 So let's first talk about just showing for the ball, okay? Because as the center forward, your job is to hold up the plate, okay? So a lot of times the ball might get played out of the back. You need to be able to bring that ball down, keep it glued to your body, and have the strength to hold off defenders, and then the ability to play a pass to someone joining in on the attack or playing the ball all the way, okay? But if every time the ball comes to you and you have someone on your back and you panic and you take a bad touch or you just have a bad touch and you lose control, okay? What happens is everyone's trying to advance up the field and you lose the ball, okay? And they're going the other way. Everyone's coming this way, their team starts going that way, boom, counter attack, we're gonna get hurt, okay? So it's very important that you have the ability and confidence to bring down every pass that's whipped into you, okay? Shield that ball, use your body, use your strength, get your button from, use your big legs to shield the player off, have the quality of touch to keep it glued to your body, take that touch away from the defender, shield it with your arms with your body, like I said, and then you need to play that ball into someone joining, okay? So what we call that is hold up play. When that ball gets played into you from a defender, from a center midfielder, okay? You have to have the ability to hold that ball off, okay? Because a lot of times you get that ball and this defender's gonna be right here, okay? You need to be strong enough, so get lower to the ground, use your body, have a good touch out of your feet, and then play the ball into space, and then spin, get joined in the attack, okay? But that point there is your hold up play. If you are getting pushed off the ball or you're getting beat to the ball, okay, these are big problems or you're having a bad touch, these are big problems as a center forward. So you need to work on that, you need to work on your strength, you need to work on knowing where the defender is, so looking over your shoulder, and then protecting that ball. I want you to watch real strikers, real center forwards when they play it. Okay, when that ball is played into them, how do they shield it? How do they protect that ball? Because a lot of times it's glued to their foot, and they may not be the biggest player, but they make sure that this guy doesn't get the ball unless he fouls them, okay? So you got to work on those things. Now, next thing before I move on is playing the way you face, okay? So there will be times when the ball gets played into you here, and you may know that he's coming in hard, so the best thing to do is to roll him, is to spin him and turn, okay? You're gonna have to find out when. But a lot of times the best thing to do is play the way you face, so if that ball is played into me here, okay? It's trouble to turn like this. The best thing for you to do might be to play the way you face, so I'm facing my own goal. So I'm just gonna play a pass. Hopefully someone's making a run, play into here, and then turn. So if I receive the ball here, and I'm facing the goal, play the way you face, then yes, it's totally fine for me to go and attack, and actually you must, if you don't, then there's something wrong with you as a striker. Anytime you get a chance to go up a goal and get a shot as a striker, I want you to take it. I want you to want to take it. Don't be afraid to take it. Okay, but playing the way you face, think about that. So if I receive the ball and I know guys are on me, just make it simple, and a lot of times a simple pass is the best pass. Okay, and then you spin, and then he's gonna get close. He might play this ball back to you or play that ball out there into space. Okay, but play the way you face. Simplify it. Now saying that, I still want you to have the ability, and sometimes turning is the best thing. It will make life so easy for you. If you know he's coming in really hard, and you know there's space behind, then yes, you want to try to turn the defender and make him dive in, and then you get a great opportunity to score. Okay, but if you know that there's trouble this way, a lot of strikers, they get the ball and they're always trying to turn. They're always trying to turn into trouble, and that's a big problem. So have your head over your shoulder, realize where their space is. If there's no space, you're getting close down, then I'm just gonna simplify. I'm just gonna play the way I face. Okay, play it. I'm facing backwards. I'm just gonna play it backwards, or I'm just gonna play it to someone moving into space, but I'm gonna play it the way I face. Okay, think about that. So we talked about spinning and combining. Okay, so when you play that way you face, it's very important. You don't stay here because everyone's gonna come and close down. Okay, and if you stay there, you're making it harder for your teammate. So as you play that pass, both got played into you. You're playing the way that you face. Okay, now you have to move off the ball movement. So either spin out here to get it to feet, or even better, you're gonna spin, sorry, so the ball gets played into here, defender tries to win it, you're just gonna play here, spin into space. You might clip one over the top or play a through ball into space here for you to run onto. Okay, but after you play that pass, move, spin, find new space, try to make a forward run, be unpredictable, always on the move. So let's talk about off the ball movement a bit because it's very important as a striker and you want to think about channel runs. So you have to work hard as a striker to provide options for your teammates. If you're the type of striker who always stays right here and just wants it to feet, you're very predictable and a lot of times a center defense midfielder just has to come here and screen and you're basically out of the game. So if you want to get more involved in the game as a striker, your off the ball movement is crucial. Okay, can you make runs into channels like this? Can you make runs into channels like this? Okay, and I would prefer if you can make your runs so you're still receiving the ball in the center third of the field. Okay, because the goal is here, you shouldn't be leaving this space for the wingers. Okay, you don't always want to receive the ball into this space heading to the corner flag with someone on your back. If you do, just turn play into space like this. Okay, but you want to try to make your runs so you're still in the center third of the field. So if you do receive the ball here, you're still in the center third. Okay, but what I'm getting at here is your off the ball movement. Like I said, if you're always staying still, you're easy to predict. So let's say someone has the ball here. Okay, where's your run? He has the ball is getting closed down. Can you make a run into here? Okay, or can you peel off into here still opening your body to the goal? So you get a chance to score. Okay, but making runs is a crucial scale of any striker. Don't stand still. Always think about what run can I make? How can I get into space? How can I receive the ball on the run? Because it's much easier for you to score if you're receiving the ball on the run than as if you're receiving the ball with someone on your back. Okay, where can I make the best run to receive