attackers when not in isolation defense is key to winning possession.  Dina Skovgaard’s 3.7 interceptions per 90 for Schwarzwälder led the position group, and Dina had the highest combined dispossession events among fullbacks as well.

Blocks and blocked shots also rely on good positioning and responsiveness.  Tony Delvecchio was a very active part of the Shanghai unit, leading the league with 1.6 blocks per 90, of which 0.8 were blocked shots.  Due to their spacing on the outsides of the formation, fullbacks specialize in blocks outside of the goal area.  They also don’t prioritize clearing the ball unless necessary, since they have supporting defenders at the inside of the pitch and can try to win possession first.  Jonny Elliott of Tenochtitlan led the group with 2.3 clearances per 90, but fullbacks generally fall in the lower half of defenders in the clearances category.

Continue to Part 6: Sideline Sweepers