Roberto Carlos: The Man Who Shaped the Modern Full-Back Role
Roberto Carlos: Much More than a just a Freekick at ‘Le Tournoi’
Alex Waite pays homage to one of the great fullbacks, someone who helped shape the full-back position into what it has become in 20th-century Football. The one and only, Roberto Carlos.
In August 1994, Roberto Carlos announced himself to European football in spectacular fashion.
On his debut for Inter Milan, the Brazilian scored an audacious free-kick, drilling a low shot from 30 yards underneath the wall to give I Nerazzurri a 1-0 win against Vicenza.
In the following match, Carlos scored another goal that typified his style of play. He made an intelligent run from the left wing into the penalty area and, when the ball was played, he struck a left-footed peach into the far corner of the net.
The Brazilian’s first two goals in Serie A epitomised his attacking nature, out and out flair and an eye for goal. But, despite his legendary status for scoring the spectacular, Carlos’ tactical play and footballing intelligence was just as impressive.
Advancing into dangerous positions, getting touches near the box and providing an alternative outlet for goals and assists was not considered a full-back’s responsibility before Roberto Carlos.
Roberto Carlos: The Original Attacking Full-Back
According to English football pundit Jamie Carragher, full-backs are one of two things, “either a failed winger or a failed centre-back”. While this may apply to of some of Carragher’s contemporaries, and the butt of Carragher’s joke – Gary Neville - the opposite is true of Roberto Carlos.
In his only season with Inter Milan, Carlos regularly played as a left midfielder or attacker in Roy Hodgson’s rigid 4-4-2 formation.
Although Carlos was successful in these positions, scoring seven goals and making two assists in the 1995/96 season, he did not consider himself a midfielder or a striker.
Instead, Carlos knew he was most effective as an advancing left-back while Hodgson felt the Brazilian lacked the rigidness required to play in a defensive position.
This difference in opinion led to a falling out and aggravated Carlos enough to claim that the former England manager, “didn’t know much about football”.
Ultimately, the contrasting ideas contributed to Carlos’ transfer to Real Madrid in 1996 – a move that kick-started his exceptional 11-year career at the club.
With Madrid, Carlos flourished at left-back and played alongside some of football’s biggest superstars in the ‘Galacticos’ era including David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.
Between 1996 and 2007, Carlos lifted four La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues with Madrid, cementing his reputation as the best left-back in the world during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
It was a reputation built on raw pace and athleticism to work tirelessly up and down the left side of the pitch.
Even though he was playing at left-back, it would be more accurate to say Carlos was a wing back - often overlapping to overload the wide areas and free up space for the likes of Luis Figo, Guti, Zidane etc. Carlos’ ability to play this role so effectively earned him the respect of the Madridistas and he became a central component of the club’s success.
Carlos was so revered in his position because he offered the attacking threat that his contemporaries didn’t.
The likes of Paolo Maldini and Javier Zanetti were regarded as two of the greatest full backs of the 90s and 2000s, but it was because of their ability to defend effectively and to read the game.
But Carlos’ flair and raw ability were balanced with the same qualities Zanetti and Maldini possessed; such qualities that elevated him to the greatest and most influential full-back of the modern era.
Roberto Carlos Club Career Stats
| Club | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmeiras | 185 | 18 | 0 |
| Inter Milan | 34 | 7 | 2 |
| Real Madrid | 527 | 70 | 88 |
| Fenerbahçe | 104 | 10 | 13 |
| Corinthians | 44 | 1 | 7 |
| Anzhi Makhachkala | 29 | 4 | 4 |
| Delhi Dynamos | 3 | 0 | 0 |
The Greatest Full-back of his Generation
The attacking full-back role existed in various forms before Carlos arrived on the scene. Hungary’s historic run to the World Cup final in 1954 utilised full-backs Mihály Lantos and Jeno Buzanszky, who overlapped on either flank to draw opposition defenders out of position, which freed up more space for talented players like Ferenc Puskas and László Budai.
Similarly, Nílton Santos and Djalma Santos played full-back in Brazil’s famous 1970 World Cup-winning team.
Like Hungary, this team overloaded the wide areas, attacked with six to eight players and bombarded opposition defences with slick, quick football, involving all players – except for two holding centre backs.
While these teams were the early pioneers of attacking wide defenders – no one single player influenced the role as much as Carlos.
After the 1994 World Cup, Ireland manager Jack Charlton argued that the most important attacking position on the pitch was the full-back.
What was largely regarded as a purely defensive position was now becoming an attacking advantage, aimed at exploiting spaces on the pitch left for full-backs to utilise.
When Carlos joined Inter Milan in 1995, there were few full-backs well renowned for their attacking prowess. French full-backs Lilian Thuram and Bixente Lizarazu were effective in this position for France, while Carlos’ compatriot, Cafu, was also performing to a world-class standard for Parma and, later, AC Milan at full-back. But none had the same blend of raw attacking talent and defensive awareness.
Carlos: Shaping the Modern Day Full-Back
Since Carlos’ rise with Real Madrid, there has been a boom of quality full-backs.
From the mid-00s to present day, several right-backs and left-backs have played key roles in their team’s domestic and international success, often demonstrating great tactical astuteness in attack and defence.
Phillip Lahm was arguably one of Germany’s and Bayern Munich’s best-ever players. With Die Bayern, Lahm won the Champions League, eight Bundesliga titles, and he played a key role in Germany’s 2014 World Cup success.
Lahm was a player who Jamie Carragher would be miffed by, a footballer who largely played as a full-back but, in his later years, became the heartbeat of Bayern as a holding midfield player.
In England, Ashley Cole is largely regarded as the best left-back to play in the Premier League. Cole played all but six of Arsenal’s ‘Invincible’ season in 2003/04. He also won almost every domestic and European honour with Chelsea and became England’s most-capped full-back with 107 appearances.
For Barcelona, Danny Alves offered the same threat for as the Hungary team of the 50s, allowing Messi, Neymar and Suarez to flourish in the mid-2010s, whilst providing a genuine attacking threat.
The likes of Marcelo for Madrid, Jordi Alba for Barcelona for Spain, Trent Alexander Arnold and Andy Robertson for Liverpool are all modern examples of players, comparable to Carlos.
Teams are now built around full-backs. Players in these positions are expected to balance defending with attacking, possibly with more emphasis on the latter.
It is no coincidence that Alexander-Arnold and Robertson finished in the top five assisters in the Premier League over the past few seasons.
So many of these players now play as Carlos did. He made the full-back position more attractive and was one of the first to bring attention to the way a full-back could attack, defend and control the game from a position formally considered almost a filler in professional football.
Thanks to Carlos, the full-back is no longer an unattractive position just to be filled; it is a tactical marvel that can make football more exciting.
Read more stories on our football blog
