It’s become common knowledge that from an attacking standpoint, fullbacks have grown in importance since the turn of the 21st century. The license for wide attackers to access the inside areas in the final third has meant that others have had to occupy the flanks, which made FBs the logical choice to assume those responsibilities. The higher average positioning during the attacking phase has necessitated a greater need for FBs to possess both the technical and athletic skills needed to perform in those spaces. It’s become a position of immense importance, and no longer one that invites for banter on-air.
What’s interesting is that throughout the 2010’s, there have been other shifts besides FB’s merely becoming greater cogs in attack down the flanks. Pep Guardiola famously used inverted fullbacks at both Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Liverpool essentially made Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander Arnold their creative hubs and turned the midfield into a functional unit to plug holes defensively. Alexander-Arnold and Joshua Kimmich (when he’s played as a FB) are noteworthy examples of FBs shifting inwards and given license to quarterback an attack (TAA in particular). This was on display in the most recent Champions League final with Kimmich’s lofted cross assist from the right halfspace.
It is here where we should talk about Roberto Carlos. The general consensus is that he’s one of the most dynamic talents of his era, a player who could be argued as being relatively ahead of the curve. His role as an attacking force was unique, and it’s not a coincidence that he’s been mentioned by current players as a source of inspiration. Younger people who didn’t get to watch much of peak Roberto Carlos will probably gravitate to his free kicks or the time he tied his shoes against France in the 2006 World Cup. For older generations who have vivid memories of him, you’re more likely to hear them talk about how he was great going forward, yet suspect defensively. That description was something I was interested in examining to see if it still held up today, and with fullbacks currently being at the peak of their value collectively, it seemed appropriate to write on one who helped push the position forward.
Scouting Report
The word I would used to describe Roberto Carlos’ passing is aggressive, both with his selection and even the way it was delivered. With regards to the former, he almost always tried to squeeze the ball into passing windows even if they were quite small. This was constant no matter the type of pass he tried to execute. If he was positioned in the interior and close to the centerbacks, he usually tried to whip a bounce pass to a teammate in the left halfspace in the final third or even towards the edge of the box. It worked more often than not but it did demand his teammates to have a good first touch given the speed these passes were being delivered at. His crosses into the box from the flanks followed a similar story, as they were usually whipped in with force. These driven passes were mixed in alongside beautifully lofted switches of play or even lobs into dangerous areas, all of this adding up to a strong variety of pass types in his locker.
The strong passing skills that Roberto Carlos had were also on display when he was able to combine that with his ability to create space for himself off the dribble. In static 1v1’s where the opponent had their feet set, he was able to gain separation from his marker but it wasn’t an automatic as he did have his struggles because of being a bit of a one trick pony in that department. When his marker was having to close out to him, particularly from a switch of play, he was considerably more dangerous at being to take advantage of that. He got his opponent off balance and either immediately attacked along the flanks into the left side of the box for potential cutbacks, or he could get into the central zones to attempt to slip in teammates into the box since he had some equity with his off foot. He was also able to utilize his athleticism for long carries from deep while still having the requisite touch needed to pass on the move, which made him a dynamic threat.
Roberto Carlos’ positioning in general was quite fluid depending on the situation. If a teammate was already occupying the touchline, he was comfortable moving inwards given his abilities to make plays from interior spaces. With the speed that he had, he was an obvious threat to make overlapping runs and still have enough coordination to make plays on the move. That level of versatility made him a very good fit to play off of players like Zinedine Zidane, Steve McManaman, and Santiago Solari, since they loved to float between different attacking spaces.
Because of the importance of his attacking contribution, the defensive side with Roberto Carlos has usually been something of an afterthought when describing the totality of his game, which to some extent is understandable. There is even a section of people who think of him as something of a defensive liability. That critique is harsh because it ignores a few things. For starters, he possessed one of the greatest recovery speeds we’ve ever seen and even with his high positioning, he was able to track back to put out his fair share of fires that many others wouldn’t have been able to. He was lightning quick at closing down air space that the opponent had to work with. As well, I thought that he had a general understanding of knowing when to shift inside to take away possible runners between himself and the left CB, along with switching assignments on the fly.
This isn’t to say that Roberto Carlos was a flawless defender, because he certainly wasn’t. His height meant that he could be picked on for aerial duels if he was matched up against a taller attacker. He often went to ground on challenges, even when it wasn’t necessary for him to do so, which brought the risk of getting burned off the dribble or committing needless fouls. It wasn’t uncommon for him to even attempt sliding tackles within his own penalty box. There were bouts of ball-watching, though more times than not his recovery speed meant that he was able to clean up his mistake without anything noticeable occurring. There was also a trade-off with his hard closeouts because it meant that he could momentarily be off-balance and be beaten off the dribble. While I would argue that his reading of the game defensively was solid, it wasn’t airtight.
