Everyone knows how tactically shrewd Kieran Mckenna is and how he is always looking for the best way to set up his team on the front foot. In simpler terms, I will be covering how the right back will sit narrower and tuck in to create a back three in possession. We do this to facilitate a 3-2-5 in possession shape and here is a rough idea of this as shown below. (Credit tactical board)
It is important to understand that this system is designed to get the most out of our attackers and it is inevitable that we will concede goals in defensive transitions but with the attacking quality and the number of players we get forward we are often able to outscore the opponent. This is why I believe we play the best football in the league.
In this article I will cover:
- Using Football Manager to explain this role
- How does this role work in terms of Ipswich
- Which player does this role benefit the most
- Three key attributes for this role
- How this role can get exploited
- How Pep Guardiola revolutionised this role
- Assessing Ipswich’s best options to play in the role
Using Football Manager to explain this role
Despite getting occasionally memed on, it is clear that Football Manager can be of huge help in terms of understanding different shapes and player roles. It is also nice to know that my Football Manager addiction has counted for something because it has given me the knowledge required to understand this role!
Football Manager’s name for this unique role is the inverted full back. In possession, the inverted full back will tuck in inside during the build-up phrase and sit narrower to act as a back three. This will limit the frequency of the inverted full back making overlapping runs or delivering crosses higher up the pitch. They will look to add additional defensive cover whilst being counter attacked.
How does the inverted full back work for Ipswich
It was around the first East Anglian derby when I started to pick up on this. At the time, it would be Harry Clarke sitting narrower to create a back three with Luke Woolfenden in the middle and Cam Burgess pushing out further as a wider left centre back. The double pivot of Sam Morsy sitting slightly deeper and Mass Luongo will sit just in front of the back three. Here are a couple of photo examples where you can see this shape in the most recent two games (Credit Towntv.)
Another thing to acknowledge is that at Portman Road the inverted full back is given more attacking freedom and will look to be more aggressive and overlap more, whereas when away from home, the inverted full back will sit a bit deeper and the primary focus is their defensive duties.
Which player does this benefit the most
The player this benefits the most is our assist king Leif Davis as the inverted full back gives him much more attacking freedom, which is where he is at his devastating best. Leif’s starting position is as high as ever and he is more of a left winger. Leif is now well covered by the colossal Cam Burgess who will push wider in the back three. This allows Leif to bomb forward and he is given fewer defensive responsibilities.
Furthermore, it gives Wes Burns little defensive responsibility. He is clearly instructed to stay further forward and play higher up the pitch so the inverted full back and Morsy will cover him.
Three key attributes to play inverted full back
- Positional awareness. When we commit extra attacking bodies forward it is crucial that the inverted full back reads the play and is in the right position to tuck in. We’ve conceded multiple goals this season because the inverted full back has either gone forward to overlap the right winger and is out of position or hasn’t tracked the left winger.
- One v one defending. Several times a game, the inverted full back will be isolated one v one with the opposition’s left winger so it is crucial they either show the winger out wide and hold their position because if they were to get beaten then we are in big trouble.
- Passing ability. The inverted full back is crucial in our build-up play because they are often the spare man that Luke Woolfenden will use when building out from the back. It is essential that whoever plays this role is comfortable on the ball.
How the inverted full back can get exploited
This role can get exploited up against a tricky left winger. We have had a lot of trouble up against right-footed left wingers this season that cut in because the inverted full back is unable to get tight enough to the left winger to mark them without losing the defensive shape. One main example was Leeds away where a certain Crysensio Summerville had a field day because he was given the freedom to drive at the defence and three of the four goals we conceded were down the right side and he had a major part to play. Against the top sides, it is ultra risky to set up this aggressively and we were punished badly, for example Leeds away where we were ripped to shreds in transition. Luckily we appear to have learned our lesson.
Another way we can get exploited if we lose the ball when Leif and Mass are pushing up which can leave Cam Burgess isolated against the opposition’s right winger and a potential overlap with the right back. An example of this is the goal we conceded against Birmingham.
How Pep Guardiola revolutionised the inverted full back
Arguably the greatest tactician of all time Pep Guardiola utilised this role which was crucial in Man City’s treble winning season. This was all down to Kyle Walker being unable to invert into centre midfield as an inverted wing back. So Pep had to find another suitable role for the rapid Englishman that suited him better and used him as an inverted full back which allowed the left back Ake more attacking freedom. This is almost certainly something KM took motivation from when implementing this role into our tactic.
Assessing Ipswich’s current options
In the last few weeks, we have seen the emergence of Axel Tuanzebe and I fully believe this is the perfect role for him in this team. He is very comfortable and composed in possession, he has shown signs that he is great one v one defensively despite having a tough time against Anis Mehmeti (Bristol City). He can get forward and overlap when needed as shown with his run to unlock the Birmingham defence.
As much as I like Harry Clarke, it is clear Axel is a big step up defensively. When chasing games, this is when HC should be utilised as he is a much better progressive passer and also offers more going forward. Although he has his moments defensively, it is important to acknowledge his positional play has come on leaps and bounds from the start of the season.
I personally think Brandon Williams is done. I don’t think he has the positional awareness to play this role because he always gets tight to his left winger and is very aggressive. Axel is a step up in quality over him and I’d rather see Williams play in the left wing role if he ever plays for us again.
Janoi Donacian is too limited on the ball to play there. Obviously he is one of the best 1 v 1 defenders in the league, but sadly has had injury problems the whole season, so the jury is out as to whether we will see him again.
In conclusion
Firstly, if you have got this far thank you for reading. It is often debated whether we play a back three or a back four so I hope this article has given you a better understanding of our in possession shape and how we set up in a back three. Also, this article is intended to give you a better idea of the inverted full back role and how it facilitates our key attacking players. This is easily the hardest and most disciplined role in our system.