Football has changed significantly over the past decade but one of the biggest shifts has come in the full-back department.
No longer can right-backs and left-backs stand twiddling their thumbs on the halfway line, frantically retreating as soon as their side cede possession. Instead, they must be marauders and pass masters, chipping in with goals and assists alongside their stringent defensive duties.
Evidence of these modern full-backs is rife in the Premier League as England opens its doors to continental philosophies.
But there is something to be said for the old-school full-back, too. Hard as nails and the least athletic player on the pitch, wrestling with wingers and immediately shifting the ball to a more talented teammate.
Here are the best right-backs of the Premier League era, both retro and contemporary.
20. Dan Petrescu
Dan Petrescu arrived in the Premier League from Italy, initially joining up with Sheffield Wednesday for the 1994/95 season. An impressive campaign with the Yorkshire outfit convinced Chelsea to make their move halfway through the following season.
The Romania international spent just under five years with Chelsea before Premier League adventures with Bradford City and Southampton, finishing his time in England with 23 goals and 14 assists in over 200 league appearances.
Longevity is the word that springs to mind when thinking about the indefatigable Everton right-back Seamus Coleman. Signed for just £60,000 from his native Ireland, he has proven an incredible servant to the Toffees in good times and bad.
The veteran has made well over 400 appearances for the Merseyside club since arriving in 2009 and has provided some much-needed spirit, bite and dogged determination in an ever-changing Everton backline.
Over 45 combined goals and assists in the Premier League is not to be sniffed at either.
Having been on the books at Manchester City, failing to make an appearance for the club, 54-cap England international Kieran Trippier took the long route to the upper echelons of English football via stops in Barnsley and Burnley.
Eventually journeying down south, the reliable right-back made Tottenham his home and has since endeared himself to Newcastle United fans after a brief stint with Atletico Madrid.
He’s been around the block and back and such valuable experience has made him one of the Premier League’s most consistent customers, with an eye for a free kick and teasing cross.
Was John O’Shea a right-back? Well, sort of.
While he regularly stepped out in central defence, the seasoned Irish international also made common appearances at both right-back and left-back, with Sir Alex Ferguson using him as something of a utility man across the back four at Manchester United.
O’Shea could be trusted in any of the aforementioned roles, hence why he spent 12 years at one of football’s biggest clubs in one of their most successful periods.
16. Paulo Ferreira
Paulo Ferreira followed Porto boss and recent Champions League-winning coach Jose Mourinho to Chelsea in 2004 and that turned out to be a pretty wise decision for both the right-back and the Blues.
The Portugal international would spend nine years at Stamford Bridge, instantly helping the club claim back-to-back Premier League titles with a string of impressive displays.
He grabbed another English title in 2009/10 and remains an under-appreciated member of a relentless Chelsea group.
One of Ecuador‘s all-time greats, Antonio Valencia initially made his name in the Premier League as a powerful and physical winger for Wigan Athletic. Man Utd quickly snapped him up and put him to good use in the subsequent decade.
However, while he started life at Old Trafford in an advanced role, he was deployed at right-back as time wore on – a role he dazzled in despite its unfamiliarity.
Valencia’s speed and immense upper body strength made him a difficult full-back for wingers to overcome, while he also had the required skills to chip in with goals and assists.
Similarly to his teammate O’Shea, former Man Utd defender Wes Brown was another Swiss Army knife defender, regularly switching between centre-back and the right-hand side of defence.
He was a handy addition to Ferguson’s star-studded squad and offered greater defensive security in bigger games, even assisting Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League final in 2008.
Again, he wasn’t the most glamorous option for the Red Devils, but he was a model of consistency when fit.
Had Joao Cancelo‘s Premier League career lasted longer, we would be taking about one of the best right-backs in the competition’s history.
Man City and Pep Guardiola embraced the Portuguese defender in 2019 and his genius from defence would help solidify the Cityzens as England’s dominant force.
He was twice named in the PFA Team of the Year en route to three Premier League titles before a falling out with Guardiola saw him shipped elsewhere. A real shame for English football.
12. Gary Kelly
One-club men are rare in football. Gary Kelly is one of the increasingly few Premier League players to have spent his entire career in one location, representing Leeds United for an incredible 15 years.
Most of that time was spent in the Premier League, where he was an ever-present for a Leeds side that often finished within the top five and qualified for European competition.
Kelly was a defensively sound full-back but also wasn’t afraid of darting beyond the winger in front of him, featuring in 325 Premier League matches and twice being named in the PFA Team of the Year.
Tottenham, Newcastle and Birmingham City supporters know what a warrior Stephen Carr was in his playing days, with the Ireland international making just shy of 400 Premier League appearances for the English trio.
The versatile full-back was a fan favourite wherever he went and peaked in the early 2000s, when he was twice named in the PFA Team of the Year during his spell at Spurs.
While Carr never came close to Premier League glory, he did win the League Cup with both Tottenham and Birmingham.
10. Steve Finnan
Seriously, what is it with all these amazing Irish Premier League right-backs?
