Half Back vs anchor man

[forzalazio87]

What do you think is the greatest difference between a half back and anchor man? Both seem to stay back and provide coverage, but it seems that the halfback sees the ball more and helps to recycle possession. I tend to use a halfback when i have a small lead and want to create coverage and keep possession. Would you say that this line of thinking is correct with the use of the position? And then also is a normal dm just a more basic version of both position that you can customize with pis? Thank you I am just trying to learn how each position works in regards to shape and movement

[SirSpecialness]

When your team has the ball the HB will drop back into the defensive line so it looks like this D - HB - D.  He will help out in the passing game from here. Think Steven Gerrad in his latter years at Liverpool. Unlike an Anchor a HB will additionally spread your D line wider and also reduce distance between the midfield and defensive lines (closer together). Out of possession he will step up and sit in the DM position and defend from there, d line will pinch in and distance between mid and d lines will increase. Anchor will sit in the DM role at all times and be less expansive in the passing game.

 

Without ball                                With ball

MC - MC      MC - MC                  MC - MC           MC - MC

     HB                 A                    CD - HB - CD               A

CD - CD        CD - CD                                             CD - CD

 

 

[forzalazio87]

10 minutes ago, SirSpecialness said:

When your team has the ball the HB will drop back into the defensive line so it looks like this D - HB - D.  He will help out in the passing game from here. Think Steven Gerrad in his latter years at Liverpool. Unlike an Anchor a HB will additionally spread your D line wider and also reduce distance between the midfield and defensive lines (closer together). Out of possession he will step up and sit in the DM position and defend from there, d line will pinch in and distance between mid and d lines will increase. Anchor will sit in the DM role at all times and be less expansive in the passing game.

 

Without ball                                With ball

MC - MC      MC - MC                  MC - MC           MC - MC

     HB                 A                    CD - HB - CD               A

CD - CD        CD - CD                                             CD - CD

 

 

Aah interesting, thank you. So would you say that an anchor man is better for providing coverage in open space and closing down early while a half back will be better for playing from the back and almost playing like a ball playing defender that sits higher up (without the ball) and recycles possession? I tend to play a higher press system and I think a half back might work well with this if paired with two cds rather than an cd and bpd

[Jean0987654321]

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3 hours ago, forzalazio87 said:

Aah interesting, thank you. So would you say that an anchor man is better for providing coverage in open space and closing down early while a half back will be better for playing from the back and almost playing like a ball playing defender that sits higher up (without the ball) and recycles possession? I tend to play a higher press system and I think a half back might work well with this if paired with two cds rather than an cd and bpd

I would say, yes, a HB would be good...

[Ronaldo at Inter]

From my limited experience, I'd say the Half back has more scope for being creative.

When I've played anchor men in the past they tend to be great at doing the simple stuff in a tidy manner. If you're looking for someone to do an effective job in defence and recycle possesion back towards your more creative players when they pick the ball up, I'd say the anchor man role is better suited. An anchor man, to me, is the kind of player who is often in the right place at the right time doing the thankless work of transitioning from defence to attack.

Half back is a role that thrives on the space created by stepping back in to the defensive line, and needs to be someone who can hit a good forward pass as well as keeping their discipline in regards to positioning. Even though on paper a player that drops deeper seems more defensive, in my opinion the half back is the more offensive option. As referenced by the previous poster the obvious example is what Steven Gerrard attempted (and was too undisciplined to accomplish) at Liverpool or Xabi Alonso in Pep's Bayern side.

[trajano080]

The HB is far more creative, although not as much as a playmaker I think. The HB is essentially the Busquets role. It defends as a DM, however when the team has the ball and is passing out from the back the HB drops between the center backs to have more passing options and be able to play out from the back easier. It makes the center backs go wider and the full backs higher. When the ball finally gets to the midfielders and forwards, the HB steps into midfield back into the DM position to offer a passing option and recycle the ball.

So basically the HB is a center back when passing out from the back, and a DM the rest of the time.

