Profiles vs positions: Why it matters at Euro 2020
International football has changed a lot over the last decade or so.
Previously, it was all about getting the best 11 individuals onto the pitch and backing them to be good enough to beat their opponents. It is one of the reasons you’d often see certain players shoehorned into roles when others might’ve been a better fit.
As a result, performances would suffer with everything feeling a little disjointed. What started to happen was teams who put more thought into tactics, though often viewed as the underdogs, would progress much further in international tournaments than the masses had expected.
Top teams cottoned onto this and managers started to pick more functional starting XIs.
Think back to the 2018 World Cup when France beat Croatia 4-2 in the final with Blaise Matuidi playing as a left-winger.
Ousmane Dembele, Thomas Lemar and Nabil Fekir all had to settle for a place on the bench while Karim Benzema wasn’t included in the squad.
Les Bleus also used Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez as full-backs, with Didier Deschamps wanting defensively minded players in those roles as opposed to the usual suspects.
Brazil won the 2019 Copa America with Gabriel Jesus playing on the right side of attack. He started ahead of more natural wide players in Willian, David Neres and Richarlison.
We’ve not even played all of the opening group stage matches at Euro 2020 and we’ve already seen countless examples of players being used in different roles, purely because of their profiles and what the manager wants from that particular area of the team.
You see it a lot more often in international football because the pool is much more limited. At club level, signings can be made to address weaknesses within the squad. On the international stage, you have to get a little more creative.
Instead of looking at players from a positional point of view, it is best to look at what exactly it is they’re being tasked with doing for the team.
David Alaba spent 63% of his time on the pitch for Bayern Munich last season as a left-sided centre-back. For Austria, in their opener against North Macedonia, he was used in the centre of a back three.
He’d cover in behind for his centre-back partners, with his pace being put to good use, but the real reason he was deployed there was his on-ball ability.
The 28-year-old regularly pushed into midfield alongside Xaver Schlager to give his side the numerical advantage in that part of the pitch. In fact, of all the games played during Friday, Saturday and Sunday, no player completed more passes than Alaba (91) and only ten players finished with a higher passing accuracy (94.8%). However, of those, only one other player attempted north of 80 passes.
With Alaba used to seeing a lot of the ball playing for Bayern – they averaged the most possession in the Bundesliga last term – it made sense for Franco Foda to shape the team around the player who is the most comfortable in possession. They also made the most of his versatility to have him basically fill in everywhere in the Austrian half.
Kalvin Phillips was lauded for his performance for England in their win over Croatia. Primarily a deep-lying playmaker for Leeds United, Gareth Southgate used him more as a box-to-box midfielder in the opener on Sunday.
Despite it being a completely different role, the profile was eerily similar. For example, England needed Phillips to be brave and progressive on the ball, just like Leeds do, but from a different part of the pitch.
He attempted a similar number of carries (four compared to the 3.1 he averaged for Marcelo Bielsa’s side). However, it was more noticeable because of the areas he was doing them in.
Gini Wijnaldum, as expected, scored for the Netherlands in their 3-2 win over Ukraine.
On the night, the Dutchman had a total of five shots. Remarkably, that is 17% of the total he managed for Liverpool in the Premier League last term.
For the Reds, he was part of a very selfless midfield unit built around ensuring there was a fine balance between defence and attack. The Dutchman would often cover for the full-backs and he was regularly tasked with creating space for others. He excelled at that.
For the Oranje, his role is more of a final phase player.
Frank de Boer used him as an attacking midfielder behind Memphis Depay and Wout Weghorst. He was regularly the third man in attack, supporting and getting beyond the front two. His five shots could only be bettered by Breel Embolo and Ciro Immobile.
International managers aren’t using the Euros to experiment. They’re just looking at profiles as opposed to positions. So far, so good.
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