It’ll be interesting to see how Stoke City new boy Million Manhoef in action as an inverted winger in Steven Schumacher’s 4-3-3 – but then again, I’ve always been fascinated by tactics and the different trends and ideas that come and stay and come and go.
I remember working on the value of right-footed wingers on the left or left-footed wingers on the right back when I was working for the FA and it’s all about fluency. Earlier this season we spoke about Andre Vidigal and Mehdi Leris coming infield from their wide roles and knowing when to do it and when to stay out, how they link with their full-backs and midfielders coming in from deep.
It’s all about interchanging movement and in reality there’s no such thing as a right winger anymore, you’re just an attacking player and we can put you on the right wing when we draw our team diagrams before kick-off. We were rigid in my day when you were a left winger or a right back or a target man and everyone knew what was expected. The boundaries are blurred now.
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