INDIVIDUAL STRIKER MOVEMENTS

 
    1.    The movement of the striker, the three ideas, working opposites on the first two.
    2.    A) Short to go long, (opposite run)
B) Long to come short, opposite run)
C) off the shoulder of the defender. A diagonal run away to invite a ball “off / over the shoulder” of the marking defender.
    3.    On A) the striker takes the defender towards the ball to create space behind, either for themselves or a teammate.
On B) the striker takes the defender away to create space in front and short to check back into for themselves or a team mate.
C) Here the striker runs away and invites a ball off or over the shoulder of the defender, in this situation the striker is off the right shoulder of the defender. The ball may be delivered off (outside) the right shoulder of the defender so it goes wider, or (inside) the left shoulder of the defender so the striker cuts inside the defender either in front or behind them or moves towards the ball and receives to feet.
 
INDIVIDUAL STRIKER MOVEMENTS
“OFF THE SHOULDER” HAS THREE FURTHER MOVEMENTS TO CONSIDER
 

 
    1.    Carrying this idea on the striker in this position has three ideas for moves,            
A) away then back across the defender either in front of them or behind them for the delivery inside the defender,                                                                            
B) staying off the shoulder for the delivery outside the defender to attack,                          
C) going short to the ball to receive the delivery to feet.
    1.    The defender starts in the same position as the striker though it isn’t shown here.
    2.    The three areas the delivery is aiming for are shown by the circles.
    3.    I believe this is a good way of simplifying movements by the striker in this position and giving them a framework to play from, they may develop their own variations of these three moves but it is a good planning tool to use in training so the players making the delivery at least have an idea what the striker may attempt in terms of his or her movement based on the position of the defender.
 
        INDIVIDUAL STRIKER MOVEMENT OFF THE SHOULDER

 
This is the usual position of the strikers, they stand alongside the defender and do not open the angle up to help them receive a pass, and these are the disadvantages to this:  
A) Striker has their back to the defender. Defender has control.                                                                
B) Striker‘s body position is square on to the ball, defender and the goal, facing back.                                      
C) Striker can’t see the defender clearly nor see the goal directly.                                          
D) If the ball is played in behind the defender, the striker has to first turn, then run forward and probably be second best to the ball against the defender who has a yard or two start and is probably side on already so only needing to do half a turn.                
E) It is easy for the defender to mark the striker as he or she can see the ball and the striker at the same time and be in control of the situation.
INDIVIDUAL STRIKER MOVEMENT OFF THE SHOULDER
 
    1.    The ball is played straight and behind the defender (A) and that player is likely to be first to the ball as the striker (10) has to turn and run after the ball in behind the defender.
    2.    The ball is played wide into the corner, same idea the defender (B) should be first to it based on the Starting Position of the striker (9), which is back to goal, back to the direction of the ball and where it is traveling to, having to turn and chase it losing vital seconds.
    3.    It is all about the Starting Position of the striker and his or her body stance in terms of open or closed, open being half or fully turned in the direction the ball is going or closed as in their back to where the ball is going. Too often they start from a closed body stance.
 
INDIVIDUAL STRIKER MOVEMENT OFF THE SHOULDER

 
    1.    Striker moves “OFF THE SHOULDER” of the defender. Only a matter of a few yards can open up wonderful space and attacking opportunities.
    2.    In this case moving off the shoulder of the defender means there is a space in behind the defender that the player on the ball can deliver to (that was previously difficult to see and / or deliver into). If the defender does not adjust their position then this is a great chance to receive and attack the goal. Striker is now:                                                                                                        
A) Facing forward, and off at an angle, not having to turn and run forward (saves time and puts the defender at a disadvantage)
B) Can see the ball, the goal and the defender at the same time.
C) Striker can even take their position off the sweeper (in terms of being offside) if the opposition employ one, so they are almost in advance but also wide of the marking defender. This position (off the shoulder) is very difficult to defend against.
D) If not facing forward at least in a side – on position so they can see forward and not have their back to the defender.
 
 
INDIVIDUAL STRIKER MOVEMENT OFF THE SHOULDER

 
    1.    Striker moves “OFF THE SHOULDER” of the defender.
    2.    The defender comes with the striker and closes them down. Now the timing of the pass and timing of the run come into play. Striker then checks back inside into the space the defender has vacated and attacks inside and across in front of them. Striker (9) can run off the other center back (B) to create the space inside also. The player in the ball plays it inside the center back.
    1.    Also try to time it where as the defender in this case, plants their right foot down (and be flat footed even) so are leaning forward and towards the striker, that is the time to check back inside and across them. The defender is likely to be most off balance at this time, and that is the time to take advantage as they have to spring back on themselves and adjust their feet. It may give a valuable yard or two to the striker which can be the difference between a goal or not a goal.
 
 
INDIVIDUAL STRIKER MOVEMENT OFF THE SHOULDER

 
    1.    Striker moves “OFF THE SHOULDER” of the defender.
    2.    Same as the previous diagram where the defender closes the striker down but this time the striker makes a run outside and behind the defender rather than inside and across them. Timing of this is important for being on side.
    3.    Timing the movement also as previously, when the defender is in an off balanced stance making it more difficult to check back in one movement and cover the strikers run.
 
WORKING OPPOSITES WITH MOVEMENT OF STRIKERS

 
    1.    Strikers must recognize when the man on the ball has TIME to play the ball forward. Strikers move towards the ball dragging the man marking defenders close to them.
    2.    As the player checks toward the passer as if to receive a pass and is marked tightly by the defender, a sharp spin is made to receive a long pass behind (into the space created by coming short) rather than the short one the striker seemed to be asking for. A Sharp turn / spin into the defender and across the shoulder is the best move rather than the old arc run into space. With the old arc run this is easily tracked by the defender as there is time to see the ball and the player.
    3.    When the player has time on the ball to pass expect lots of movement at pace eg short to go long. Midfield player can pass down the side of the striker. When there’s no time on the ball ie they must pass quickly, expect players to stay in their positions to provide options. This means if they go short to receive they get the ball to feet from the first run because there is no time to make the second run as the player on the ball has to release it quickly.
 
 
WORKING OPPOSITES CHECKING BACK TO RECEIVE

 
    1.    The midfield players need to know the strikers are playing opposites. This time the strikers are moving away to come back. Again there is time on the ball for the midfield player and the opposite movement comes into effect (both working off the second run), but if no time the striker knows it will be played first time into the first run.
    2.    The opposite movement is if the striker shows to receive to feet, he / she is going to spin away and receive in space in front of them in the form of a through ball, if he / she runs away, then expect a check back to feet.
    3.    This is especially effective when the strikers are not too close together so there’s lots of space to work in. To make the movement clearer the strikers can have a code word to call as a signal so the player on the ball knows what is happening. They call it as early as possible.
 
NO TIME ON THE BALL TO WAIT FOR THE SECOND RUN

 
    1.    There is no time on the ball and the passer has to release the ball quickly due to quick pressure on the ball from (C).
    2.    In this case the striker must recognize this and act accordingly and expect a pass from their first run, in this case with (10) it can be a run inviting a ball to be played down the side into the channel for the striker to run on to. In the case of (9) it is a pass to feet coming short to receive. The pass can be made from wide areas too with the same conditions passing off the first run or passing off the second run depending on the time on the ball of the passer or if the striker has given the code word signal.
    3.    In a game the team could be prepared to play on the basis that they always make the pass off the first run unless they get a call from the striker using the code word to implement the opposite movement. It isn’t always possible in split second situations to recognize how much time a player has on the ball so it may be best just to work the movement off a call.