Steve Finnan was another off the production line, spending his heyday with Liverpool in the mid-2000s. He was a reliable provider for both Gerard Houllier and Rafael Benitez, boasting a right boot that could find any striker’s head inside the penalty area – most easily Peter Crouch‘s.
Finnan was renowned for his lung-busting runs up the right flank, skills he honed at Fulham prior to his Anfield move. A Champions League and FA Cup winner, Premier League glory eluded the defender.
Much like his compatriot, teammate and fellow full-back Gael Clichy, Frenchman Bacary Sagna divided his days in the Premier League between Arsenal and Man City, moving from the former to the latter in 2014.
However, it was with the Gunners that Sagna impressed most, offering some exquisite displays on the right-hand side of Arsene Wenger’s defence.
The 65-cap France international turned out in the Premier League 267 times and deserved to call time on his career in England with more than just an FA Cup and League Cup in his trophy cabinet.
8. Cesar Azpilicueta
Full-backs are synonymous with wearing their heart on their sleeve and Cesar Azpilicueta epitomised that more than most. The indefatigable Spaniard would do anything for victory, even if it meant covering every single blade of grass and putting his body in harm’s way.
However, it’s easy to forget what a technically-gifted footballer Azpilicueta was for Chelsea. He provided ten goals and 36 assists in 349 Premier League appearances and showed the versatility required to play as a wing-back or centre-back.
Chelsea’s skipper for many years, he lifted the Premier League title on two occasions.
7. Lauren
Lauren was part of an Arsenal side that reached new heights in the early 2000s, claiming a first-team spot under Wenger after a shaky debut season at Highbury. The Cameroonian’s ascent was crucial in the Gunners claiming two Premier League titles, including during the Invincibles season of 2003/04.
He was not a prolific provider in the final third but he wasn’t shy in supporting the attack either – not that he needed too given the quality at Arsenal’s disposal on the flanks.
6. Branislav Ivanovic
If you opened up Branislav Ivanovic’s head, you would find solid concrete. The Serbia international was deadly in the air, regularly arriving at the far post to provide the decisive touch inside the penalty area.
While he was a darn good defender as well, it was his powerful bursts into the box and clutch strikes that endeared him to Chelsea supporters, with 22 goals in the Premier League.
Ivanovic was capable with his feet too, often finding a teammate or the back of the net with a swing of his right boot.
Pablo Zabaleta was not a flashy footballer. He was good at defending, good on the ball and good going forward. What more can you ask for from your right-back, eh?
With plenty of South American grit and a tireless work rate, the Argentine was adored during his nine years with Man City and proved key in their rise to greatness.
He even scored on the most famous day in the club’s history, providing the first in the famous 3-2 win over Queens Park Rangers in which Sergio Aguero‘s stoppage-time strike won the Cityzens the Premier League title.
4. Lee Dixon
Lee Dixon hasn’t done his reputation any favours with his monotonous punditry career but he was still a lovely footballer. Representing Arsenal for 14 years and for several seasons before the formation of the Premier League, the England international was always a steady presence at the back.
He won the Premier League title twice with the Gunners having lifted two First Division titles previously, turning out in a formidable backline alongside the likes of Nigel Winterburn, Steve Bould and Tony Adams.
Dixon wasn’t a glamorous name but he could be relied upon to do everything needed of a full-back in the early days of the Premier League.
From the steady to the spectacular, Trent Alexander-Arnold has re-written the rule book for right-backs since he burst on to the scene.
The Liverpool defender has often been accused of being a yard short defensively but regardless of whether that’s true, he’s a truly generational talent who exploded into life under Jurgen Klopp.
The right-back with the most assists in Premier League history, Alexander-Arnold has a passing range that midfielders would kill for and he’s capable of putting the ball on a sixpence. He plays with a swagger rarely seen in a full-back.
That flair and unrivalled passing ability makes him one of the most gifted to have ever held the position in the Premier League and he still has chapters to write.
2. Gary Neville
Jamie Carragher famously quipped: “No one grows up wanting to be a Gary Neville.” That does a significant disservice to the Premier League’s greatest and most consistent right-back, who was a key member of several truly exceptional Man Utd sides.
Now dividing opinions in the gantry, there can be no questions regarding Gary Neville’s quality. He’s often guilty of playing down his accomplishments, but the Bury-born ace was an incredibly solid one-v-one defender and a tenacious tackler.
Neville was surprisingly adept going forward as well, racking up 35 assists across his Premier League career en route to a ridiculous eight league titles with the Red Devils.
Kyle Walker’s athleticism has set him apart from his positional peers over the past decade. The right-back’s speed and power often make him an immovable object and compensate for any lapses in concentration – well, more often than not.
You can’t thrive under Pep Guardiola for as long as Walker has without being a tremendous footballer and he may not be as technically gifted as Man City’s other superstars, but his experience, leadership and physicality more than make up for it.
Six Premier League titles speaks for itself, with Walker one of the best we have witnessed in the English top flight.
