The Coaches' Room
11v11•Adult•In Possession

I'm a striker but some games I barely touch the ball

Asked by OneMoreYard
3145 views 5 replies
If the service is good I'm normally involved, but against better teams I can go long spells without seeing it and start dropping everywhere trying to get a touch. What can a striker do to affect the game when the ball isn't coming into them?

VERIFIED COACH RESPONSE

When the ball is not coming to you, avoid solving the problem by constantly moving towards it. That can take you away from the spaces where a striker can actually hurt the opposition. You can still influence the game through your positioning. Occupy a centre-back, threaten the space behind, make a run that creates room for a teammate, or show short at a moment that helps the team get up the pitch. Sometimes your movement matters even when you do not receive. If the team is struggling to progress, choose your moments to connect rather than living in midfield. Come short with a purpose, set the ball, then get back into a forward position. Also communicate what you are seeing. If the pass into you is never available because of the angle or the defender's position, your teammates may need a different picture rather than simply being told to find the striker more often.

COMMUNITY DISCUSSION

Join the football discussion. 5 replies

G

GreyCloud

Player-Coach

Player-coach here. I usually tell our forwards to have a reason for coming short. If it's to set the ball and spin, great. If it's just because they're bored, we're normally making the pitch smaller for ourselves.
J

JackInKent

Assistant Coach

And sometimes not touching it is still doing a job. If both centre-backs stay five yards deeper because they're worried about the run, somebody else has gained space even if the striker hasn't had a pass.
B

BootBagLeft

Player

Striker life 😄. If you're not getting service, the worst thing is dropping so deep that when the team finally gets out you've got nobody occupying the centre-backs.
G

GrassrootsGaz7

Parent

This is really noticeable. You can see a frustrated striker slowly working their way back towards midfield until they're basically asking the centre-mid for the ball off his toes.
M

MarcoJ

Player

At 35 I touch the ball less than I used to and it bothered me for a while. Some of my best games now include long spells where I'm just pinning a centre-back or making him run somewhere he doesn't want to go.

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