how to play as second striker?

[dethfire]

a mens team I'm on wants to start me up top in a 4-4-2

what am I to do in this formation. how to I work with the other forward. when he has the ball what do I do?

[snolly g]

a mens team I'm on wants to start me up top in a 4-4-2

what am I to do in this formation. how to I work with the other forward. when he has the ball what do I do?

your jobs as forwards are to break down the defense, and the best way to do this is with short, crisp, accurate passes, because you're usually going to lose the ball if you try to beat the defense on your own. you both need to understand this. (if you try to dribble past the defense, you're going to find yourself 1v2 or 1v3. but if you two are passing to each other, it usually becomes 2v3 or 2v4, which is tons easier on you.)

so... you should stay relatively close to each other all the time (not more than 10-20 yds apart). it's important to have a solid first touch/trap. precise 1-2 passes, 1-touch and 2-touch passes will also be important. definitely work on those passes and playing to feet.

you two will also need to communicate with each other. if he's got the ball, you need to see his passing lanes and make runs into space. which means you'll need to communicate where you want him to put the ball--flick, square, through, takeover, etc. (a lot of times, you'll see pros pointing to the space where they want the ball passed.) (this needs to go the other way too. when you've got the ball, he needs to be making runs and telling you where he wants the ball.)

BUT, you should avoid running wide or running to the corners. this is space that really belongs to the wingers/outside mids. (when you run to the outside, you're removing yourself as a target for crosses. and this can disadvantage your team. if you can picture what the field will look like, you will be heading to the corner, the outside mid will be running up onto you, the center mids will be running towards the top of the box, your strike partner will be alone and surrounded by 3 or more defenders. unless you can put in a perfectly accurate cross, the ball will be cleared away by the defense.)

on break-aways, you should be trying to draw defenders away. depending on the circumstances, this may mean dropping back a little bit or stopping to freeze one of the central defenders--this creates a 1v1 situation for your strike partner. it may also be one of the rare situations where you will make a run to the corner, in hopes of drawing a central defender out of position--again, to create a 1v1 situation. if the defense is disciplined enough not to get drawn away, you may try to draw them to your teammate with an overlapping run, which frees you up to receive a pass.

if the defense is really good, then breaking down the defense may simply mean holding and keeping possession until your midfielders can provide support. the defense should be setting up at the 18, so you should be holding about 10-15 yards in front of the 18.

[rca2]

a mens team I'm on wants to start me up top in a 4-4-2

what am I to do in this formation. how to I work with the other forward. when he has the ball what do I do?

You support him. How depends on the circumstances. You do need to be close enough to him for him to effectively pass to you. (In other words within supporting distance.) If he can pass accurately 40 yards and has the vision to do so, then you can be up to 40 yards away. Few good adult players have that much ability under heavy pressure but I would expect most could manage 30 yards. (And a forward with the ball should always be under heavy pressure.) Hopefully as time goes by you will develop a partnership with the other striker where you know what to expect.

You should remember that most scoring plays involve three (or more) attackers not one or two. I think its because it takes at least three attackers to have effective width and depth in the attack. Its that third attacker exploiting space that often scores the goals.

PS: I do have one specific suggestion. When checking back to show for a pass, do not move straight back so that your back is to the goal. For at least the end of your movement slant to one side or the other so that your back is only partially to the goal. This improves your field of vision and makes it easier to turn to the goal if you receive a pass.

[Seven30witwork]

well, the first thing you want to do is play to your strengths and try to minimize playing to your weaknesses...... its a little tough to give u some solid input without knowing this background info... but that should be what u concentrate on first.... some basic questions to ask yourself: do you have good control? good pace? nice shot? physical presence? how well do you operate with your back to goal? how well do you read the game? etc....

also another thing to take into consideration is, what type of style does the other primary forward usually play? Because its good to be able to play off them and have an understanding of what type of things each of you can concentrate on during the match, so you all can both compliment one another... some things you want to think about when playing with another striker... Is he a withdrawn/deep attacking type? or a target-man type? likes to take defenders on? has speed? only operates within the 18? does it all? etc...

so the easiest and simplest steps i.m.o. to follow are: play to your strengths and compliment the style of play of the other striker... and remember the ball always travels faster than the player so dont be afraid to know when to pass as well as shoot...

[nymetrobulls]

You guys have to stay close together. If he checks in, you overlap and vice versa.

[Natsoccer]

Simple, Short Version: Move the ball quickly, and Move off the ball. You have to make good runs for eachother and know eachother well enough to know where to put the ball for them. Work up a good relationship.

