In the sport of association football (or soccer as it is known in the US), a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers, and wing-backs. The centre-back and full-back positions are most common in modern formations. The sweeper and wing-back roles are more specialised, often limited to certain formations dependent on the manager's style of play and tactics.
Roles and responsibilities Although the specific responsibilities of defenders vary according to their position and a team's tactical system, their defensive duties commonly include marking opposing attackers, making tackles and interceptions, contesting aerial balls and clearing the ball from dangerous areas. Positioning, anticipation and communication are also important, as defenders must maintain the defensive line, track attacking movement and coordinate with teammates.
Defenders may also contribute to their team's possession and attacking play. In particular, modern defenders can be involved in starting attacks from the defensive line by receiving possession and distributing the ball to midfielders or forwards rather than simply clearing it under pressure.
Centre-back
The centre-back (also known as a central defender or centre-half, as the modern role of the centre-back arose from the centre-half position) defends in the area directly in front of the goal and tries to prevent opposing players, particularly centre-forwards, from scoring. Centre-backs accomplish this by blocking shots, tackling, intercepting passes, contesting headers and marking forwards to discourage the opposing team from passing to them. Centre-backs are often tall and positioned for their ability to win duels in the air. In the modern game, most teams employ two or three centre-backs in front of the goalkeeper. The 4–2–3–1, 4–3–3, and 4–4–2 formations all use two centre-backs.
In possession of the ball, centre-backs are generally expected to make long and pinpoint passes to their teammates, or to kick unaimed long balls down the field. For example, a clearance is a long unaimed kick intended to move the ball as far as possible from the defender's goal. Due to the many skills centre-backs are required to possess in the modern game, many successful contemporary central-defensive partnerships have involved pairing a more physical defender with a defender who is quicker, more comfortable in possession and capable of playing the ball out from the back; examples of such pairings include Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique for Barcelona and Spain or Diego Godín and José María Giménez with Atlético Madrid and Uruguay.
Under normal circumstances, centre-backs are unlikely to score goals. However, when their team takes a corner kick or other set pieces, centre-backs may move forward to the opponents' penalty area; if the ball is passed in the air towards a crowd of players near the goal, then the heading ability of a centre-back is useful when trying to score. In this case, other defenders or midfielders will temporarily move into the centre-back positions.
There are two main defensive strategies used by defensive lines: the zonal defence, where each centre-back covers a specific area of the pitch; and man-to-man marking, where each centre-back has the job of tracking a particular opposition player. In the now obsolete man–to–man marking systems such as catenaccio, as well as the zona mista strategy that later arose from it, there were often at least two types of centre-backs who played alongside one another: at least one man–to–man marking centre-back, known as the stopper, and a free defender, which was usually known as the sweeper, or libero, whose tasks included sweeping up balls for teammates and also initiating attacks.
Ball-playing defender A ball-playing defender is a defender who combines conventional defensive responsibilities with a role in possession and the construction of attacks. The term describes a player's function rather than a separate position and is most commonly associated with centre-backs, although full-backs and other defenders can also perform ball-playing responsibilities.
In addition to defending, a ball-playing defender is expected to be comfortable receiving possession under pressure and contributing to buildup from the defensive line. This can involve playing forward or line-breaking passes, switching play, carrying the ball into available space and helping the team progress possession through an opposition press. The role nevertheless requires conventional defensive abilities such as positioning, tackling, aerial ability and one-on-one defending.
Sweeper (libero)
The sweeper (or libero) is a more versatile centre-half who "sweeps up" the ball if an opponent manages to breach the defensive line. This position is deemed more fluid than that of the other defenders who man-mark their designated opponents. Because of this, it is sometimes referred to as libero, which is Italian for "free".
Austrian manager Karl Rappan is thought to be a pioneer of this role, when he incorporated it into his catenaccio or verrou (also "doorbolt/chain" in French) system with Swiss club Servette during the 1930s, deciding to move one player from midfield to a position behind the defensive line, as a "last man" who would protect the back-line and start attacks again. As coach of Switzerland in the 1930s and 1940s, Rappan played a defensive sweeper called the verrouilleur, positioned just ahead of the goalkeeper.Andy Gray with Jim Drewett. Flat Back Four: The Tactical Game. Macmillan Publishers Ltd, London, 1998.