No discussion about Roberto Carlos could be complete without addressing the part of his game that many most remember, which was his free kicks. There have been numerous compilations done on the matter, and perhaps his defining moment from his career is the legendary free kick scored against France from the 1997 Tournoi de France tournament (the beta version for what ended up becoming the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001). The ludicrous nature of the goal has made it a subject of numerous studies over the years, including @52_break’s free kick model.
With that said, it is with regret that I must inform everyone that from the sample of matches that I watched from 2000–03 (23 in total), I didn’t find Roberto Carlos’ free kicks to be anything special. The novelty of the long runups and the tendency to hit it with force didn’t equate with consistent accuracy in these situations. Without concrete data from this era, it would be reckless of myself to speak further on whether he was generally a bad/good FK taker relative to average. What I would say is that his long throw-ins were a more consistent component to his game. It was impressive just how much distance he could get on them considering his size, and perhaps in a different era with a team that put more emphasis on throw-in patterns, it could’ve been used with even greater efficiency.
Analysis
It’s hard to poke holes at Roberto Carlos from an attacking standpoint, as he was such a diverse attacker. His passing was very strong when he was positioned in the interior or along the flanks, particularly because of the added threat he posed with his ability to produce lofted balls into the box from the left flank. You could dock him slightly for his passing into the left halfspace since those strong deliveries put pressure on his teammates to have a steady first touch. He was a duel threat to either make traditional overlapping runs to generate a cross/cut-back, or cutting inside to slip in teammates into the box (he would even sprinkle in an underlapping run on occasion). The ability he had to consistently pass on the move as well as he did makes him stand out even through viewing him by the standards of today’s fullbacks. While I certainly wouldn’t call him a great defender, I do think that he was better than his reputation would suggest. His recovery speed was remarkable which allowed him to make big defensive plays, and his overall awareness was good enough when having to defend deep. Even if one was more skeptical than I was about his reading of the game, he wasn’t a liability in those situations.
What’s remarkable about Roberto Carlos was just how durable he was throughout his career, even into his early 30’s. Just in the four year study I focused on (2000–03), he twice logged over 4500 minutes in both La Liga and the Champions League, and in only one of those seasons did he manage less than 4000 minutes. From an attacking standpoint, his output was superb. When combining both his production in La Liga and the CL across those four seasons, he averaged a non-penalty goal contribution per 90 rate of 0.36, which compares very favorably with fullbacks both in his era and in current times. Given his standard of play, always having him in the starting XI helped immensely as Real Madrid alternated between league titles and CL trophies during that four year span. From a domestic standpoint, they peaked in 2002–03 with an expected point tally of 82.08, a mark that is right up there with other La Liga sides from 1998–2007.
Similar to my reservations with Kaká in terms of granting large amounts of historical credit for helping the evolution of attacking talents (in his case, it was his futuristic athleticism), I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing the same with Roberto Carlos, though in comparison I am willing to give him a bit more recognition. One reason why is that it’s not hard to see the influence that fullbacks like Roberto Carlos have had on today’s game. Marcelo is probably the greatest example of that and it’s certainly remarkable that Real Madrid were able to transition seamlessly to him as their new quarterback on the left side. Alphonso Davies will likely end up being the standard bearer from his generation when it comes to a fullback that can ably maintain an entire wing on his own. As a creative hub, Trent Alexander-Arnold has gone another level from what Roberto Carlos did, which is quite the feat and speaks to Alexander-Arnold’s outlier passing skills.
So where does that leave us with Roberto Carlos? Even if I was to be slightly more skeptical of his passing abilities, I still think he brought excellent value in attack. He was just too diverse as a passer, and knew how to take advantage of his athleticism to accentuate his passing even further. I would probably rate his defending as somewhere between neutral and a slight net-positive, and if forced to choose, it would be closer to a slight net-positive which goes against the grain regarding his defense. Do I think he’s the greatest fullback ever? That’s for people who have a greater knowledge of football’s history to decide, and it’s fair to argue that he was in as close to a perfect environment as can be. What I do feel comfortable saying is that what Roberto Carlos brought to the table added up to him being a superb player, someone who historically might even be the slighted bit underrated because his defense had more of a positive impact than what his reputation would suggest.
Previous Profiles
#1: Zinedine Zidane
#2: Roy Keane
#3: Claude Makélélé
#4: Steven Gerrard
#5: Kaká
#6: Patrick Vieira
#7: Adriano