[dethfire]

:(So played my first game today. I had three clear breakaways and flubbed them all! I was sooo embarrassed. Seriously 3 wide open breakaways. One shot at far post saved by keep, one went wide and the other hit at the keeper :(

[rca2]

On the average there are ten shots for every goal. Don't feel bad. If you could put it in the net everytime, you would be playing professionally.

[snolly g]

:(So played my first game today. I had three clear breakaways and flubbed them all! I was sooo embarrassed. Seriously 3 wide open breakaways. One shot at far post saved by keep, one went wide and the other hit at the keeper :(

lesson 1: being a forward

high risk = high reward. you won't always succeed, but you must take chances. if you don't take any chances, you'll never score. it's ok to miss. if you miss, just brush it off and try again. whatever you do, don't give up.

[MarkyMark]

I found it really helpful especially against weaker defenders to pay a lot of attention to what they do with the ball. It can be easy to pick the ball off from a weak defense. Do they stare at the teammate they are going to pass to or even make hand movements to him? Do they like to pass back to the GK? Do they turn to the sideline or corner under pressure to protect the ball instead of clearing it?

This might not be the "correct" answer but it has worked for me.

[schafer]

:(So played my first game today. I had three clear breakaways and flubbed them all! I was sooo embarrassed. Seriously 3 wide open breakaways. One shot at far post saved by keep, one went wide and the other hit at the keeper :(

It's a bit of a cliche, but it's better that you're getting chances and missing them rather than not getting any chances at all.

[lilterwill99]

You guys have to stay close together. If he checks in, you overlap and vice versa.

very true, you should work off your other forward, looking for the through ball passed the defenders for a 1 on 1 with the keeper.

[sturmgraz32]

another thing to add is that when pressuring the ball much of the time the odds will be stacked against you with 4 defenders to the two attackers, so you are mostly hoping to capitalize on mistakes. being in the right position to do that is essential. when the defence is moving the ball around at the back i make sure that i'm close enough that i could burst in and steal a bad back pass. it's mostly something that you can do if you're fast.

[mikey-wolves]

it depends what type of player you are, if your a second striker which has pace, you need to be running the channels as in, making runs down the right and left wing and get behind the full backs this causes lots of problems,

if your main atribute is strength, then you need to be the more lazy striker, sit on the last man and ask for the ball to be played into your feet and then play the intelligent pass back to the mnidfield and make a run into space or play the pass into the wingers then fill the box in and get your head on it!

Hope this helps, and if you miss a chance, dont let it bother you! shit happens end of the day!

[dethfire]

it's official I suck as finishing. I've had open goal and breakaways each of the past three games and I scuff them all. I am fast and skilled, but that last task I seem to choke

[snolly g]

it's official I suck as finishing. I've had open goal and breakaways each of the past three games and I scuff them all. I am fast and skilled, but that last task I seem to choke

don't let that get you down. i've had a similar season thus far. i opened my account with a goal in the first game, but it's been a drought ever since.

just be patient, practice and relax. trust in yourself.

[Bartio88]

a mens team I'm on wants to start me up top in a 4-4-2

what am I to do in this formation. how to I work with the other forward. when he has the ball what do I do?

LOL you can't read it online and get natural talent. ÝoU are shit. Get over it. Americans suck at the game and your girls cant suck dick properly too.

[snolly g]

LOL you can't read it online and get natural talent. ÝoU are shit. Get over it. Americans suck at the game and your girls cant suck dick properly too.

it's not easy to find good soccer in the u.s., so the internet isn't a bad place to start. he's got to start somewhere.

[BigGuy]

LOL you can't read it online and get natural talent. ÝoU are shit. Get over it. Americans suck at the game and your girls cant suck dick properly too.

I agree your right your mother and your sisters are far better at sucking dick. I heard your pretty good at it yourself and you swallow good for you.

[markluvceltic]

With two strikers its important to have some idea of what the other one's going to do with the ball at all times. if you can read what hes going to do you can react accordingly. when you have the ball near the center of the park, most times you should try to advance it up the field as quickly as possible, if you have space in front of you, then dribble. but if there are defenders around you, pass it to the other striker, but remember that you need to keep up with him so he has someone to pass to when he runs into a defender. also, always be looking to make runs towards goal. as a frontman most balls to you will be either over the top of the defense or split through two men. which means your first touch is very important, speed dosnt hurt either. and finally, a good striker will put himself in positions where he can simply slot the ball home past the keeper, which mean finishing is vital to a striker's success.