Greatest left backs of all time are right footed.. (Left-footers not trusted at RB?)

Raees

Pythagoras in Boots
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Nilton Santos, Paulo Maldini and Giacinto Fachetti are considered by most people as the top three left backs ever. They were all right footed... now in addition to those, there are others within the top 10 & 20 (roughly) ever - who also happen to be right footed.

These names include Paul Breitner, Karl-Heinze Schnellinger, Ruud Krol, Junior, Brehme, Lahm, Zanetti, Bossis, Zambrotta.

There are more greater right footed left backs than there are GOAT left footed left backs. It is crazily one-sided. Now the question I am asking here is why is this the case and why are left footed players never tried out on the right. Left footed players are trusted to come in from the right flank in an attacking sense i.e. Messi/Robben yet not trusted in defence..

It is not like this is a backwards English thing, I cannot remember having ever seen a left footed player at right back in any game of football, it just seems so bizarre the mere thought of it. Are there any notable examples?
 
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6 in 7 players are right footed. Chances are high that your best full backs are both right footed. Chances are not high that your best full backs are both left footed.

Even if you had a left footed full back who liked playing on the right, you'd have to move your right footed full back to the left where he is probably not as comfortable
 
rcoobc said:
6 in 7 players are right footed. Chances are high that your best full backs are both right footed. Chances are not high that your best full backs are both left footed.

Even if you had a left footed full back who liked playing on the right, you'd have to move your right footed full back to the left where he is probably not as comfortable
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19% of players are left footed, meaning that most left footers will be played on their natural side.

However, 81% are right footed, so it's only natural that some of those players will be asked to play on the left side due to a shortage of quality left sided players.
 
Pexbo said:
19% of players are left footed, meaning that most left footers will be played on their natural side.

However, 81% are right footed, so it's only natural that some of those players will be asked to play on the left side due to a shortage of quality left sided players.
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Yes but why does it explain that they're 'better' at their role than a left footed great player in that position. I understand there are more occurrences of it because of the statistics that you guys highlighted but is there a tactical advantage to it, or is it just a case of trying to fit players in the side? Like it doesn't look weird or unnatural. Could Luke Shaw play at right back as well as Ashley Young adjusted to left-wing back?

Despite the % in favour of right-footers, the best player of all time in my opinion is left footed.. and then you have the likes of Messi, Puskas of the top of my head. Yet at left back, a role which should theoretically produce a great number of quality players in that position.. there isn't many greatest of all time names, I mean Roberto Carlos for example doesn't hold a candle to some of the names I mentioned?
 
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Raees said:
Nilton Santos, Paulo Maldini and Giacinto Fachetti are considered by most people as the top three left backs ever. They were all right footed... now in addition to those, there are others within the top 10 & 20 (roughly) ever - who also happen to be left footed.

These names include Paul Breitner, Karl-Heinze Schnellinger, Ruud Krol, Junior, Brehme, Lahm, Zanetti, Bossis, Zambrotta.

There are more greater right footed left backs than there are left footed left backs. It is crazily one-sided. Now the question I am asking here is why is this the case and why are left footed players never tried out on the right. Left footed players are trusted to come in from the right flank in an attacking sense i.e. Messi/Robben yet not trusted in defence..

It is not like this is a backwards English thing, I cannot remember having ever seen a left footed player at right back in any game of football, it just seems so bizarre the mere thought of it. Are there any notable examples?
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Evra v Roma, 7-1
 
Raees said:
Yes but why does it explain that they're 'better' at their role than a left footed great player in that position. I understand there are more occurrences of it because of the statistics that you guys highlighted but is there a tactical advantage to it, or is it just a case of trying to fit players in the side? Like it doesn't look weird or unnatureal. Could Luke Shaw play at right back as well as Ashley Young adjusted to left-wing back?
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Because growing up, you're more likely to have a team of players with no left foot, hence someone has to play there. When you do have a left footer, he will 100% play on the left side. Right footed left backs grew up playing on that side. Understandably, players like Zambrotta never looked as strong at right back.
 
rcoobc said:
6 in 7 players are right footed. Chances are high that your best full backs are both right footed. Chances are not high that your best full backs are both left footed.

Even if you had a left footed full back who liked playing on the right, you'd have to move your right footed full back to the left where he is probably not as comfortable
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The explanation is as simple as this, it's a no brainer really.

Raees said:
Despite the % in favour of right-footers, the best player of all time in my opinion is left footed..
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It's a pretty widespread scientific theory that left handers are more creative and better at stuff like maths than right handers, quite a lot of research has gone into the topic. Maybe this applies to left footers as well, even though I know a few cases where right handed guys are left footed, and could explain why some of the best players of all time are left footed, or just as good with both feet.
 
