Cluster 17- Two-Way Fullbacks
Where We Left Off:
Two-Way Fullbacks: What makes them different?
In many ways, cluster 17 players are like a swiss army knife. Firstly, they are good (in most cases) both offensively and defensively, with good ball progression (2nd most progressive passes per 90, most progressive carries per 90), good creation (5th most shot-creating actions per 90, 4th most xA per 90), good involvement (most touches per 90, 3rd most passes completed per 90), and good defensive activity (4th most tackles won per 90, 2nd most successful pressures per 90). Secondly, many of these players are incredibly versatile and more than capable of playing multiple different positions, headlined by players like Cesar Azpilicueta, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Cuadrado. This is arguably their most valuable attribute as they are able to provide quality minutes for teams when the injury bug decimates a position’s depth chart.
Disclaimer
All the statistics used (and their description) can be found on fbref. Keep in mind that specific players’ key stats and age may have changed slightly since the writing (not publishing) of this article. With Thanksgiving Day tomorrow, I won’t be back with another article until Friday. If you are subscribed to the newsletter and the email isn’t reaching your inbox, you may want to add my substack email (davidsajdak@substack.com) as a contact to prevent it from going to spam or promotions.
Strengths (cluster rank):
progressive passes per 90 (2)
shot-creating actions per 90 (5)
xA per 90 (4)
progressive carries per 90 (1)
passes into box per 90 (1)
passes completed per 90 (3)
touches per 90 (1)
tackles won per 90 (4)
successful pressures per 90 (2)
Weaknesses (cluster rank):
npG (15)
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Notable Cluster 17 Players
Cesar Azpilicueta
Team: Chelsea FC
FBREF Position: CB-FB, right (Center back)
Key Stats:
Joao Cancelo
Team: Manchester City FC
FBREF Position: CB-FB, right (Fullback)
Key Stats:
Dani Carvajal
Team: Real Madrid CF
FBREF Position: FB, right (Fullback)
Key Stats:
Notable Young Talents (u23)
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Team: Liverpool FC
FBREF Position: FB, right
Age: 23
Key Stats:
Reece James
Team: Chelsea FC
FBREF Position: DF-MF (FB, right)
Age: 21
Key Stats: