The term target man conjures images of a tall and heavy centre forward,
receiving long, aerial passes to hold up, knock down for an advancing midfielder,
or head on for a smaller, quicker strike partner. The little and large duo was a
staple of English football, with tandems like Liverpool’s John Toshack and Kevin Keegan,
Sunderland’s Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips, or Luton Town’s Mick Harford and Brian Stein.
With the decline of 4-4-2, a formation with an emphasis on width which lends itself to
that kind of dynamic, those pairings have fallen out of fashion and faded from view.
But the target man is enjoying a renaissance,
sometimes in a pairing but more often as a lone striker.
The reasons for this are largely tactical, the result of and reaction to other tactical trends.
Looking at the last four Premier League seasons, for which we can easily access data, it’s possible
to see that the number of long passes per 90 that are completed is going up, as is the percentage
of long pass completion. A long pass in this context means one longer than 27.4 metres.
Long passes do not always equate to a target man being on the end of them, but the reason
that long passes are going up is instructive. As more teams press more frequently and higher,
their opponents are compelled to find a way to bypass this, while trying to keep possession.
While playing through a press is one option…
…playing over it is another. And with a target man who can hold up the ball by bringing it down
and using their strength to hold players off, or bring others into the attack on the counter,
teams can play long passes from the back with a higher chance of keeping the ball.
Another reason is a change in defenders. With playing out from the back also popular,
especially among stronger teams who want to retain possession, a new kind of defender
is called for. The old attributes of aerial dominance, size, and tight man-marking are,
at least with some teams, less prized than more technical and cerebral attributes.
While some defenders like Virgil van Dijk combine both styles,
there are now plenty of ball-playing centre backs who might be seen as weaker in the air
and less physically robust – in other words, who have flaws that can be physically exploited.
So how do teams get the most from a target man? The first thing to say is that with
increasing athleticism in football, most target men are far from the tall, strong,
but relatively immobile archetype. This means they will not be static,
and look to have balls pumped towards them, but will also be expected to run the channels,
press hard, and get into the box to finish moves, especially if acting as a lone striker.
Passes can come from ball-playing goalkeepers or centre backs driving
angled passes up field - which is why sometimes target men need to peel wide - or from full backs
or centre backs who push up and play deeper crosses from the half spaces,
as well as the more traditional crossing position favoured by wingers.
Different formations will use targetmen in different ways. In a 4-3-3, for instance, a
target man will likely drop off and look to flick the ball on to quick inside forwards to run on to.
In a 4-4-2, or the 4-2-2-2 used by RB Leipzig where Yussuf Poulsen was a kind
of target man alongside Timo Werner last season, the aim is to flick the ball on,
or control it before playing ground-passes to the quicker strike partner.
This sometimes involves playing quite wide and then driving infield as well.
There are other interesting variations. In Werder Bremen’s 3-4-2-1,
where Josh Sargent or Niclas Fullkrug are used as targetmen, the foremost striker has another
forward and a more creative midfielder narrow behind them, with wing backs providing width.
The targetman’s job is to play the ball back to the creative midfielder and then push up,
create space for the second striker, or lay the ball wide to the wing backs and get into the box.
Sometimes, as with Athletic Bilboa’s 4-2-3-1,
the target man is actually the second striker, playing off a quicker forward. This recalls the
use of Marouane Fellaini at Everton and – in urgent situations - Manchester United, too.
Football is about exploiting an opponent’s weakness as much as it is playing to your
own strengths and sometimes, the target man is the best weapon.