Premier League is the most lucrative football league in the world and is home to some of the best footballers in the world in almost every playing position. Top players like Kevin de Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Rodri, Bukayo Saka, Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and a lot of others ply their trade in England, which makes the league very competitive. This is considering the fact that Manchester City has won six league titles in last seven years.
While the Premier League is enriched by the presence of top players in almost every position, the absence of a genuinely great left-back aside from, maybe, Andrew Robertson of Liverpool is quite baffling. Robertson has recently reached the milestone of playing 300 matches for the Reds, and remains a glorious exception.
There Are Not Many Left Backs in England
Robertson forms a very potent full-back duo along with Trent Alexander-Arnold and those two have contributed much towards Liverpool’s success under Jürgen Klopp. However, if one looks at the other top teams in England, one fails to find a genuine world-class left-back.
While excellent right-backs like Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker, Malo Gusto, Ben White and Pedro Porro play for different clubs in England, there is hardly any left-back aside from Robertson, who can boast of similar quality on the opposite flank.
Luke Shaw of Manchester United is a quality left back, but has spent more than a year now nursing an injury. With his understudy Tyrell Malacia also injured, United has suffered a lot because of the absence of a top left-back. Manchester City, the English champion, has been primarily employing Joško Gvardiol as the left-back since the start of last season.
Now, Gvardiol is primarily a centre-back, who can play on the left. He does not have the ability to send in crosses consistently with his left foot. Nathan Aké, another centre-back, often plays as the left-back for the Cityzens in case Gvardiol is not picked. Oleksandr Zinchenko, a former City left-back, often finds it difficult to get into the starting XI of his current club, Arsenal.
Chelsea’ Marc Cucurella recently won the European Championships with Spain, but his form for his club has not been anything special. Destiny Udogie was also good for Tottenham Hotspur last season, but ended up playing in only 30 matches in it owing to an injury. Still, he promises a lot for his club
Thus, aside from Robertson, who has Konstantinos Tsimikas as his back-up option at the club, there is hardly any left-back in the top-flight English club football, who has been delivering quality performances consistently for his club. The scenario is quite similar in Spanish football, too, which only has a couple of genuine quality left-backs in Ferland Mendy of Real Madrid and João Cancelo of Barcelona. Cancelo is primarily a right-back though, who can also play on the left.
Aside from Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies and AC Milan’s Théo Hernandez, there are not too many top left-backs in other leagues either. Thus, this is an ailment that is plaguing world football in general.