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LOGINStrikers' movement
Improving your strikers’ movement off the ball in order to lose their marker will help create goalscoring opportunities. The session is focused on strikers moving along the defensive line constantly to create the necessary space.
What this session is about
- Improving the strikers’ movement.
- Creating space to receive a pass.
- Creating chances to score a goal.
What to think about
Strikers are often “man marked” by the opponent’s central defender.
So a top striker must make the opponent’s job of marking very hard.
The striker can do this by constantly moving and changing his position on the field in relation to the position of the ball.
The opposing defender must not only mark the striker, he must also keep an eye on the ball.
This is something that the striker must use to his advantage and never be in a position where the defender is able to see both the ball and the striker at the same time.
This is called “playing on the blind side of the defender”.
Set-up
| Warm up | Session | Development | Game Situation | Warm Down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 15 minutes | 15 minutes | 15 minutes | 5 minutes |
What you get your players to do
Set up the flags/mannequins to act as defenders, as shown in the top picture.
The first player passes to the wide player, who dribbles forward with the ball. Meanwhile the striker runs along the defensive line of flags/mannequins.
When the timing is right, the striker darts into the space behind the defence to receive a through pass so he can run on to the ball and shoot at goal.
Use offside in this practice to improve the players’ timing of the run and when to pass the ball.
Development
Use an area with a goal at each end, place two defenders and two strikers on the halfway line.
The first player (1) dribbles the ball forward to create a 3v2 situation, as shown in middle picture.
The two strikers need to move to lose the defenders, which will create space for player 1 to make a pass. If the defenders stay with the strikers, the midfielder is free to dribble forward and shoot.
The halfway line is also used as an offside line with the strikers not being allowed into the opponent’s half before a pass is made.
The defenders are not allowed to run back into their own half. However, if the defenders block a through pass or regain possession of the ball, then they can attack against player 1 in a 2v1 situation.
For the next run of the activity, begin with player 2. Swap strikers and defenders regularly.
Related Files
Game situation
Play a five-a-side game, plus goalkeepers, in the same size area.
The game takes place in just one half of the area. One team’s goalkeeper starts with the ball and passes the ball to one of his team mates.
The aim is for this team to slide a pass into the opposite half of the pitch to send a striker through to score a goal.
The halfway line is again used as an offside line.
Once a pass is played into the other team’s half, the game transfers to this half of the field and all the players enter that half to continue the game.
This rule forces both teams to build up from the back and slide the strikers in to score a goal.
Play for seven minutes each way with a minute break. The team with most goals wins.
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