# Wide Play and Role Inversion · Football Level 6: Advanced

Football · Level 6: Advanced · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/football/level-6/wide-play-and-role-inversion/)

Wide Play and Role Inversion in Football (Level 6: Advanced) on Insporta: 100 sourced facts behind 10 tests. Covers: the inverted winger's duel; and more.

Below level 5's survey of width: the inverted winger's duel, choosing between overlap and underlap by what the defender shows, inverted and false full-backs, holding width from a back three, choosing the delivery, isolation, the far-side winger, and wide play against different back lines.

## Test 1: The inverted winger's duel

- A one-footed threat is easy to defend. Going outside once, even without an end product, forces the defender to respect it and restores the inside. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- The cut-in is a way of moving a central defender: whether the shot goes in matters less than whether somebody left the last line to stop it. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- A pairing that always runs in the same order becomes a pattern the full-back defends in advance; alternating who leads is what keeps him reacting. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Two players cutting inside leave two empty lanes, and a defence that never has to defend width can narrow onto everything else. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The conventional winger's first available action is the cross, so the ball can be in the box before the defence has recovered its shape. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The shot he is looking for comes from around the edge of the area; carrying it further takes him into traffic and shortens the angle he came for. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Without an outside threat he is being defended one-footed, so the duel is unfavourable; moving the ball moves the defender before he tries again. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Where the ball is lost decides how quickly it can be won back, and the middle is where the team's own structure already has bodies. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Doubling up is easy against the touchline, where the line itself helps; centrally the second defender has further to come and more to leave. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- On his natural side he delivers, on the opposite side he comes inside to shoot and combine, so the choice follows what the team wants from that flank. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))

## Test 2: Overlap or underlap: choosing by what the defence shows

- A defender's hips decide what he can reach: turned inside, he defends the inside well and needs a full turn before he can chase anything outside him. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- A defender committed to the touchline has to leave the inside channel, and the runner arriving there is behind him before the centre-back can slide. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Inside the defender the runner is visible for longer, so the pass has to wait until the defender is committed to the ball rather than to him. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The underlap runs into the channel between full-back and centre-back, so the run only exists while the centre-back is occupied elsewhere. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- An ignored overlap is a free player. Taking the duel instead insists on the hardest route while the easy one stands unused. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Against a deep defence the outside lane leads into a crowded box, while the inside channel drags a centre-back out with the runner and opens the pull-back behind him. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Both runs commit the full-back, but the underlap finishes with him in a central position, a shorter journey back to the shape if the ball is lost. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The two swap roles as the ball goes past: the winger becomes an attacker of the box, and his run is what drags the marker away from the delivery. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- A five has a defender for the width already, so the extra man outside is matched and the run buys no advantage. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- With nothing to read, the run is chosen by geometry rather than by the cue: turning towards his own goal costs a defender more time than stepping inside. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))

## Test 3: Inverted and false full-backs

![A football pitch seen from above, the white team attacking to the right. The right-back leaves the back line and moves inside to stand beside the pivot, so the team builds with two centre-backs and two central midfielders while the left-back stays. The right winger stays on the touchline to hold the width alone, with the two 8s and the striker ahead of the ball.](https://book.insporta.app/diagrams/football-inverted-full-back.svg)
*The inverted full-back: from the first line into midfield.*

- From inside the pitch the whole width is in front of him, so the switch becomes available; on the touchline that same pass would have to travel through the entire block. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The inverted full-back stops being the width, so the winger holds the touchline alone and is defended one against one for long spells. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The moving version of the role trades the two jobs by phase: the flank needs holding while the team builds, and the middle needs bodies once the attack is set. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The extra midfielder is bought from the first line, so a press that was outnumbered can find itself even with the players building. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Asymmetric roles are a way of paying for width on one flank with cover on the other, and the cover goes where the danger has been coming from. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The role moves the job from running into traffic: the ball arrives with pressure from more than one direction, and the first touch has to answer both. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The reason the role spread is defensive as much as offensive: the player is standing where the counter-attack starts rather than fifty metres from it. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Everything gained centrally is paid for at the back: two defenders and a goalkeeper have to hold whatever comes back the other way. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Standing level gives the ball two routes past the opponent screening the middle; standing in front puts both players in the same shadow. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- Following the inversion inside concedes the flank; leaving a winger high threatens the vacated lane the moment the ball turns over. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))

