An overlap has defined the career of many a full-back, but what is actually is it? Here's your tactical explainer
Andy Robertson's attacking overlaps have proved a staple of Liverpool's style in recent years(Image credit: Getty Images)
An overlap is one of the simplest, yet hardest to defend against attacking ploys, responsible for some of football’s greatest goals and biggest moments.
If you want to get to the magical land that is ‘in behind’ the opposition's defence, the overlap is usually the quickest way.
But what is an overlap and who uses them most effectively in today’s game?
What is an Overlap?
An overlap is when a player runs on the outside a teammate in possession of the ball, going beyond the ball, ideally into open space.
It is a simple, yet effective, way to get in behind an opponents defence. As tracking both player and ball can be difficult, it is very hard to defend against a well-timed overlap.
Jordi Alba frequently variated his runs between overlaps and underlaps in Spain's Euro 2012 winning team (Image credit: Getty Images)
As you might expect, if the player runs inside, rather than outside of their teammate, that is then referred to as an ‘underlap.’ As the full back has evolved over time to become, broadly speaking, a more attacking position, the use of overlapping runs from has increased hugely.
Partly this is a direct knock-on effect of more and more wingers at the top of football, playing as inside forwards rather than hugging the touchline. In turn, this has given full-backs more and more space in the wide areas to charge into.
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Who has used the Overlap effectively?
The modern day full-back, or wing-back, simply has to be able to overlap effectively. At the top level, the speed of the game is lightning quick. If you don’t have the engine to get beyond a teammate in possession, you’ll probably struggle as a full-back.
Therefore those in the wide areas have to be on constant alert, when it comes to supporting the attack, even if they start off in defensive positions. Brazil’s long-time international pair of Roberton Carlos and Cafu were perhaps the first world class players in the position, who were primarily attackers. Carlos in particular was infamously used only in midfield at Inter Milan, who refused to trust him at the back. He then moved to Real Madrid to become the best left-back in the world.
By the time of the 2002 World Cup, the two had perfected the art of the overlap at the highest level. With the duo playing as wing-backs Brazil swept the competition. A front three of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Rivaldo, didn’t need much help going forward, but whenever they did Carlos and Cafu were there in support.
Carlos’ long-term successor at international level, Marcelo was another master of the overlap, getting forward in tandem to wreak havoc with Angel Di Maria or Cristiano Ronaldo down the left flank, for the best part of a decade at Real Madrid.
However, overlapping is a skill not only reserved for full-backs. The likes of Ajax, Atalanta and Sheffield United have all used overlapping centre-backs on a regular basis in recent seasons.
And Gary Neville built such a career on overlapping, he even named his YouTube channel after it.
What are the pros and cons of overlapping?
A big advantage of becoming a virtuoso in overlapping, is that you’ll have a far greater chance of getting quality crosses into the penalty. The more quality crosses into the box, the higher your chances of scoring goals.
Tracking overlapping runs isn’t easy for the team out of possession. Even if a winger is pulled back into a defensive position to successfully stop an overlap, they won’t be immediately help a counter-attack.
Achraf Hakimi overlapped for fun at the recent AFCON (Image credit: Getty Images)
The difficulty of overlapping is that the runner can’t be seen by the player in possession. This means whoever is on the ball needs to have excellent positional sense of where his/her teammates are on the field.
Nearly anyone receiving the ball in a wide area needs to overlap, quickly and effectively. But overloading one side can leave you vulnerable to attacks on the other flank. There is also a danger players can become over-reliant on this skill. Even in the modern game, you have to be a good defender first and foremost.
There’s no point in worrying all about your attacking runs, if you don’t have a clue what is going on behind you. The best full-backs in the word today, Nahuel Molina, Achraf Hakimi and Kyle Walker for example, are still excellent defenders, even if they overlap at will.
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Jack has worked as a sports reporter full-time since 2021. He previously worked as the Chief Women’s Football Writer at the Mirror, covering the England Women’s national team and the Women’s Super League. Jack has covered a number of major sporting events in recent years including the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup on the ground in Australia.
