Ligue 1 2021/22: The essential attacking role of Lens’ wing-backs allowing new star Frankowski to flourish – tactical analysis

Last season, Lens returned to Ligue 1 after a five-season absence and manager Franck Haise helped them to achieve their best top-flight finish since the 2006/07 season by guiding them to seventh place. The Pas-de-Calais-based club did lose three and draw one of their final four league games last season but they’ve started this season far better than they finished the last one — which was, overall, an impressive campaign. Despite selling talented 21-year-old centre-back Loïc Badé to Ligue 1 rivals Rennes for €17m in the summer, they’ve won five, drawn three and lost just one of their first nine Ligue 1 games this season, which leaves them sitting in second place at present, trailing only league leaders Paris Saint-Germain.

Under Haise, Lens have almost exclusively played with a base 3-4-1-2 shape and that has continued into the 2021/22 season. The wing-backs naturally provide the width for Lens within this shape and the importance of those players’ roles can’t be understated — they’re key men for Lens, especially in attacking phases. After joining Sang et Or from now-Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld last summer, right wing-back Jonathan Clauss ended the 2020/21 season as Lens’ highest assist provider, with six Ligue 1 assists. While the Frenchman had experience of playing as a right-back and a right wing-back before, in the season prior to joining the Pas-de-Calais side, Clauss had primarily been deployed as a right-winger in a 4-3-3 shape.

This season, Clauss has continued to perform well in attack, while he and the team have also been helped by the arrival of Poland international, Przemysław Frankowski, who joined Lens this summer from MLS side Chicago Fire for €2.3m. Frankowski is a versatile player but similar to Clauss, the right-footed Poland international had primarily played as a right-winger before he arrived at Stade Bollaert-Delelis this summer. Frankowski may have been signed as a replacement for Clément Michelin, Lens’ former back-up right wing-back who left the club to join AEK Athens this summer. However, with Clauss in fine form, Frankowski has managed to force his way into Haise’s first XI via the left wing-back position — an unfamiliar role for him in which he’s managed to thrive this term.

Lens’ wing-back recruitment alone highlights a lot about how Haise views these players as part of his squad. The signings of Clauss and Frankowski — two former wingers who have mainly started in the wing-back positions for Sang et Or this term — indicate that the 50-year-old coach is more concerned with the attacking output from these positions, as opposed to the defensive output. Of course, Lens’ wing-backs do still need to tick certain boxes from a defensive standpoint, but the wing-backs are, first and foremost, viewed as attackers in Haise’s system which is why Frankowski and Clauss, along with centre-forward Florian Sotoca, are currently Sang et Or’s joint-top assist providers for the 2021/22 Ligue 1 campaign (with three assists each) — campaign in which Lens have performed exceptionally well, so far.

This tactical analysis and team-focused scout report provides some deeper insight into the wing-backs’ attacking roles in Lens’ system. My tactical analysis highlights some important aspects of the wing-backs’ roles in different phases of play and highlights how newcomer Frankowski, who was recently labelled ‘one to watch’ by Ligue 1’s official website, has well and truly hit the ground running as a key part of Haise’s tactics.

Early possession phases

As mentioned in the introduction to this analysis, the wing-backs naturally provide the width for Lens in possession. Lens’ wing-backs get extremely wide right from the very beginning of their attacks. From goal-kicks, Haise likes the two wide men to get chalk on their boots and stand on the sideline.

While the rest of Lens’ players look to create central domination to progress from the centre-backs into midfield — with one of the two central midfielders typically dropping deeper to give the centre-backs a short passing option and the other one typically positioning himself higher, often ending up in-line with the number ‘10’ who’ll drop slightly deeper — the wing-backs operate much differently. They will look to create passing angles for the teammate in possession via their positioning, their first port of call is to get as wide as possible to either stretch the opposition’s defensive shape or, otherwise, find space out wide where they can receive the ball from a midfielder/defender and progress.

We see an example of Lens’ typical offensive shape during an early possession phase in figure 1. Here, we see their 3-4-1-2 shaping up as described in the previous paragraph, with the back three providing a base for the team while sitting deep and offering protection in central areas around the box in case possession is lost. Meanwhile, one central midfielder dropped deep to receive from the backline while the other advanced to provide his midfield partner with an additional forward passing option. The most important thing for us to note, however, is the wing-backs’ positioning. We can see that both men shifted very wide, getting their heels on the sideline, with left wing-back Frankowski creating an angle to receive a short pass from the midfielder in possession.

Frankowski’s wide positioning and movement to create a passing angle proves key for Lens’ ball progression in this example as play moves on. Lens’ left-forward can be seen dropping into the left half-space channel here but the opposition’s right-back is drawn away from this channel by Frankowski’s positioning and movement. This opens up a passing lane for Lens, allowing the deepest midfielder to connect with the left-forward via a line-breaking pass that progresses Sang et Or into the middle third of the pitch.