⚽ Match Thread vs. Boreham Wood 13/08/22 [NL]

[matt_magpie]

Couldn't agree more.

There's probably no other position in a football team that requires as much all-round ability as wing back, because you've basically got to be good at both defending and attacking, have a great engine, good sense of when to make runs, and overall a reasonably high degree of football intelligence. Despite this, clubs often seem to occupy this role with 'bit part' or utility players of fairly modest ability. If you're going to insist on playing wing-backs then you really do have to invest heavily to get the specialists to play the role. I would have thought it was far easier to play a back four formation where the roles are more straight-forward, especially for players at non-league level who have their limitations by definition.

I got asked to play there when my body was gone for part of a season. It’s a ridiculous position, u need to have the legs of 20 year old but the intelligence of being a switched on defender and the attacking presence of an out and out winger, not easy, well not for me.