Sweeper (football)

The sweeper is a defensive position in football, so called because their job is to 'sweep up' any attacking moves which pass other defenders. It was most commonly used by football teams in Europe until the 1990s. While the position usually has solely defensive duties, Franz Beckenbauer, one of the most famous sweepers, became famous for adding an offensive component of the ball playing defender. Other notable sweepers include Ivano Blason, Gaetano Scirea, Bobby Moore, Franco Baresi, and Elias Figueroa. It is generally considered a highly specialized position. The sweeper is usually placed between the goalkeeper and the defensive line.

The sweeper is sometimes also called the 'libero', from the Italian name "battitore libero" meaning "free hitter", or the Italian expression "libero da marcatura", which means that the player is free from having to mark a particular opponent, and is also at liberty to play or advance with the ball out of the defence, or to make clearances instead of dribbling or playing the ball.

The sweeper (or libero) is a more versatile type of centre-back who "sweeps up" the ball if an opponent manages to breach the defensive line. The position is rather more fluid than other defenders who man-mark their designated opponents. Though the sweeper may be expected to build counter-attacking moves, and as such requires better ball control and passing ability than a typical centre-back, his or her talents are often confined to the defensive realm. For example, the catenaccio system of play, used in Italian football in the 1950s and 1960s, employed a purely defensive sweeper, who was free from having to mark an opposing playerm and primarily "roamed" around the back line as a last man looking to sweep up loose balls; Armando Picchi who was a leading exponent of the more traditional variant of this role in Helenio Herrera's Grande Inter side. The more modern libero possesses the defensive qualities of the typical libero whilst being able to expose the opposition during counterattacks. Whilst rarely seen in professional football the position has been extensively used in lower leagues. Modern libero sits behind centre backs as a sweeper before charging through the team to join in the attack.

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