Not that I really understand the question, but it's a bit of everything.

Another question would be, do left footed players get an "advantage" growing up. A moderately decent left footed player will be in far greater because there are far fewer players that can do a job in that position... just look at the problems England have had in Left Midfield down the years.

So the left footed player gets to play more games than an average right footed one, gets more training time, etc. If this theory is correct, we would probably be able to analyse this statistically along the lines of English Centenarians all being the oldest in their years (apart from Frank Lampard).

But then of course left footed players cant take penalties so they have that against them.
 
IIRC Balzaretti played as a right back in Euro 2012 against Germany after Abate and Maggio became unavailable.

But apart from isolated incidents and on topic, honestly I'm stumped and can't come up with any reason why inverted fullbacks are almost exclusively right footers playing on the left flank. Traditionally the primary attacking function of fullbacks in to provide width and be a crossing threat, but then that applies to the right footers on the left flank too.

Apart from the argument of right footers being more prevalent and even common place in football, I have the impression (cannot prove it statistically and the notion might have zero credibility) that right footed fullbacks are often slightly ambidextrous and can whip in crosses with the weaker foot (Zannetti, Ivanovic, Santon, Lahm and so forth) whereas left footers are quite exclusively one footed and perhaps ill-suited to functioning consistently as an attacking option with their right foot (Evra, Cole, Carlos, Felipe Luiz etc).
 
Raees said:
Right, cheers for that Brwned.. remind me was it from the start or did he have to fill in midway through the game? I remember his goal.
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Definitely switched over there for only a short while, maybe 70 minutes in, and even though he scored a rare goal I did think he looked pretty uncomfortable out there. I think most of it's just perceptions but I generally think left-footed players are disproportionately one-footed which plays a part here. If you're a left-footed defender you're obviously much less likely to train up your weak foot to get into the team so that's a big part of it, surely. I'm sure I read that Paolo Maldini was working on his weak foot since he was a young kid because Cesare saw that as a clear, straightforward way into the team and professional football in general.
 
Invictus said:
IIRC Balzaretti played as a right back in Euro 2012 against Germany after Abate and Maggio became unavailable.

But apart from isolated incidents and on topic, honestly I'm stumped and can't come up with any reason why inverted fullbacks are almost exclusively right footers playing on the left flank. Traditionally the primary attacking function of fullbacks in to provide width and be a crossing threat, but then that applies to the right footers on the left flank too.

Apart from the argument of right footers being more prevalent and even common place in football, I have the impression (cannot prove it statistically and the notion might have zero credibility) that right footed fullbacks are often slightly ambidextrous and can whip in crosses with the weaker foot (Zannetti, Ivanovic, Santon, Lahm and so forth) whereas left footers are quite exclusively one footed and perhaps ill-suited to functioning consistently as an attacking option with their right foot (Evra, Cole, Carlos, Felipe Luiz etc).
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There was some report done in Australia about the fact that Left footed people tend to only use their left foot while right footed people tend to use both far better.

I played and my left was great but my right foot is used for balance and this was in 2 sports.
 
Invictus said:
Apart from the argument of right footers being more prevalent and even common place in football, I have the impression (cannot prove it statistically and the notion might have zero credibility) that right footed fullbacks are often slightly ambidextrous and can whip in crosses with the weaker foot (Zannetti, Ivanovic, Santon, Lahm and so forth) whereas left footers are quite exclusively one footed and perhaps ill-suited to functioning consistently as an attacking option with their right foot (Evra, Cole, Carlos, Felipe Luiz etc).
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Aye, left-footed players have less need to develop their weaker foot because during their development they will almost invariably be deployed on the left flank. That's not necessarily the case for right-footed players.
 
Right footers have it easy - they only have to play against the fewer in number-averagely less good lefties on their side of the pitch.

Poor old Left-side defenders will hardly ever get to mark someone who's crap.
 
In the late eighties and early nineties, Forest's right back was a left footed player called Steve Chettle. He was never, ever going to dislodge Stuart Pearce from the left back position. Though he could probably replace him as manager tonight.
 
Adriano at Barcelona has played as a right back quite often. He's fantastic with his "weaker" foot though which is probably why.
 
It's different in an attacking sense because if you are a player who cuts in like Robben does then you are using your dribbling and skill to cut inside. But if you are in defence you don't want your full-back having to take a player on before he can clear it or play a good pass. Then as has been pointed out when you have more right-footed players it's much more likely they will adapt to play on the left-hand side, whereas a left footed player will be able to just take up the left-back or left-mid spot and have less need to develop their weaker foot.

Clichy, for example, is naturally right-footed but his dad trained his left-foot extensively as it increased his chance of making it in the game. I've not heard of any left-footed players trained as a kid to become stronger on their right foot. When I played for teams when I was younger I remember we had one left-footer out of about 18 of us.
 
