It's not a co-incidence that Harry likes athletic, pacey fullbacks - they force your opposition onto the back foot.
Put simply, if you have a fullback with pace, you're going to be able to push the opposition's FB back. Why? Simple: he's got to constantly bear in mind and defend against the threat of an overlapping run from your pacey fullback. That pushes his defensive line further and further back, as they have to hold it for offside purposes. A defensive line dropping deep, as you know - or maybe some don't - invites pressure onto it and you concede territory. We have enough ball players who Harry would then expect to ping the ball around at high tempo and thread the balls through for openings.
Likewise, having pace on your flanks and thus forcing your opposition to concede territory means that, when they come forward, they are denied width - as you can play a higher line, sure in the fact that your pacey fullbacks are quick enough to recover position if needs be. It forces the opposition to either play tight through the middle, or over the top - both of what are containing tactics; you can pack your midfield to nullify the threat - as we often do with Parker/Sandro, and you can risk that any ball over the top would have to be pin-point accurate.
It's a judgement call at the end of the day. Just look at how our rhythm changed when Lennon was injured; many said we 'lost balance' - we did, because we suddenly allowed the opposition to press forward down their left flank and, essentially, double-up on Kyle Walker. That pushes us back, as we've gotta shift men across to cope with the weakness in our shape. That disrupts rhythm too, as you're mindful of that weakness - you don't play as freely as you once did, and you're having to work harder as you don't have that territorial advantage any more.
Give ma pacey fullbacks any day of the week.