## Test 4: Holding width from a back three

- A full-back in a four usually has a winger to bounce off; the wing-back's lane is empty in front of him, so progress is made with his feet before it is made with a pass. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- One defender leaving the line turns a three into a two, and the shape only survives if the remaining pair narrows and the midfielder in front of them drops to make it a three again. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- Height is about which lines the team can skip: a wing-back already beyond the opponent's midfield turns a build-up pass into a progression rather than a sideways move. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- The role is bounded by one player holding a whole lane at both ends of it; when his arrivals in the box and his position defending stop lining up, the team is short at one end. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The switch is beaten by anticipation on the far side: the wing-back who will eventually be nearest the ball starts moving while it is still travelling. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- The three usually exists to free the wide players for the touchline, so if they come inside as well the team has three central defenders and no width, unless the wide forwards take that job instead. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- A three gives the ball two wide starting points, and the long diagonal from the far one reaches the wing-back before the block can shift. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- With no winger in front of him the second man has to come from inside, so the pairing is inverted: he holds and someone else runs past. (Source: Coaching literature (wide play and role inversion))
- The cover has to be replaced rather than doubled: the player nearest the vacated place in the line fills it, and the lane he leaves is the price of the step out. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- The shape only produces width if the wide players start high; a wing-back who begins every possession on his own line arrives too late to be an outlet. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))

## Test 5: Choosing the delivery

- Both zones are usually occupied by team-mates; the pass goes to the one the recovering defence has not yet reached, which is decided by who ran back fastest. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))
- The value of the early ball is the disorganisation, not the delivery: once the box is set, the same cross meets a defender for every attacker. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))
- Pace on the ball supplies the power, so the contact is about the angle; the same delivery is unplayable if the attacker tries to generate force as well. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))
- Height favours whoever is already positioned and facing the ball, which against a set defence is the defenders rather than the attackers. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))
- The near post is about speed rather than height: a flick that changes the ball's direction arrives before the goalkeeper has moved across. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))
- Playing to the deepest available player concedes the position he has won; the full-back beside him keeps the attack at the same height while the box fills. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))
- A ball bending away from the goal takes the goalkeeper out of the contest and leaves defenders heading backwards towards their own net. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))
- The delivery is aimed at the space between defence and goalkeeper, and how much of it exists depends entirely on how deep the last line has dropped. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))
- The near post is worth attacking when the defender there cannot get in front of the run; if he is already ahead of the attacker, the ball goes past him instead. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))
- A defence solves a repeated delivery from one place; varying where the ball comes from is what stops it setting the same picture every time. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))

## Test 6: The two-against-one on the flank

- The situation is won by running at the defender, and a player receiving with his back to him cannot do that; body orientation decides the roles before speed does. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- A retreating defender is buying time for cover. Taking the ground he gives up forces the decision before the help arrives. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- A defender caught leaning forward can be beaten by a ball played past him; one already retreating will reach that pass, so the ball goes to feet. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- The situation was worth something only while the numbers were uneven; once they are level it is an ordinary duel, and treating it as an overload is how possession is lost with two players committed. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- Wide overloads are paid for centrally: the moment the covering midfielder leaves, the pass inside is worth more than the cross he came to prevent. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- The corner removes most of the attacking options, which is exactly why it is used when keeping the ball matters more than creating a chance. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- The advantage is created by the defender's inability to watch two things at once; a static supporting player can be seen and dismissed with a glance. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- A blocked delivery means the ball is being struck from a spot the defence has already covered; moving the delivery point back and earlier is what restores the line to the box. (Source: Coaching literature (crossing and delivery))
- A three-against-two only stays a three-against-two if one player keeps a defender occupied outside; if all three come inside, the two defenders cover them all. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- A defender who follows the second man has left the first one: the answer is the simplest available, which is to take the ball inside the space he has vacated. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))

## Test 7: The winger without the ball on his own flank

- Counter-pressing is decided in the first second: if he can arrive before the ball leaves, he presses, and if he cannot, chasing only opens the lane he was standing in. (Source: Coaching literature (defending from wide areas))
- Pressing from wide works by shrinking the options: an angled run leaves the opponent the touchline and his own goal, both of which the rest of the team can prepare for. (Source: Coaching literature (defending from wide areas))
- A presser beaten by the switch is behind the ball and useless where he is; the shape needs him back in a line more than it needs one more chase. (Source: Coaching literature (defending from wide areas))
- A runner nobody tracks arrives free at the far side of the box. The winger stays with him until the hand-over is possible, which is the moment the shape has an answer. (Source: Coaching literature (defending from wide areas))
- Recovering outside the ball leaves him behind play in the only lane the attack does not need; running inside it puts him back into the picture the attack has to solve. (Source: Coaching literature (defending from wide areas))
- It is a trade rather than laziness: the team defends with a man fewer in exchange for having somewhere to play the instant possession changes. (Source: Coaching literature (defending from wide areas))
- The player already beaten is closest to the ball; the winger's value is covering the pass that would remove him, not joining a duel that is lost. (Source: Coaching literature (defending from wide areas))
- Counter-pressing needs bodies near the ball, which is why sides that commit to it ask the wide players to come inside as the attack develops rather than after it breaks down. (Source: Coaching literature (defending from wide areas))
- His body position turns the centre-back inside, where the rest of the press is waiting, which is why the wide player presses the ball with the flank already closed. (Source: Coaching literature (defending from wide areas))
- The inversion takes away the player who normally covers behind him, so the lane is his until a midfielder or the wide centre-back arrives. (Source: Coaching literature (defending from wide areas))

