What is the blindside in football? Well, let's just say that not being aware of your blind spots always causes issues.
If it happens when you’re behind the wheel, it normally leads to a failed driving test. And an even bigger problem (at least we think so) is when defenders are caught on their blindside by a pacey centre-forward. But it happens every week at every level of football you could possibly imagine.
This is your tactical masterclass in what it is and how useful is it as an attacking tactic. Here at FourFourTwo, we've got the breakdown on every single football term that you might need explained to you – starting with a staple of every team on the planet.
I'm Jack, I've watched football through a tactical lens for over a decade, analysing trends not only at the top of the game, but also how strategies and approaches can be used at amateur level.
I’m also an FA-level 2 qualified coach and have written extensively on tactical analysis for various publications. A lot of my spare time is spent training, playing the game, or settling down to perfect a tactical approach on Football Manager.
What is the blindside?
If an attacker is making blindside run, they are moving while their opposing defender is looking at the ball.
If timed well it should put the maximum space possible between the player making the run and the player supposed to be staying close to them.
In the clip above, the yellow team's striker makes a blindside run behind a purple defender, to score a goal.
When the opposition has possession, defenders are often taught to position themselves ‘side on’, rather than facing the ball flat. This makes sense. It allows for greater balance and makes reacting a short notice far easier than if ‘face on’.
But it does have the drawback of potentially being exploited by the blindside run from a centre forward. No defender can have eyes in the back of his/her head to see where the blindside run is coming from or which space the attacker is looking to exploit.
It isn’t an easy skill. Blindside runs still require the passer of the ball and the player making the run to be in perfect sync.
Who uses blindside runs?
Probably every striker you could wish to watch this weekend will attempt some form of a blindside run at some point, from a target man to a poacher. But let’s look at example of someone who pretty much built a career on the blindside run. The man ranked at no.48 in FourFourTwo's list of the best Premier League players of all time: Jamie Vardy
Particularly in his 2016-2019 peak, the Leicester forward was an absolute master of this of tactic. The use fits well with Vardy’s overall character and career arc. He was something of an underdog when first playing Premier League football for the Foxes, having been playing his trade in the non-league only a few years earlier.
It's not just teams in transition that look to make blindside runs. A side can dominate but still look for that space when a defender isn't looking: and teams who find a free man can catch defenders ball-watching, too.
Vardy was also quite possibly underestimated by plenty of the defenders he faced, making them ideal cannon fodder to be fooled by a blindside run. One of his most famous goals during that fairytale Premier League triumph demonstrates how Vardy perfected the art.
For his record-breaking goal, making it 11 consecutive Premier League games on target, against Manchester United in November 2015, Vardy finds space in the channel between Ashley Young and Matteo Darmian before beginning his run.
Darmian is in a decent position, but Vardy catches him blindside, charging into space behind the Italian defender while staying level. Christian Fuchs plays the perfect pass to set Vardy away, with it too late for Darmian to react, Vardy produces a trademark clinical finish. It’s a pure textbook blindside run, leading to one of the most important goals in Vardy's career.
What are the pros and cons of using blindside runs
The benefits are not only limited to simply, creating chances, you can create uncertainty in a defenders head. Anyone who has played at the back will know this is a tough problem to deal with.
If a centre-back is overly concerned about being caught on the blindside, they may overcompensate by choosing to stick closer to the forward, almost man-marking them. But that in turn should create space for other attackers to exploit. Either way, that doubt of the blindside run in a defenders head can cause internal havoc. Anyone who has played centre-back against a forward with blinding pace can testify this.
The blindside run is a nimble weapon for any forward but shouldn’t be overused. The more you do it, the more your opposite number will expect it. The element of surprise and explosiveness is what helped Vardy, Craig Bellamy, Filippo Inzaghi, Michael Owen and so many other forwards down the years who mastered this skill.
