What Is the Hakimi Role?

Achraf Hakimi plays as an attacking right-back, a position that demands both defensive solidity and offensive output. Unlike a traditional full-back who stays wide and deep, Hakimi is expected to push into the final third, overlap the winger, and create goal-scoring opportunities through crosses and runs in behind the defensive line.

At Paris Saint-Germain, Hakimi operates in a system where the right-back becomes almost a second winger when the team is in possession. He tucks inside to help form a central midfield shape, then bursts into the wide channel when a midfielder switches the ball. His off-the-ball movement is just as important as what he does when he receives the pass.

The attacking full-back role only works consistently when three conditions are met:

• Your central midfielder covers the space you leave behind when you advance into attack
• Your winger or striker can hold up play long enough for you to arrive in support
• You can read the defensive shape and decide within one second whether to overlap or hold position

This guide breaks down the specific physical attributes, technical skills, and positioning habits that make Hakimi one of the best attacking full-backs currently playing, so you can bring those elements into your own game.

Speed and Stamina: Building Hakimi-Level Fitness

Hakimi has been clocked at over 36 km/h (22.4 mph) in Ligue 1 matches, placing him among the fastest players on earth at any position. That pace is not accidental — it comes from systematic sprint training combined with a high aerobic base that allows him to repeat explosive efforts throughout a ninety-minute game without fading.

Sprint Intervals (Tuesday and Friday)

1. Warm up with ten minutes of jogging and dynamic stretching: leg swings, hip circles, and high knees
2. Run 8 repetitions of 30 m sprints at maximum effort, walking back slowly for ninety-second recovery between each
3. Progress to 8 repetitions of 40 m sprints once you can maintain your top-speed form through all eight reps without breaking down at the end
4. Cool down with ten minutes of easy jogging followed by static stretches for hip flexors, hamstrings, and calves

Aerobic Base Work (Wednesday)

1. Run 5 to 8 km continuously at a conversational pace, roughly 65 percent of your maximum heart rate
2. This session develops the cardiovascular capacity to recover between sprints during a match and sustain the 10 to 12 km per game that Hakimi covers

Agility and Change of Direction (Thursday)

1. Set up five cones in a T-shape with five metres between each cone
2. Sprint forward to the center cone, shuffle left to the left cone, shuffle all the way right to the right cone, shuffle back to center, then backpedal to the start
3. Complete six to eight repetitions with sixty-second recovery between each
4. Add a ball on the final two reps: receive a pass at the center cone, dribble five metres wide, and deliver a cross into a target zone

After six weeks of this training structure you should see your 30 m sprint time drop by 0.2 to 0.4 seconds and your ability to sustain high-intensity efforts late in games will improve noticeably.

Mastering the Overlapping Run

The overlap is the defining action of an attacking full-back. When your winger receives the ball, you burst forward on the outside, giving them a simple pass option while dragging a defender away from the center of the pitch. Hakimi executes this in two phases: the decision phase and the execution phase.

Decision Triggers: When to Go

• Go now: the winger has beaten their marker and is being crowded out by a second defender — your run opens an escape route and creates a two-on-one
• Go now: the winger is facing backward under pressure and needs an outlet — call loudly so they know you are available
• Wait: the winger is in a clean one-on-one with open space ahead — stay back to provide cover if they lose possession
• Wait: your central midfielder is already pushing high on your side — two players committed forward on the same flank creates a counter-attack vulnerability

Executing the Run

1. Begin your run when the winger's back is turned toward you — this hides your movement from the opposing full-back and gives you a one-step head start
2. Accelerate hard over the first five metres to create the separation that gets you past the defender's shoulder
3. Call for the ball loudly as you draw level with the winger so they know exactly where you are
4. Receive the pass at pace — slowing down to control gives the recovering defender time to close the angle
5. Take one touch to set up your crossing position and immediately deliver into the box

Practice this drill with a partner: stand ten metres behind a winger cone while your partner stands at the cone. On your signal, they pass wide and you overlap on the outside, receive a return pass, and cross to a target zone. Repeat twelve times on each side every session.

Crossing Technique: Three Options to Master

Hakimi's crosses are effective because he arrives at the byline with three reliable options ready, and defenders cannot tell which he will use until the last moment. The three crosses to master are the near-post driven ball, the cut-back to the penalty spot, and the far-post lofted delivery.

The Near-Post Driven Cross

1. Approach the byline at pace and plant your non-kicking foot thirty centimetres to the side of the ball, pointing at your target
2. Strike the center of the ball with your laces, angling your toe down to keep the ball low and hard
3. Follow through across your body — the cross should travel along the ground at knee height into the six-yard area near post
4. A striker making a near-post run can redirect this cross with minimal contact, making it hard for the goalkeeper to adjust

The Cut-Back

1. Reach the byline and drag the ball back with the sole of your foot, rotating your body toward the penalty spot
2. Pass firmly with the inside of your foot to a midfielder arriving late at the penalty spot
3. This works best when the defensive line has pushed up and across to block the near-post cross, leaving the penalty area unprotected behind them

The Far-Post Lofted Delivery

1. Strike the bottom half of the ball with the inside of your instep — the curved inside of the foot rather than the laces
2. Lean your body back slightly and follow through upward and across, generating natural curl away from the goalkeeper
3. Target far-post head height for a center-forward making a far-post run across the back of the defensive line

Spend twenty minutes of every training session delivering crosses from both the right and left channels, rotating through all three types. Track which target zone you hit and aim for seventy percent accuracy on driven crosses before progressing to the lofted variety.