## Test 8: Width without wingers

- With nobody permanently wide, the only players who can hold a lane without unbalancing the middle are the full-backs, and the cost is a midfielder dropping to cover. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- The shape has no permanent wide player, so the flank is filled by whoever is nearest when the ball goes there, and that is a midfielder rather than a defender running fifty metres. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- A winger standing wide is already there; a full-back has to travel, and every metre of that journey is a metre the block uses to re-form. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- The forward can hold the lane temporarily, which keeps the defence honest while the full-back stays home; the price is one fewer body in the box. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- A full-back who can only receive backwards has arrived after the pass rather than before it, which means the width is nominal. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- A block that ignores full-backs will usually follow a midfielder, so the same movement that supplies the width also opens the middle. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- Two attackers cannot occupy four defenders, so the box needs the player the shape saved centrally: the far-side midfielder arriving as the ball is struck. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- Working up one side is watched all the way; a switch means the player supplying the width begins moving while the defence is still looking somewhere else. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- A runner arriving from deep belongs to nobody by default, and the player whose lane he crosses is the wide midfielder, so the hand-over is his to make rather than a defender's. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- Free full-backs are the defence's spare men: with nobody holding them wide, they tuck in and add two defenders to the middle at no cost. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))

## Test 9: Wide play against a four and against a five

- A four defends five lanes and has to choose; a five covers them all, so the attack has to create an advantage rather than find one. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- The five's weakness is not numbers but distance: the wing-back can be outnumbered locally before the near centre-back travels across. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- The channel between wing-back and wide centre-back is where the five has to make a decision, and that decision is the one that opens the line. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- A three keeps a defender who is not tied to a direct opponent, and that is the player who can step out with the ball the instant possession changes. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- The four defends by sliding: the price of covering the flank is that everybody moves, and the far side of the box is left with one defender fewer. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- The five puts its numbers where crosses land and its wing-backs are held by the wide attackers, so the one area nobody has spare is the top of the area. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- A narrow four is comfortable because everyone faces the ball; the cross only pays after somebody has been obliged to leave the line. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- A wing-back has the longest journey in the shape; hitting the side he has just defended catches him between his two jobs. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- A wide centre-back can only cover the channel if he is free to leave the line; a striker sitting in the gap beside him makes leaving it expensive. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))
- A five matches the width man for man, so the extra player has to be imported from midfield rather than found among the players already wide. (Source: Coaching literature (attacking defensive shapes))

## Test 10: Winning the wide one-against-one

- The duel is decided by the ability to change direction, and a player at top speed has given that up before the defender has committed to anything. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- An open stance forces a choice: the defender who shows nothing has to react to both directions, which is the moment the winger takes. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- Going across him means the defender has to reach through the attacker to reach the ball, so the winger keeps his body between the two for the whole turn. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- The duel is won against the whole defence, not one player, so the exit is chosen by where the second defender is rather than by which way is easier. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- A stationary trick asks a balanced defender to be fooled; the same move works when he is already leaning to deal with the threat of the carry. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- There is no time to decide the direction after the first touch, so the touch itself has to be prepared by a decision taken while the ball is travelling. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- Standing off defeats the duel and concedes the pass; the answer is to make the defender defend a runner as well as a carrier. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- Beating a man buys about a stride; a heavy second touch gives it straight back, and the recovering defender is closer to the ball than the attacker. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- Deeper duels are fought with fewer defenders nearby, so the reward for winning is space to run into rather than a crowd to cross into. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))
- A player receives facing the direction the pass comes from; while the ball arrives from beside him he can only face the touchline, whoever he is. (Source: Coaching literature (the wide one-against-one))

Sources: IFAB Laws of the Game / UEFA & FIFA technical reports / Opta & StatsBomb definitions / coaching literature

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