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Nearly everyone will say that having a left footed CB on the left is an advantage. This doesn& #39;t mean that a right footed LCB is *always* worse than a left footed LCB though. I& #39;ll be comparing tendencies in left footed and right footed LCBs in this thread.
Let& #39;s start with the obvious, a left footer has the ability to play a pass which curves into the LB or LW& #39;s stride. If the opposition are pressing with a narrow first line then a left footer has an advantage since he can play the ball around the pressing RW. The same applies
against a 4-4-2 when the right striker presses the LCB. This way, it helps keep momentum and allows for quick ball circulation to the left flank. In this example Laporte can play a direct ball to Sterling around the narrow press. A right footer would likely pass to Cancelo here.
Right footers can switch the play more easily in the first phase though with long diagonals to the ball far RW. Think of those VVD/Hummels diagonals, a left footer would find those harder to do. Similarly with balls over the top as they curve away from the opposition GK. Remember
that VVD to Mane vs Bayern? If he tried that on his left the ball would curve towards Neuer and he would have easily swept it up. Another advantage that a left footer has is that they can play the ball back to the GK from a standing position more easily. In this example Dias uses
his left foot to pass back to Ederson first time. Dias is a right footer but he uses his left foot which is the correct decision. A one-footed right footer would likely have to adjust his body and take the touch onto his right foot to pass it back. This would take longer and give
Utd more time to shuttle across. However, a right footer could switch the ball across to Stones more easily so again it& #39;s a trade-off. This is because the pass can curve around the CF rather than towards him and it would allow the RCB to take the ball into his stride.
Right footers can also dribble infield to break the first line of pressure and open up the passing lane to the LW. This is mostly effective against a team who presses with wide wingers who press from out to in as the CB will have time to carry the ball under little pressure.
A good example is Maguire whenever he plays against Man City, he can use his dribbling ability to draw in players then release Rashford or Shaw immediately. If the pressing winger is too aggressive and eager then a passing lane will open to the fullback because the pass curves
away from the shuttling midfield line. This can also be effective with left footers if they have the courage because they can switch play, but it& #39;s more rare to find left footers who are comfortable at dribbling out from the LCB position.
Left footers find it easier to play passes to players on the same vertical line because it normally curves towards the receiver while with right footers it will curve towards the by-line.
Another underrated tendency of a right footer is that they can let the ball roll across their body when defending balls into the channel and open up the passing lane to the GK. In this situation Maguire can shield the ball from Jesus and pass back to Henderson. A left footer
would find this option more unnatural and would perhaps try to pass to Shaw, but Mahrez(out of image) is about to press him. Maguire can easily evade the press and pick out Henderson because he is right footed. A left footer can clear the ball into the channel in this situation
but it is rare to find many situations like these; normally giving away a throw in by tackling the ball out of play is preferable as it creates a pressing opportunities as throw ins can act as pressing traps. It must be said though that Maguire did really well by anticipating
the ball into the channel. If a right footer finds himself 1v1 on the left flank then it would generally be harder to defend as right footers are more inclined to tackle with their right foot which is worse than tackling with their left foot on the left because if the tackle is
mistimed the winger could just hit it past him, while a left footer would stick his foot ahead of the ball instead of directly at the ball. This is why right footed CB on the left tend to drop and delay(VVD/Hummels) or get tight and foul(Ramos). You rarely see right footers on
the left engage and try to win the ball, because they find it more unnatural. Left footers find it easier to defend wide 1v1s when the winger goes on the outside, but right footers find it more natural defending wingers who cut inside provided they can adjust their body
orientation quick enough because they can stick out their right foot more easily. There are many more situations that can be talked about like blocking shots, shooting from distance etc. but the main take-away is that left footers as LCBs are not always better than right footers.
They each have their pros and cons but imo I would still prefer a left footer mainly because the fullback can receive passes in his stride which helps speed up build-up greatly.
