There once was a time when full-backs were viewed as a peripheral position; often labelled as defenders who werent strong enough to play centrally, or as wingers who didnt possess the flair required to play further forward. As football has evolved and tactics refined, wingers have turned to inside forwards and strikers have transformed into false nines. Full-backs have now, over time, become one of the most important and impactful positions on the pitch in modern football.
In this scout report, we provide a tactical analysis of Ben Chilwell, using statistics to analyse how he ranks amongst Europes elite. We provide an analysis of his key attributes and where he needs to improve to become one of the worlds best.
Player Profile
Chilwell is an athletic full-back with an inherent fitness that allows him to be effective in all four phases of play. Though not blessed with blistering pace like Jordi Alba or Alex Sandro, Chilwell is no slouch, which in the attacking phase, enables him to travel seamlessly into advanced positions without being exposed and exploited.
Chilwells natural left-foot allows him to operate comfortably in tight 3v2s that develop in possessional cycles in the lateral spaces. His sharp touch matched by his tactical awareness in these situations often sees Chilwell create space with fast one-two interchanges. Thats not to mention his ability to deliver penetrative passes or inviting deliveries. From the heat map below we can see that Chilwell spends nearly an equal amount of time in the opposition half as he does in his own.
In defensive transition and organised defending sequences, Chilwell possesses good positional awareness and executes consistent timing in the tackle to make him effective in 1v1s with tricky wingers. The below example is a perfect example of Chilwells defensive capabilities.
Leicester have just lost the ball high up the field and are now in defensive transition. Chilwell, in his naturally advanced position, is now out of position defensively. The gap between him and Çağlar Söyüncü is too large and Danny Ings is the wrong side of him, meaning there is plenty of space for the attacker to travel into.
