Once-unfashionable role has fast become England's pillar of strength

It was the position nobody who was any good ever played at, but now right-back has suddenly become sexy – and from being one of England’s problem areas for decades we are now officially basking in a golden era.

Domestically and internationally the list of great right-backs is short and fairly dull, probably due to the fact any kid who was good enough to be a professional would have occupied one of the more exciting positions in their formative years.

Think of the all-time great right-backs from across the globe and you start scratching your head once you’ve got beyond Cafu, Lahm, Alves and Thuram.

And if you were compiling a list of leading English number twos who are no longer active you’d been looking at something along the lines of Gary Neville, Phil Neal, Jimmy Armfield, Viv Anderson, Glen Johnson, George Cohen, Lee Dixon, Paul Parker and Mick Mills.

All were terrific players but they tended to sit towards the back of the orchestra while the bigger stars grabbed the limelight.
In the last couple of years, though, there has been a noticeable elevation of the importance of the once relatively humble role, thanks largely to a tactical trend towards pushing full-backs further forward and arranging for cover to be in place when they get caught downfield.

For decades it was highly unusual for full-backs to venture deep into opposition territory, and they would face banishment to the reserves if they were ever responsible for conceding a goal because they had been caught too high up the pitch. As for tricks and flicks, that was virtually banned for full-backs under law.

But things have changed and now England boasts three of the best
right-backs in the world and a host of others who have a sparkle about them that you seldom witnessed in the days when the job demanded solely that you prevented attacks rather than contributed to them.

Arguments have already started as to who is the best English right-back around and they will intensify as competition for the Three Lions jersey heats up in what is sure to be a real dilemma for Gareth Southgate.

Kyle Walker had been top dog for a while, but young guns Trent Alexander-Arnold and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have broken through spectacularly to create a fascinating three-way scrap for the shirt.

What makes the situation so interesting is that the two emerging right-back stars are so different in their approach.

Wan-Bissaka is an old school operator who knows his first job is to lock down his corner of the pitch so nothing can pass, while Alexander-Arnold’s prime attribute is his spirit of adventure and ability to make destructive forays across the halfway line.

Manchester United right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka (left)Credit: Michael Regan

It may come to pass that Southgate is urged to play them both in the same way there used to be calls to pair high-quality left-backs Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge in the same side.

Southgate has the option to let Alexander-Arnold loose on lesser opposition and then pick Wan-Bissaka when he knows his team will be under greater pressure, although that kind of flexible approach doesn’t seem to be his style.

And that is, of course, assuming he favours the young guns over Walker, who at 29 is at the peak of his career and playing superbly for City, both as a defensive wall and an attacking weapon.

We will get some clues about Southgate’s thinking next Thursday when he names his squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo, and it’s no certainty that all three are accommodated.

Unless he is going to select an expanded squad, he can’t really justify choosing more than two right-backs. Alexander-Arnold is sure to be one of them, but if he decides not to pick Kyle Walker as a possible wide centre-back as he did in the World Cup there could be no room for one of him or Wan-Bissaka, which would cause a stir because the Manchester United new boy is clearly too good not to be part of the England set-up.

A poll I ran on Twitter showed that of 1,269 respondents, 58 per cent favoured Alexander-Arnold, with 24 per cent preferring Wan-Bissaka and 18 per cent keeping faith with Walker.

It’s a nice puzzle for Southgate who, unlike many of his predecessors, has such a wealth of talent in that position, and that’s without mentioning a clutch of other right-backs who either are or should soon be ready for international recognition.

Kieran Trippier’s reputation took a bit of a knock last season after a poor campaign with Spurs but he remains a superb right-back and made a fine debut for Atletico Madrid at the weekend, Max Aarons is being touted as the next big thing at Norwich, Joe Gomez’s future is likely to be as a central defender but he can shore up the right zone perfectly well, and Kyle Walker-Peters and Jayden Bogle have abundant potential.

It is great to see so much talent in a position that rarely caused much in the way of excitement, and if Southgate plays his hand well it will significantly boost his chances of leading England to European Championship victory on home soil next summer.

Greater diversity increasing broadcasting quality

Have you noticed the greater mix of gender and ethnicity in the field of sports broadcasting these days?

If you are a regular viewer or listener you have almost certainly become aware of the results of a concerted effort by a number of media organisations to eradicate the traditional situation whereby if you wanted to keep in touch with sport you were likely to find yourself watching or listening to a white male.

Nowadays at least one prominent sports broadcasting company measures the amount of airtime that is filled by women and ethnic minorities with the intention of ensuring its presenters are more representative of the wider population.

This has led to a number of new faces and voices and the change for the audience has been refreshing. I had never noticed a problem with the old way of doing things, almost certainly because I am a white male, but my viewing and listening pleasure has increased as a result of the greater variety of talent.

Pleasingly, and importantly, this change has been brought about without filling studios with people who are simply not up to the job simply in order to fulfil the desire for greater diversity.

Racing is probably behind some sports in terms of the ethnic blend of presenters and experts, but that will not have been due to a lack of desire by the broadcasters to change things, and hopefully suitable talent can be identified and recruited to help give the sport a more diverse appeal.

Realisation beginning to dawn after latest VARce

Manchester City were denied a late winner by the much-maligned VARCredit: Shaun Botterill

There is no need for another VAR rant this week because, pleasingly, it is clear the tide is turning against this horrific fun-killer and I would be surprised if it was still in operation by Christmas.

The disallowed City goal at the Etihad and the absurdly long check of the Wolves cracker against United, in which we got to see the offside lines appear on screen as if a small child was using an Etch-A-Sketch for the first time, were the latest incidents to turn supporters against VAR, which is teaming up with the crazy new handball laws to create the most horrific messes.

This will keep happening and there will be further evidence that football is being made less popular as TV audiences dwindle, at which point the authorities and broadcasters will get the jitters.

First there will be another wild stab at tweaking how VAR
is used, but in the end everyone will reach the conclusion that we are better off without it and we can go back to enjoying this wonderful sport as it was meant to be officiated.

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