Will World Cup champions-elect France make wingers trendy again? | OneFootball

Football tactics are cyclical – buzzwords pop up from exotic places and quickly become fashionable and commonplace. ‘Verticality’ and ‘third man runs’ are taking over from ‘gegenpressing’ far quicker than Ronaldo is ever likely to be replaced by Portugal.

Not everything sticks; there was persistent speculation that the ‘number 9’ might be an endangered species, but Harry Kane and Erling Haaland are helping to smash that idea into the top corner.

Sticking around longer than most trends are possession-heavy, centrally dominated tactics, prompting the art of wing play to lose its elegance and individuality. Inverted wingbacks and wingers that only cut into the centre have significantly narrowed the pitch. Week in, week out, the Premier League offers a window into this devolution of the wide men.

An unwillingness to create a moment out of nothing, a refusal to try a piece of skill or the desire to go past their marker; this trend has undoubtedly dulled one of the most vibrant elements of football. But in this World Cup, it feels like wingers are back where they belong – on the wing. No team encapsulates this more than France. While some sides try to flood and stifle the middle of the pitch, France – blessed with an array of attacking talent – have used the wings to unlock even the most stubborn of defences.

Pep Guardiola has dominated football for decades but he was the most powerful catalyst for the near-death of the winger. As iterations of his tactics evolved, there has been a drive towards less and less individuality from attacking mavericks. His teams often relied on suffocating the opposition with exhaustive passing, high-intensity ball recovery and risk-averse decision-making. His superiority and success led to imitation. Wherever Guardiola went, his football followed.

He left an indelible mark in Spain before doing the same in Germany and then England. If you look down the football pyramids of all three countries, the Spaniard’s influence echoes through all levels.

English football was once seen as a predominantly physical game identified by aerial duels and getting the ball up the pitch as fast as possible. Now even League Two sides are commonly seen building up play from the back and trying to gain control through possession. The same can be said for the academy system, which now churns out young English players comfortable playing in that style.

Guardiola’s belief is simple: “I love to pass the ball.” And why wouldn’t he? With all his success, who can question his genius? The problem is that imitations of Guardiola have led to a lack of variety and a gradual decline in genuine width.

Thanks to its expansion into a 48-team tournament, the World Cup has provided a stage for lesser-known footballing countries to participate. Underdogs have often used the tried-and-tested method of defending deep and hitting on the counter. Stubborn defensive units have proved hard to breach, but teams are using their wide players to stretch and exploit even the most tenacious of defences.

When we look back at this World Cup in years to come, one of the most enduring images will be of the four French forwards embracing after yet another electric breakaway goal.

France have been the most exhilarating team to watch across the tournament, thanks to an abundance of attacking talent. Their squad is dripping with big names and game-changers: Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola and, most importantly, Kylian Mbappe. Most countries dream of one such player but to have all five – plus a stellar supporting cast – makes this French side one of the very best ever assembled.

This quality quintet offers a bit of everything, with the exquisite passing of Olise, the dribbling of Doue, the blistering pace of Barcola, and the prolific goalscoring of Dembele and Mbappe. They have so many ways to win a football game. Having the ability to go out wide and through the middle fills defenders with doubt. The variety and fluidity of their attacking talent is crucial in creating havoc.

In the last round against Paraguay, France were being stifled. The South Americans were frustrating them. Try as they might, wave after wave of French attack crashed against a stubborn wall of Paraguayan defenders. From the wing, substitute Doue beat two men before jinxing his way into a tightly congested penalty area, drawing a foul and securing his side the decisive spot-kick to win the game.

Isolating defenders out wide gives France the capacity to break quickly through the middle, but it’s the ability to beat a man on the inside or the outside that gives them that potency. Every time they attack, it is done with conviction and purpose. Staying close to the touchline stretches the defence and creates spaces to exploit. Moving the ball with speed ensures the opposition has no time to set in a rigid structure. That’s where France excel. You rarely see them take a backwards step. They look forward with width as a primary attacking outlet. If ‘Les Bleus’ are to win their third World Cup trophy, this will be what propels them to glory.

The relentless and imposing presence of France on this World Cup means that the next cycle in the evolution of football could be a focus on the importance of wingers, providing a reminder to the footballing world that they are not luxury items but can be the key to dynamic, electrifying football. Whatever the new buzzwords, it’s a gloriously old-fashioned idea.