During his time with Soviet club Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev in the 1940s, Aleksandr Abramov also used a position similar to a sweeper in his defensive tactic known as the Volzhskaya Zashchepka, or the "Volga clip". Unlike the verrou, his system was not as flexible and was a development of the WM rather than the 2–3–5, but it also featured one of the half-backs dropping deep; this allowed the defensive centre-half to sweep in behind the full-backs.
In Italy, the libero position was popularised by Nereo Rocco's and Helenio Herrera's use of catenaccio. The current Italian term for this position, libero, which is thought to have been coined by Gianni Brera, originated from the original Italian description for this role libero da impegni di marcatura (i.e., "free from man-marking tasks"); it was also known as the "battitore libero" ("free hitter", in Italian, i.e. a player who was given the freedom to intervene after their teammates, if a player had got past the defence, to clear the ball away). In Italian football, the libero was usually assigned the number six shirt.
One of the first predecessors of the libero role in Italy was used in the so–called "vianema" system, a predecessor to catenaccio, which was used by Salernitana during the 1940s. The system originated from an idea that one of the club's players – Antonio Valese – posed to his manager Giuseppe Viani. Viani altered the English WM system – known as the sistema in Italy – by having his centre-half-back retreat into the defensive line to act as an additional defender and mark an opposing centre-forward, instead leaving his full-back (which, at the time, was similar to the modern centre-back role) free to function as what was essentially a sweeper, creating a 1–3–3–3 formation; he occasionally also used a defender in the centre-forward role, and wearing the number nine shirt, to track back and mark the opposing forwards, thus freeing up the full-backs from their marking duties. Andrea Schianchi of notes that this modification was designed to help smaller teams in Italy, as the man–to–man system often put players directly against one another, favouring the larger and wealthier teams with stronger individual players.
In Italy, the libero is also thought to have evolved from the centre-half-back role in the English WM system, or sistema, which was known as the centromediano metodista role in Italian football jargon, due to its association with the metodo system; in the metodo system, however, the "metodista" was given both defensive and creative duties, functioning as both a ball–winner and deep-lying playmaker. Juventus manager Felice Borel used Carlo Parola in the centre-half role, as a player who would drop back into the defence to mark opposing forwards, but also start attacks after winning back possession, in a similar manner to the sweeper, which led to the development of this specialised position. Indeed, Herrera's catenaccio strategy with his Grande Inter side saw him withdraw a player from his team's midfield and instead deploy them further-back in defence as a sweeper.
Prior to Viani, Ottavio Barbieri is also thought by some pundits to have introduced the sweeper role to Italian football during his time as Genoa's manager. Like Viani, he was influenced by Rappan's verrou, and made several alterations to the English WM system or "sistema", which led to his system being described as mezzosistema. His system used a man-marking back-line, with three man-marking defenders and a full-back who was described as a terzino volante (or vagante, as noted at the time by former footballer and Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Renzo De Vecchi); the latter position was essentially a libero, which was later also used by Viani in his vianema system, and Rocco in his catenaccio system.cbcsports.com 1962 Chile fifa.com Intercontinental Cup 1969
Though sweepers may be expected to build counter-attacking moves, and as such require better ball control and passing ability than typical centre-backs, their talents are often confined to the defensive realm. For example, the catenaccio system of play, used in Italian football in the 1960s, often employed a predominantly defensive sweeper who mainly "roamed" around the back line; according to Schianchi, Ivano Blason is considered to be the first true libero in Italy, who – under manager Alfredo Foni with Inter and subsequently Nereo Rocco with Padova – would serve as the last man in his team, positioned deep behind the defensive line, and clearing balls away from the penalty area. Armando Picchi was subsequently also a leading exponent of the more traditional variant of this role in Helenio Herrera's Grande Inter side of the 1960s.
The more modern libero possesses the defensive qualities of the typical libero while being able to expose the opposition during counterattacks by carrying or playing the ball out from the back. Some sweepers move forward into midfield, and distribute the ball up-field, while others intercept passes and get the ball off the opposition without needing to hurl themselves into tackles. If the sweeper does move up the field to distribute the ball, they will need to make a speedy recovery and run back into their position. In modern football, its usage has been fairly restricted, with few clubs in the biggest leagues using the position.