...Because Blazing Speed is Not Enough

Good strikers are of course very rare.  But even those we consider the strongest often show a lack of creativity and awareness of team-play.  At times, they seem to play on their own, unaware of how to create opportunities working with other players. We need to teach our strikers at 12, 13 and 14 years of age, how to play the position and most importantly, how twin-strikers should work with each other.

Most strikers are assigned to that position because of their speed. Coaches put the fast kids up front where they score a pile of goals simply by running down balls played in behind defenders. But sitting back and admiring these speedy goal-scorers does not help their progress.  Although they might show impressive scoring statistics, raw talent and raw speed will only take them so far. Speedy strikers, who don't learn how to play the position, eventually flame out at a higher level, when they are faced with defenders who can match their speed, stride for stride. We look at these strikers at 16 or 17 and ask: "What happened to them?" 

Teaching Strikers the Basics of the Position

In most cases, "what happened" was that they never learned how to play the position. An important requirement of a skilled striker is the ability to work with other players, particularly with a twin-striker (striker partner). Good twin-strikers work together to create goal-scoring chances by exploiting the channels in the opposition's back-line, the spaces between defenders.

When defenders are well-positioned, the channels are small, leaving little room available to run or pass through. A key responsibility for strikers therefore is to work with each other to increase the size of the channels and then to exploit that extra space. Strikers create space by causing confusion amongst the defenders so that, even if just for a few seconds, a channel becomes wider. A situation where wider spaces occur naturally is when the opposing team shifts from a defending to an attacking phase - that transition point when defenders adjust from a stretched shape (attacking) to a compressed shape (defending). Strikers need to react quickly on the transition to take advantage of the wider channels, before the other team closes them down.

The basic principle of twin-striker collaboration is a pairing of runs. The first run (let's call it the Proactive Run) is when one of the two strikers executes a deliberate run intended to create space. The second run (the Reactive Run) is a run by the other striker to take advantage of the space created by the first run.

It's really very simple. The diagrams below illustrate the basics - five Proactive runs with matching Reactive runs. Strikers who understand these runs, practice them, and instinctively apply them in matches, are likely to have success at higher levels of play.

Run Combination 1: Check Back

Striker 1 (Proactive):  Checks back toward the ball (e.g. midfielder)

Striker 2 (Reactive):  Curved run into the space vacated by Striker 1

Run Combination 2:  Check Away

Striker 1 (Proactive):  Pulls away into a space at an angle, hopefully pulling out the central defender

Striker 2 (Reactive):  Moves to a good supporting position where he/she can send Striker 1 in at goal with quick combination play.

Run Combination 3:  Angle Run

Striker 1 (Proactive):  Angle run through a channel.  Runs across the face of the defender to hopefully draw the defender out of position.

Striker 2 (Reactive):  Moves quickly into the channel created by Striker 1's run

Run Combination 4:  Crisscross

Striker 1 (Proactive):  Curved run toward Striker 2

Striker 2 (Reactive):  Curved run into the channel vacated by Striker 1

Run Combination 5:  Post-Up

Striker 1 (Proactive):  Posts up against the last defender with back to goal. (Okay, so technically this isn't a run, but it's a position to where Striker 1 deliberately moves.)

Striker 2 (Reactive):   Curved run in behind to retrieve a flick-on from Striker 1. Run starts laterally to avoid going offside. (The next nearest player should move to a support position behind the posting striker, positioned to receive a layback pass.)

With all striker runs, emphasize these two fundamental characteristics:

• Timing is essential. Runs should begin with visual communication between the strikers, and between the strikers and the player with the ball. Eye contact serves as an unspoken starter's pistol.
• Runs should be curved for two reasons: 1. So that it's just a little more difficult for the defender to track the run, and 2. to keep from going off-side when running through the channel.

Strikers that run aimlessly and rely completely on their speed will usually be less effectual when they are older. However, strikers who know how to combine with a twin-striker to create and exploit the channels are much more dangerous and, as a result, are better able to take advantage of their speed.  These strikers are far more valuable to their teams than those who rely on speed alone.

by Stephen Spence Copy Right 2008