Luis Enrique surprised everyone with a series of tactical tweaks in Paris Saint-Germain's recent clash against Nice. He pushed left‑back Nuno Mendes up to the left wing, slipped centre‑back Lucas Beraldo into midfield, and placed left winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as a striker.
Those adjustments helped PSG secure a convincing 4‑0 victory, with Mendes delivering a standout performance in his new role while Nice struggled to cope with the fluidity of their opponent's ever‑shifting shape. "We let them play too freely," admitted Nice boss Claude Puel. When asked whether he would continue to employ such "unexpected solutions" in the upcoming fixture against Toulouse, Enrique gave a clear picture of his philosophy and hinted at a broader tactical evolution in top‑level football.
"Absolutely," he replied. "It's my dream to have a squad of twenty players who can fill any position.
Nuno Mendes as a full‑back, as a winger, as a No 9, even as a midfielder. Everyone except the goalkeeper, that would be my ideal. Imagine the opposition manager looking at the line‑up and thinking, 'He plays everywhere…!' It's a dream, I know it will be difficult, but I will try." In the Champions League quarter‑finals, when PSG returned to a more traditional formation with Mendes and Kvaratskhelia back in their natural positions, the team still displayed the same level of positional interchange.
Defenders dropped into midfield, midfielders swapped flanks, and the front three rotated constantly. Ousmane Dembélé, nominally the No 9 in the second leg, appeared all over the pitch, creating space for himself and dragging Liverpool defenders out of position, which allowed teammates to exploit the gaps.
The graphics for that match showed Kvaratskhelia on one side and Desire Doué on the other, yet all three attackers were capable of operating across the entire front line. Their touch‑map data for the season underlines the unpredictability that makes PSG such a difficult side to contain. A similar degree of flexibility is evident in the side they now face in the semi‑finals: Bayern Munich under Vincent Kompany. Like Enrique's side, Bayern borrow heavily from the principles of Total Football, encouraging players to rotate rather than stick to rigid roles.
The first leg was a showcase of that philosophy and the second leg promises more of the same. As Bayern's sporting director Max Eberl explained in February, "Harry Kane doesn't just sit in the box and wait. Michael Olise and Luis Díaz don't merely hug the wing in a one‑on‑one duel. Joshua Kimmich flips between right‑back and defensive midfield." Eberl continued, "Today's game is about creativity: how do I want to play?
What do I need to react to? How is the opponent set up? Where are the spaces I must exploit? The classic, static 4‑2‑3‑1 or 4‑4‑2 is disappearing.
When you see the formation on TV at kickoff, it can be completely different a few minutes later because the defensive midfielder drifts wide, the centre‑backs make runs into the centre, and full‑backs surge forward. True specialists who can only perform one function will become rarer as the sport becomes more dynamic and variable." Bayern's most illustrative example of this versatility is Konrad Laimer. Signed from RB Leipzig as a midfielder, Laimer has since excelled at both right‑back and left‑back. His ability to shift positions within a single match has made him indispensable.
Eberl praised him, saying, "Konny started as a No 10 at Red Bull Salzburg, became a No 8 at Leipzig, and now plays as a full‑back in the way Vinny envisions a full‑back." Laimer may not command the headlines, but his importance mirrors a growing trend across Europe: clubs value players who can cover multiple roles. At Liverpool, Dominik Szoboszlai can function as a central midfielder, right‑back, or even part of the attacking line. Manchester City, after the departure of Bernardo Silva, have added Nico O'Reilly, a midfielder who can also slot in at full‑back. Arsenal boast Declan Rice, comfortable as a defensive midfielder, a box‑to‑box midfielder, and even a centre‑back in emergencies, while his teammate Kai Havertz has been deployed as a left‑back by Germany's Julian Nagelsmann.
Real Madrid's Federico Valverde epitomises this modern archetype. He can occupy any midfield slot or patrol the right flank, adapting seamlessly to the tactical demands of each match. His teammate Trent Alexander‑Arnold hailed him as "the most underrated player on the planet" after Valverde's hat‑trick against Manchester City. Manager Álvaro Arbeloa summed it up: "There is no flaw in him.
It doesn't matter where you put him." Enrique himself is a perfect champion of versatility. As a player, he featured in every outfield position except centre‑back during spells with Sporting Gijón, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and the Spanish national team. Javier Zanetti provides another iconic example.
The Inter and Argentina legend primarily played as a right‑back but also covered left‑back, holding midfield, and central defence, completing all four roles in Inter's 2009/10 Champions League triumph under José Mourinho. Zanetti, now Inter's vice‑president, told Sky Sports, "Being able to play wherever the team needs you is vital. It earns the trust of teammates and the manager, showing they believe you can cover those positions.
Players today should aim for that versatility." The push for multi‑positional ability is driven by both stylistic and practical considerations. As the football calendar becomes more congested and injuries more common, having adaptable players offers a tactical edge and financial savings. Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez noted in 2024, "If you have one player who can cover three positions, you don't need to sign three specialists. Those players save you money." Adapting to new roles is easier for some than others, but Zanetti insists versatility is not purely innate.
"I worked hard," he explained. "Whenever I was asked to play a different position, I focused, absorbed the coach's instructions, and applied myself. Tactical intelligence is crucial, but I built it over my career.
My attributes allowed managers to trust me in varied roles." Not everyone agrees that the fluidity seen at PSG and Bayern signals the future of football. Some critics argue that a resurgence of direct play and set‑piece reliance indicates a regression rather than progress.
Nonetheless, many clubs are investing in developing home‑grown talent capable of performing in multiple positions. Dan Micciche, a youth development specialist who has worked with Everton, Arsenal, Tottenham and England and now oversees the academy at Al‑Ahli in Saudi Arabia, explained his approach: "Exposing players to different positions is about the outcomes they gain.
It ties into individual development plans. For instance, at Spurs we once played a midfielder as a centre‑back against tall strikers to improve his aerial ability because we knew the opponent would be direct." Micciche believes versatility can be taught through carefully designed training sessions that force players into varied roles, adopting a Total‑Football‑inspired style where a team occupies a shape rather than fixed positions. He likens it to a volleyball approach, where players constantly rotate and adapt, especially during substitutions. The benefits are substantial for both athletes and clubs, though the method demands a long‑term perspective.
"Most coaches shy away because it can affect immediate results, and they want to win now," Micciche admits. Yet the payoff includes greater career longevity.
Harry Kane, for example, has increasingly dropped into midfield to create chances before arriving late in the box, while Cristiano Ronaldo, now 41, reinvented himself from a winger to a pure striker, extending his goal‑scoring prowess. Zanetti offers another testament: as his pace waned in the twilight of his three‑decade career, he transitioned to a deeper midfield role at Inter, allowing him to continue playing at the highest level until age 41. "That was crucial," he said.
"Staying fit and adapting helped me prolong my career." Enrique's ambition to assemble a squad of twenty players who can operate everywhere reflects a broader shift. Whether or not every club fully embraces this model, the success of PSG and Bayern demonstrates that positional fluidity can be a decisive factor in elite competition.
As the sport continues to evolve, the ability to adapt, to play multiple roles, and to think creatively on the pitch may well become the defining hallmark of the modern footballer.