A full-back bombing forward on the overlap before picking out a teammate in the box with a pin-point cross or arrowing the ball into the bottom corner themselves is invariably one of the most satisfying sights in football.
Even behind closed doors, that is. It was almost immediately evident when the Bundesliga kicked off for the first time in over two months on Saturday afternoon, specifically at the Signal Iduna Park where Borussia Dortmund dismantled arch-rivals Schalke 4-0 in the Revierderby.
Just 12 minutes had passed before Dortmund's first real dangerous attack of the match, as Thomas Delaney clipped a deft pass into the right-hand channel. There was Achraf Hakimi, gathering it in his stride before driving aggressively into the penalty area and cutting the ball back across goal.
A last-ditch intervention from Jean-Clair Todibo in the six-yard box just prevented either Thorgan Hazard or Erling Haaland from turning it home, but already the first major warning had been signalled.
Haaland would cap off a superb team move for the opener 15 minutes later following excellent work by Julian Brandt and Hazard down the right, and the second goal arrived on the brink of half-time – this time from the opposite flank.
Collecting a poor clearance from Schalke goalkeeper Markus Schubert – who endured a torrid afternoon – Mahmoud Dahoud quickly found Brandt, who played in the onrushing Raphaël Guerreiro to fizz a precise, driven shot back across goal for 2-0. Two passes, one ruthless finish; remarkably simple, but perfect in execution.
It was a constant theme throughout, as Dortmund would patiently work the ball from one flank to the other, repeatedly engineering opportunities to find Hakimi and Guerreiro galloping into space. The fourth goal was perhaps the pick of the bunch, with Brandt once again feeding Guerreiro, who then exchanged passes with Haaland before continuing his run into the box and curling an impudent outside-of-the-boot strike into the back of the net to intensify Schalke's misery.
Although Hakimi and Guerreiro very much played as wing-backs rather than full-backs in the 3-4-2-1 system deployed by Lucien Favre, there were some strong resemblances between the way Dortmund channelled much of their forward play through the pair, and how Liverpool use full-backs as the building blocks of so many attacks.
It's not entirely surprising that Liverpool actually considered making a move for Guerreiro last summer, and one could easily envisage either of them suiting Jürgen Klopp's style of play (though a move for Hakimi would almost certainly not be possible given he is approaching the end of a two-year loan from Real Madrid).
In 2019/20, Hakimi (1.27) and Guerreiro (1.23) rank fifth and sixth respectively in Dortmund's squad* for key passes per 90 as well as xGChain (Hakimi 0.8, Guerreiro 0.7) – a measure of a player's contribution in possession sequences leading to a shot on goal – which offers a valuable indication as to how heavily involved they are in the team's chance creation.
Likewise for Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold (0.6) and Robertson (0.54) also happen to rank fifth and sixth for xGChain*, with Alexander-Arnold first for key passes (2.64 per 90) and Robertson fourth (1.58).
Indeed, while Alexander-Arnold and Robertson nominally function as 'full-backs' in Klopp's usual 4-3-3, they spend a significant chunk of time operating in close proximity to Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino in the final third, so when you see their average heat maps after any given game, they'll often resemble wide attacking midfielders more so than defenders.
The Liverpool duo have directly contributed to 54 goals since the start of last season while being part of one of the tightest defensive units in Europe, so it's entirely justifiable to label them the best full-back pairing on the planet at present. In terms of consistent end product, no other team has anything close from that position – but the Dortmund wing-backs post a hugely impressive return of their own, albeit with fewer assigned defensive responsibilities.
This season, Hakimi and Guerreiro have each chipped in with seven goals in all competitions, while the former has 10 assists to the latter's four – bringing them to a combined total of 28 direct goal contributions so far. Even if both have played more as 'wide midfielders' at times, that kind of output is not to be sniffed at.
Whereas Hakimi is arguably flashier of the two with his lightning pace and agile dribbling ability – as opposed to the similarly effective but slightly less heralded Guerreiro – they're both remarkably versatile footballers with exceptional technical quality.
Likewise at Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold generally makes more headlines with his spectacular range of passing and capacity to run games from right-back, compared to Robertson, who is still valued extremely highly, but isn't quite as eye-catching on the whole.
They all have their own unique skill sets, of course, and playing wing-back for Dortmund clearly isn't the same as playing full-back for Liverpool. Despite those differences, though, there are some intriguing parallels to be drawn.
Until Liverpool take to the pitch again, Hakimi and Guerreiro might just be the nearest available alternative for those seeking a high-octane, marauding full-back/wing-back fix.
*Includes players who have played 1000+ minutes in the league so far.
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Liverpool's dazzling double act have thrilling but contrasting Borussia Dortmund counterparts - Liverpool.com
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