Brazil is perhaps the country that invented them, which is why, as in all matters concerning the creativity and freedom of full-backs, Brazil remains the great academy of world football. There, despite the fact that European ideas and organisation have penetrated, attacking full-backs maintain the essence inherited from the past, thus being part of the identity of all teams.
Let’s imagine being a Brazilian Serie A or Serie B team that needs to know how deep their full-backs are going, how far they go and how often. For this purpose, Driblab has two very precise metrics that measure how many times, with and without the ball, a player steps on the last 35 metres of the pitch (Deep Progression in the final third) and the last 21 metres of the pitch (Deep Progression).
This differentiation is more important than it may seem, as it separates more static and construction situations (last 35 metres) from others where the full-back usually changes pace and receives near the back line to cross into the box and/or generate goal scoring chances (last 21 metres). If a full-back appears with very good numbers in these two metrics, and especially in Deep Progression (last 21 metres), it will indicate his attacking frequency and importance within the team’s attack.
In terms of the Brasileirao 2022, Atlético Mineiro and Fortaleza’s full-backs are the most offensive in the championship, with Fortaleza’s Juninho Capixaba being the full-back who reaches the last 21 metres of the pitch the most times per 90 minutes, with 7.3 times. On the other hand, Coritiba’s Egidio is the full-back who most often reaches the last 35 metres, with almost 30 times per 90 minutes.
When it comes to Brazil’s Serie B, we found plenty of deep full-backs, with Brusque FC’s pair the more offensives in the entire championship. Alagoano’s Luquinha is the Serie B full-back who most often reaches or touches the ball in the last 21 metres of the pitch, and also the one who most often reaches or touches the ball in the last 35 metres of the pitch, with more than 31 times, closely followed by Cruzeiro’s Rafael Santos.
We are Driblab, a consultancy specialized in the statistical analysis of players and teams; our work is focused on advising and minimizing risk in professional football decision-making in areas related to talent detection and footballer evaluations. Our database has more than 200,000 players from more than 180 competitions, covering information from all over the world. Here you can learn more about how we work and what we offer.