GloryHunter07 said:
I didnt know Maldini was right footed..
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Me neither. Could someone please explain why Maldini is considered right footed?

I'd say the foot that you use for penalties is your preferred one. Maldini took his penalty vs. Holland at Euro 2000 with his left foot. True ambidexterity is very very rare, and there are different forms I imagine?

Mostly it's used to decribe a player who is equally good with both hands. But I don't know if a basketballer who can throw equally as good with both hands can also write or paint equally as good with both hands. And a player who can shoot perfectly with both hands, but writes better with his left hand than with his right hand? Is he still ambidextrous or do they just use that word as a nice metaphor for his throwing skills?

What I do know is that for most players, even when they are (almost) equally as good with both feet, they still have a natural preference that they're born with. People are born with a preference for the eye, hand and foot they use. Mostly your eye matches with your hand (and foot), but sometimes it's right eye, right hand, left foot. Or left eye, left hand, right foot. Very rarely it's a right eye/left hand/left foot combination, but not impossible I believe.

Ocular dominance usually matches with the preferred hand, but not always. RVP & Messi are right handed (so most likely right eye is dominant), but left footed. Balotelli and Fabregas are left handed (so again most likely left eye is dominant) - right footed. And Robben is left handed (so most likely left eye dominant), left footed. But with all the players you should check their eye dominance before making claims, and it could also be the case that their left hand was dominant, but they were forced to write with the right. I wonder how often the dominant eye doesn't match the dominant hand though, no idea how many cases there are with right eye, left hand, left foot for instance. It's a very fascinating subject.

As for right footed left backs and vice versa, Coentrao was used as a right back for a Classico by Mourinho. Daley Blind played matches at right back for Groningen. Lahm & Azpilicueta are recent high level examples of the same, only reversed.
 
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Henrik Larsson said:
As for right footed left backs and vice versa, Coentrao was used as a right back for a Classico by Mourinho. Daley Blind played matches at right back for Groningen. Lahm & Azpilicueta are recent high level examples of the same, only reversed.
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The wrong-footed full-back has a clear advantage facing the typical modern false winger cutting inside their man, allowing them to tackle on their strong foot. See your Coentrao Classico example, or Bosingwa at left-back against Messi.
 
Henrik Larsson said:
Me neither. Could someone please explain why Maldini is considered right footed?

I'd say the foot that you use for penalties is your preferred one. Maldini took his penalty vs. Holland at Euro 2000 with his left foot. True ambidexterity is very very rare, and there are different forms I imagine?
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It's pretty well documented that he was naturally right footed and played as a right back in the youth teams until the left back spot opened up in the first team, he simply trained his left foot to an incredible level. It's not unlikely that he's ambidextrous in some form though. As another example, Andreas Brehme was also naturally right footed but trained both feet to such a high level that he didn't care anymore. He scored a penalty in the World Cup quarterfinals in '86 with his left foot and the one in the World Cup final in '90 with his right foot.
 
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Balu said:
It's pretty well documented that he was naturally right footed and played as a right back in the youth teams until the left back spot opened up in the first team, he simply trained his left foot to an incredible level. It's not unlikely that he's ambidextrous in some form though. As another example, Andreas Brehme was also naturally right footed but trained both feet to such a high level that he didn't care anymore. He scored a penalty in the World Cup quarterfinals in '86 with his left foot and the one in the World Cup final in '90 with his right foot.
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I see, very interesting. Very cool too. Nedved is another example in that style.

And I remember when Wesley Sneijder made his debut, he was hyped as two footed. On corner duty at Ajax, sometimes he used his left foot for the right side and his right foot for a corner from the left side. He can still use his left foot very well, but with him it's quite obvious that he prefers his right.
 
I was always right footed. I used to play football every night on the school yard and i was probably about 12 when decided to only ever use my left foot when playing Gooma. After i few years i still primerily used my right foot for dribbling but had a far more powerful and accurate shot using my left foot. Scored some screamers with it. Looking back now i am quite proud of how it developed as not many people in the teams i played for could use 2 feet and actually have an advantage with the weeker foot.
 
George Owen said:
Who is the best left back of the last 20 years (and one of the best all time)? Roberto Carlos right?

isnt he left footed?
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I'd take a few players over him tbf. Maldini, Lizarazu, Cole, Evra, Lahm...
 
Randall Flagg said:
Mm. It sure I call him awful

I think his defensive abilities were a little underrated
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I was watching the Champions League final from 1998 today for example and I'd concur with that. He was very tenacious and timed his tackles well.. he liked throwing himself about and wasn't lazy defensively.
 
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