FAO Bonjour. RE: Full backs dropping off

Probably because teams tend to cross less from wide now.

Most modern teams play inside forwards, which means attacking play is generally focused around the middle of the edge of the penalty box.

So by dropping off and staying compact, there's less chance of full backs being skinned, allowing the dribbler to have a shot in free space without a blocking defender in the way, or play a pass to a free man (due to the dribbler beating his man and forcing other defenders towards him) on the edge of the area. This is where most goals tend to be scored according this good article about crossing, here (need access to the times though):

User Posted Link

It states that games with lots of crosses from open play tend to have less goals and that it takes around 90 crosses to lead to one goal on average.

Most of our full backs are particularly poor in one one situations, so I can kind of understand why they play like that. Having said that, some teams do still focus primarily on crossing, so there are times where this can be very frustrating.

Posted By: Common Sense Police, Jan 24, 17:41:33