In this Masterclass filmed exclusively for the Coaches’ Voice, current Birmingham City head coach Aitor Karanka revisits his playing days as a centre-back for both Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid.

Karanka broke into the Athletic first team under the stewardship of Jupp Heynckes, whose preferred 4-4-2 diamond formation he introduces with specific focus on the in-possession roles of the full-backs and number 10 Julen Guerrero. He goes on to discuss his own responsibilities as a centre-back in this formation, both with and without the ball.

In the second part of the Masterclass, Karanka covers his time at Real Madrid – at first under Heynckes, who brought him to the Bernabeu to fit into a similar but more offensively minded shape, and later under Vicente Del Bosque, who changed the team’s formation to use increasingly attacking full-backs Roberto Carlos and Míchel Salgado as wing-backs and offer more protection in central defence.