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Read the other posts in this college soccer recruiting series on Defensive Center Midfielders, Goalkeepers, Center Backs, Outside Backs, Strikers, Wingers, and Attacking Center Midfielders.
Outside back (also known as full back) is a fantastic position. It requires both fitness and finesse. Outside backs playing on the flank will be sprinting up and down the sideline, and they will be defending 1 vs. 1 throughout the game.
In this post, we will cover the key things you should include when sending your game film to college coaches. In our recent workshop, former D1 Coach Tim Bennett touched on the important role of outside backs: “Outside backs are the modern-day playmakers.”
The key things you should include when sending your outside back highlight video to college coaches
- Ability in 1 vs. 1 situations (on both the attacking and defensive side of things). It’s more than just going into a tackle. Are you making the right decisions about when to tackle and when to regain possession?
- Reading the game. Do you have proper defensive positioning? What are you doing on the weak side? What’s your relationship like with the center back? What’s your spatial relationship with the mid-field group or to the winger? How are you adjusting in relation to the ball?
- Quick decisions. Realizing when to go forward or stay back, when to go forward on the weak side, when to overload in the middle, when to distort your shape a little bit.
- Long and short passing and receiving. This is crucial for an outside back. Eliminating pressure, the build-up, delivering different types of services into the box. “Delivering the right service to the right player at the right time is crucial,” states Tim Bennett.
- Athleticism. In the past, outside backs were just defenders with limited attack. Now, it’s important to be able to go from end line to end line and play on both sides of the field. Outside backs should be able to get forward and join the attack by taking space in the wide areas and creating danger through crosses and passes. For these reasons, fitness and stamina have become more important over the past 10 years for players who want this position in college soccer.