 

The anchor man is more defensive oriented. It will hold position as a DM in front of the centerbacks to offer cover for them. When in possession he will not seek the ball as much as a HB.

[forzalazio87]

Thank you for your help. I really find this role interesting. I played Donny van de beek in this role in my fourth season at Lazio. He had by far the highest passing completion and seemed to generally remain back in position. I played him sometimes with a dlp Joe allen (welsh pirlo) and Danilo Cataldi just to see how the space and positioning worked. They seemed to work together decently, but i think moving forward a lone half back would work well to move the ball forward, almost like a ball playing defender that generally sits higher and makes less stupid passes

On 7/30/2016 at 04:34, Ronaldo at Inter said:

From my limited experience, I'd say the Half back has more scope for being creative.

When I've played anchor men in the past they tend to be great at doing the simple stuff in a tidy manner. If you're looking for someone to do an effective job in defence and recycle possesion back towards your more creative players when they pick the ball up, I'd say the anchor man role is better suited. An anchor man, to me, is the kind of player who is often in the right place at the right time doing the thankless work of transitioning from defence to attack.

Half back is a role that thrives on the space created by stepping back in to the defensive line, and needs to be someone who can hit a good forward pass as well as keeping their discipline in regards to positioning. Even though on paper a player that drops deeper seems more defensive, in my opinion the half back is the more offensive option. As referenced by the previous poster the obvious example is what Steven Gerrard attempted (and was too undisciplined to accomplish) at Liverpool or Xabi Alonso in Pep's Bayern side.

 

[Dr. Hook]

I'll just throw in there that I've tried out the halfback and what I didn't like about it was that when he dropped into the d-line he pushed by two CBs out too wide for my taste. I like what the role does for sure, but that aspect was a bit troubling.

[forzalazio87]

12 minutes ago, Dr. Hook said:

I'll just throw in there that I've tried out the halfback and what I didn't like about it was that when he dropped into the d-line he pushed by two CBs out too wide for my taste. I like what the role does for sure, but that aspect was a bit troubling.

That's a good point, thank you. I think for my save at least this was beneficial because teams were breaking us down from the wings where my weakest players were. I had very good, smart cbs that could close down the play and remain relatively in position. I will make sure to provide more coverage from the midfield however with this in mind. The half back has also worked well with me in a more higher pressing system as it would get the ball in a defensive position and then spearhead the direct attacking play

[Dr. Hook]

2 minutes ago, forzalazio87 said:

That's a good point, thank you. I think for my save at least this was beneficial because teams were breaking us down from the wings where my weakest players were. I had very good, smart cbs that could close down the play and remain relatively in position. I will make sure to provide more coverage from the midfield however with this in mind. The half back has also worked well with me in a more higher pressing system as it would get the ball in a defensive position and then spearhead the direct attacking play

I didn't have the greatest of clubs when I used it- was one of the poorer ones in the division and so it hurt a bit. With heady FBs and solid CBs I think it would be much better

[AFCBeer]

1 hour ago, Dr. Hook said:

I'll just throw in there that I've tried out the halfback and what I didn't like about it was that when he dropped into the d-line he pushed by two CBs out too wide for my taste. I like what the role does for sure, but that aspect was a bit troubling.

Is this in possession or without?

In real life the really possession orientated teams do push their CB's ridiculously wide at times. That's not necessarily a bad thing (in terms how I like to play from the back) so in that respect the role is accurate.

However, if the CB's are too wide when defending that obviously is bad as my understanding was the HB should act like a normal DMC when defending without changing the CB positions  

 

 

[Dr. Hook]

1 hour ago, AFCBeer said:

Is this in possession or without?

In real life the really possession orientated teams do push their CB's ridiculously wide at times. That's not necessarily a bad thing (in terms how I like to play from the back) so in that respect the role is accurate.

However, if the CB's are too wide when defending that obviously is bad as my understanding was the HB should act like a normal DMC when defending without changing the CB positions  

 

 

Yeah I meant in defending- it is supposed to drop between the CBs on defense, which it does correctly, but in doing so it sometimes causes the two CBs to spread out overmuch for my liking.