Defensive Discipline: How Hakimi Gets Back

What separates Hakimi from one-dimensional wide players is his defensive work rate. After every forward run, he recovers his defensive shape within eight to ten seconds. This requires two things: physical conditioning and tactical habits you can build deliberately.

Recovery Rules to Internalize

• The moment your team loses the ball in a forward position, begin sprinting back toward your defensive line immediately — do not linger to watch the play develop
• Recover inside of the ball: sprint toward the center of the pitch first, then shift wide as the opposition play develops — this closes central lanes before wide ones and gives your team better defensive coverage
• Get goalside and ballside of your marker before they receive the ball — arriving beside them prevents the easy layoff that triggers rapid counter-attacks
• Communicate with your center-back every time you are late: they need to shift across and cover your channel while you close the distance

Jockeying Instead of Lunging

Hakimi rarely dives into tackles. He uses jockeying — staying on his feet, retreating at the winger's pace, and channeling them toward the touchline until a center-back arrives or the winger's touch is heavy enough to dispossess safely. Lunging is only worth the risk if you are completely certain you will win the ball, because a missed tackle leaves your center-back exposed on a two-versus-one.

Build defensive recovery habits with this drill: have a partner play a ball over your head while you sprint twenty metres to recover, control the ball, and pass crisply back. Complete ten repetitions. This simulates the recovery sprint Hakimi executes fifteen to twenty times per match in a real game.

Skill Moves for Tight Spaces

When Hakimi receives the ball under pressure — especially when tracked by a winger who has pushed back to defend — he uses a short vocabulary of skill moves to escape quickly rather than dribbling into trouble:

• The stepover: plant one foot outside the ball, swing your leg over it without touching, then accelerate hard in the opposite direction. Most effective at pace when the defender has already committed their weight to one side.
• The body feint: dip your shoulder sharply one way, pause for half a beat as the defender shifts weight, then push the ball in the opposite direction with a single controlled touch. Slower than the stepover but highly effective against tired or reactive defenders who are tracking movement rather than the ball.
• The inside-outside: touch the ball toward the outside with the outside of your foot, wait for the defender to shift weight toward that side, then immediately redirect it back inside with the inside of your other foot and accelerate through the gap created.

Hakimi rarely chains more than two skill moves together. The purpose is to create half a yard of space, not to entertain. Once that small gap exists, play immediately. Practice each skill in isolation against a static cone for ten minutes before adding a live partner, then combine them in 1v1 drills with a defender who starts passive and increases intensity as your timing improves.

Weekly Training Plan to Build the Hakimi Style

Here is a structured seven-day training plan that pulls together every element in this guide. Adjust the distances and volumes to match your current fitness level, adding roughly ten percent per week as your body adapts.

1. Monday — Rest and Mobility: Complete rest or twenty minutes of yoga. Focus on hip flexor stretches, hamstring stretches (two rounds of sixty seconds each), and foam rolling for quads and calves.
2. Tuesday — Sprint Speed and Crossing: Warm up for ten minutes, then complete 8 x 30 m sprint intervals with ninety seconds of walking recovery. Follow with twenty minutes of crossing practice from both channels, cycling through all three crossing types.
3. Wednesday — Aerobic Base: Run 5 to 8 km at a comfortable, conversational pace. While cooling down, spend ten minutes reviewing video of Hakimi's overlapping runs to study his decision timing and body shape on arrival.
4. Thursday — Agility and Defense: Complete 6 to 8 repetitions of the T-cone agility drill. Then practice defensive jockeying with a partner for thirty minutes: defender retreats and channels, attacker tries to get past wide.
5. Friday — Overlap and 1v1 Skills: Complete the overlap passing drill (12 reps each side), then practice skill moves in 1v1 settings for twenty minutes. Finish with ten cut-back passes to a target at the penalty spot.
6. Saturday — Match or Full Training: In the game or training match, give yourself a specific target: execute at least two overlapping runs per half and sprint back to your defensive line every single time, no exceptions.
7. Sunday — Rest: Complete rest. Ice any sore muscles and avoid training to allow fast-twitch sprint fibers to repair fully before Tuesday's speed session.

After six weeks, measure your 30 m sprint time and your crossing accuracy from both channels. Target a 30 m time under 4.5 seconds and a crossing accuracy of 70 percent or higher to reach a competitive attacking full-back standard. Revisit this schedule every six weeks and increase sprint distances or add resistance (such as a resistance band or a weighted vest on aerobic runs) as your baseline fitness rises.