Wish I could remember which ex-player Arsenal it was but he said that the best complement he could give Santi Carzola was that he played in the same team as him for five years and he still couldn’t tell you if he was right or left footed, he was that good with both. That, however, is a rarity. I’m equally sure that there are far more right footers than left, again another reason why it doesn’t matter as much for a CB.
This only relates to last season Premier League LoL, and based on information from transfermarkt.com Following stats shows how many times either a left footed left back or left footed centre back was selected to start a Premier League game last season. A presumption is made that the other centre back is right footed although their may be certain occasions when 2 left footed centre backs have started ( considered unlikely but may also account for why Ipswich, Chelsea and Newcastle show over 38 starts for left footed centre backs). In addition there may be occasions when a left footed left back has started the game at centre half (ie in a 3 man defence or just filling in due to injuries etc) Obviously we cannot state whether the player played in their expected positions, not whether a left footed player registered as a midfielder/winger or attacker filled in at either left back or centre back. In theory the number of games played should be no more than 38, thus any club that has a higher number of that is using the player in a different position, thus a left back may be filling in at centre half, or on the wings etc. If the number of games is highlighted in yellow, then that means that a designated left footed player for that position started over 75% of a clubs Premier League games last season (ie more than 27 starts) Basically 6 out of 20 teams didnt meet the 75% starting criteria for left backs, although Brighton, Southampton and Spurs only just failed to meet that criteria. Forest and Scum managed 20 games between them whilst Brighton in theory didnt start any game with a recognised left footed left back. At centre half, 11 out of 20 clubs failed to start with a left footed centre back in their Premier League games, although Brentford, Scum and Spurs, did all manage to have a left footed Centre back start over 20 games. Leicester, Liverpool, and Southampton, never had a left footed centre back registered in their squads last season and thus obviously never started a game with any . Crystal Palaces 1 left footed centre back, managed to start 1 game in the Premier league. Brentford and Notts Forest started the least number of games with a left footed player designated as either a left back or centre back, with both only registering a total 23 starts for either position
Sure, there are more "right footers" than "left footers" - I think it's about 10% of the population is left "sided". There are also a hell of a lot more good football players than poor ones - that doesn't mean we have to accept a poor player anywhere in the team.
