Cambridge United new boy Jake Carroll fits the mould of the modern full-back
Derry shapes the U's in his own style
When Shaun Derry talked about the arrival of Jake Carroll, his description of the “attacking full-back” particularly stood out.
It is something that we gloss over all too easily these days, but it epitomises the modern approach to football, and the way that Derry in particular wants to see the game played.
Brad Halliday has been something of an attacking revelation this season, with the right-back offering so many options as an outlet for the team going forward.
On the other side, Greg Taylor has scored his first two goals for the club, while Blair Adams carried on that threat when he stepped in against Notts County.
And Carroll instantly caught the eye on his debut in the 0-0 draw with Blackpool last Saturday.
“I think the full-backs have changed now,” said U’s boss Derry. “There are still certain teams that will play in a rigid back four, of course.
“And we know in League Two you have to be a defender first and foremost, of course you do.
“But I don’t want us to be a team that just plays on the back foot, I want us to be a team that plays very much on the front foot.
“The story of our success has been the aggressive style of play that we can play with – fit, hungry young men who are all at good ages who can all progress and take their careers forward.
“I think in the modern day, with football the way it is, full-backs spend so much time on the ball – they probably spend more time on the ball than your midfielders do.”
The method of using the full-backs as a more attacking outlet is probably more prominent for United this season than in previous seasons, but Derry believes that it has been a growing phenomenon for a number of years now.
“It’s a part of the game that’s changed. I think styles change from one era to the next,” he said.
“This modern approach to full-back/attacking-type players has been prominent now at every level for about five or six years.
“You see the three at the back with wing-backs, you’ve seen the full-backs advancing and wingers under lapping, there is a lot of rotation that is taking place in football.
“Modern football is not rigid 4-4-2 anymore.”
And it has taken Derry time to mould the side in his own style and the clear blueprint he requires.
Halliday has caught the eye all season and Carroll’s arrival from Hartlepool completes a long pursuit of the player for Derry.
“Every manager puts his own stamp on the team. I want us to play in a particular way,” he said.
“I understand that from when you take over a group of guys, they are your players, they are the cards that you’ve got.
“But if you’ve got the time to do your dealings and bring in your own pack of cards – my pack of cards are a little bit different to what they were on my first game against Oxford away.
“They are different types of players that we are bringing into the football club now.
“I’m looking at the group, and the overriding factor for me is that this has to be a young, hungry, progressive football club and the age of the players is important to me as well.”
