How to coach forward movement
- Noel Blake
- 04 March 2020
Former FA national coach, Noel Blake, provides a detailed look at how to coach forward movement.
How would you assess the movement of the strikers you work with in the England youth teams?As we often only play with one striker, we often only one see one movement to receive the ball.
In our one of our games against Germany it was interesting to observe the movement of their strikers. It was common to see them making five or six different runs before receiving a pass.
It’s almost a situation where if they’re in space they want to get out, and if they’re marked, they want to get into space. So, they’re constantly interchanging positions but not always with their teammates, but with themselves.
It was different to what we see from our young players, who must understand that you may have to move four, five, six, seven times to receive a pass.
It was as if the German strikers were saying to our defenders ‘I’m going to play a game with you’.
How can coaches encourage players to appreciate and develop off the ball movement?If you look at basketball, and you’re playing as a centre, if you don’t receive a pass from a teammate, you keep adjusting your position until you can receive the ball. You move long to go short, or you move short to go long. You’re continually shifting in order to receive the ball. Players should always be looking to create space, not just for themselves but for their teammates.
We must continually stress the importance of movement to our young players. People ask what is creativity in football? Clever movement is definitely a part.
The implications for us as coaches is to say to the players that one movement isn’t good enough at times.
How important is it that players and coaches understand the difference between cute and clever movement and constantly being on the move?Clever movement doesn’t necessarily mean working hard physically. It does, however, mean working hard psychologically.
When the ball is being recycled by the defenders and the holding midfielder, the centre-forward is continually playing a game with the opposition’s centre-half. It’s a mindset; all the time the striker should be thinking where is the space; how can I create space; how can I move the defender into a position where they’re not comfortable.
If a front player only ever makes one run in order to receive the ball – invariably you become easy to mark. However, if you make multiple movements all the way through the game, sometimes showing to feet and sometimes looking for the ball into space, suddenly the defender has a few things to think about. Strikers must be thinking all the time.
When do you encourage a striker to drop deep and when do you encourage them to run in behind?The best players know their own cues.
If the coach reinforces these principles in training, the movements and thinking will become second nature to the player.
Coaches should continually challenge players to ask and answer the question: where is the space?
In this way they’re constantly thinking and training their own cues.
Players will begin to recognise signals for different movements. If a player has controlled possession and has their head up – they may recognise that they can attempt a run in behind the opposition to receive an incisive pass. If the midfield player has their head down, or is under pressure, the forward player may need to drop-off and provide an option to play to feet.
Strikers have to learn to recognise these signals and as coaches, we have to work hard on the extra detail.
What type of sessions and games can encourage this?Whenever you’re playing a small-sided game there should be a focus and challenge around detail. Each element of a session should have a specific purpose and a specific challenge.
You might challenge the strikers to think about where the spaces are; what runs they need to make to create and exploit space; and if there are times when they need to stand still.
It’s important to sometimes find little pockets of space and stand still. It’s about varying your approach. I sometimes hear people shouting ‘you’re not working hard enough’ at the strikers. But sometimes, as the coach, it’s exactly what I want to see – as long as the player is always thinking. People must understand that during these moments the striker is relaxed and controlled psychologically, waiting to come alive.
Coaches shouldn’t encourage players to be running around 100mph. When they are, it’s unlikely that there’s any sort of thought process occurring.
How important is it for strikers to change the tempo of their play?When a striker is relaxed they’re observing and scanning the scene – waiting and anticipating the moment when they can quickly spring into action and leave the defender waiting.
If you’re always moving quickly it’s often easier for a defender to mark and they often relish the physical challenge.
By varying playing fast and slow – you may lull the defender into a false sense of security, initially relaxing them and then exploiting the space around them with quick and explosive movements.
This has to become the next step for our international strikers.
How important is it that strikers persevere with their movement even when they’re not getting chances?Strikers sometimes have to probe for the whole game to create a goalscoring situation. Strikers must look at how the defenders respond to their movement. You only need them to switch-off once to create a chance.
There has to be a mentality to keep making runs in anticipation of receiving an incisive pass. The best strikers keep making these runs in the hope of just one chance. A defender can concentrate for 80/85 minutes, but a striker is just working to switch the defender off for a minute, to get a chance.
In tight games, which Champions League and international matches invariably are, that’s the difference. The best defenders stay with attackers for 90 minutes, but the best strikers work and work just to switch them off for a second.
It takes inner mental strength. If a striker has made four or five movements, and still hasn’t received a pass, they must still stay in the game. That’s the patience issue.
What types of movement should coaches work on with their strikers?
- Dropping deep before spinning in behind the defender.
- Making movements to go in-behind the defender before dropping short to receive.
- Movements off the defender at different angles according to the position of the ball.
- Movements off the shoulder of the defender to create a passing corridor to receive the ball.
How has the role of the striker changed in the modern game?The modern game demands that we evolve different types of strikers. Danny Welbeck is a good example, he can take the ball into feet, with his head or receive it down both sides. It’s all part of being a multi-purpose striker.
He has great movement. Danny can play as both a number nine or ten, on both flanks or in little pockets of space. These are the skills of the modern striker. They’re no longer just a number nine.
How do we develop players with these skills?Players must be exposed to a variety of scenarios and positions, strikers should be encouraged to play on the flanks too.
The one movement striker no longer exists – and it’s something that must evolve with our young players. If they make the movement and don’t receive it, don’t get frustrated. Because if you’re getting frustrated – think about what you’re doing to the defender. Don’t let the defender win the mental battle – go again and then go again.
Robin van Persie was a great example of it – he demonstrated terrific movement. He sometimes looked like he was standing still – but he was actually walking, ‘crawling’ around and then in an instant he was gone. He had movement which was fast to slow and slow to fast. The best strikers play the game with different rhythm.
This article was first published in The Boot Room magazine in December 2012.