the ball? And when you do try to make eye contact with the playmaker. Try to scream for the ball, call for the ball, point where you want it to get that ball. So you're running into space and get a chance on goal. Okay, so think about that. You want to be more involved, make more off the ball runs. So let's talk a little bit about before we get into the goal scoring. Let's talk about defending as a forward as a striker. Okay, I want you to be more of a past on defense. I say this all the time and what I mean by past is you never give the defender time to rest. You'll see a lot of times that strikers or forwards will just lay off and they let these guys pass the ball around the back and they don't really pressure them. I guarantee you, especially at an amateur or youth level, if you start pressing these defenders, because think about defenders aren't usually the most skilled players. They're not necessarily the most composed players either. So if you just start running at them, pressuring them, they're going to panic. They're going to kick the ball up the field and we're going to win possession or they're going to have a bad touch and you're going to win possession in a dangerous area. The same thing goes for pressuring goalkeepers. Goalkeepers have even worse touch and even worse composure. So if you start pressuring the goalkeeper right away, he's again going to kick the ball up. And you may think you didn't do anything, but because you forced him to make a quick decision and kick the ball up, we got possession of the ball. Even if we get possession way back here, that's huge. Having possession of the ball is probably the most important thing that your team can do at any time. The other team can't score if you have possession. So think about pressuring defenders, giving them a hard time. Now it's very hard for you to have any effect if you're the only one pressuring. If you're the only one pressuring and everyone else is staying back, then you're just going to burn yourself out and they're just going to move the ball around you. So it's important that your wingers and your midfielder are coming up to close the gaps. So closing off the second passes. So if you're on a team that doesn't press, your coach just wants you to sit back behind the halfway line, then that's a little different. But even still, when they get into these areas, you need to be pressing. You need to be doing your job, try to win the ball back. If you want to be more involved as a striker, work more on your pressing. Press the defenders full backs, press the goalkeeper especially, and you'll be surprised how many times they give up the ball, but also how many chances you get because of your pressing. Okay, so let's talk about goal scoring. And again, I talked about this in the other videos. Scoring goals isn't so much about skill and technique, it's about getting in the right spot. So number one, if you want to score more goals, make sure you're always in the box. And as a center forward, you should usually be the highest player on the pitch. So you need to be in the box. That should be self-explanatory. What I want to talk about first is your composure in front of goal. You may have experienced this yourself. I know a lot of players do, especially players who don't spend that much time in front of net. But you get in this area and you kind of get like a red haze. You don't really think about what you're doing. You just think about blasting that ball as hard as you can on net. What I challenge you to do is be more composed in front of net, okay? It's easy to panic when you have a goal scoring opportunity. It's easy to rush yourself. Can you remind yourself, especially when you're starting off in your practices and your games, can you remind yourself to stay calm? Because a lot of times, if you can just stay calm, get your head up, see where the space is, pass it in the corner. It's so much easier than trying to shoot the ball as hard as you can and putting it over the net or putting it wide or just putting it right at the keeper, okay? Just simplify it. Be more composed. Take a deep breath. Realize, okay, yes, I have a bit of space, but I need to be composed. Where should I, how can I make this the easiest way to score possible? And a lot of times it's just getting your head up, looking at that corner and passing it in the corner, okay? So I challenge you to realize, to notice when you're panicking in front of goal and to ask yourself, could I be more composed? Could I just take a deep breath? Could I get my head up? Could I just pass it into the corner? Okay, adding to that, I want you to be greedy in front of goal. So as a striker, there will be times when you have a chance to shoot and there's other players in the box who want that ball, probably want that ball, but I challenge you to be greedy, okay? Don't worry about what these other players say. As a striker, you have to be wanting to take your shot every time you get the shot, even if sometimes it's not always the best option, okay? Because a lot of times you're going to score that goal and no one's going to say anything to you if you score that goal, okay? But saying that, you need to know, okay, I had three guys on me and I decided to take that shot and this guy wide open, okay? You have to realize that this is the right time to pass the ball to an open teammate, okay? But when there's a half chance or is a chance between, maybe you could have passed it, but if it's a 50-50, I want you to take that shot. So what I'm saying is be greedy. Don't be afraid or worried about other people yelling at you or being upset with you, okay? You have to be greedy as a striker. You have to want to take your shots because that's your job. That's your duty is to score goals for your team. If you don't score goals as your team, then I'm sorry, you're not a good striker. You need to work on that. And following this information, always working on your shooting every day, always wanting to get down the box, working on your finishing, you're going to become a better goal scorer. But start by being greedy, wanting to take those shots, okay? Actually, I just wanted to say one more thing. So let's say this is the center forward and there's a cross coming in, okay? Don't just jog into this area and say, okay, I'm here. I expect to get a chance, okay? Have purpose to your runs, okay? So don't just jog in. I need purpose. I'm either going to sprint to that front post or I'm going to sprint to that back post and get in front of someone. So have purpose, okay? Give him something to aim at. If you're just in here between the defenders, he can whip it in, but you're not really giving him a target. You want him to see the purpose of your run, okay? He's sprinting to that front post. I'm just going to whip it front post and he's going to get a flick or he's really sprinting to that back post, okay? I'm going to clip it up to that back post and let him head it, okay? But what I'm getting at here is having purpose of your runs. Don't just jog into the box and expect to get the ball because you're in a good area. Sprint, have purpose. Sprint to that front post, sprint to that back post, or sprint. So these guys go and then step back for a cutback, okay? A lot of ideas to think about. Remember, if you're a goal scorer, you got to want those goals. You got to be greedy. You got to have to take your shots. Have no regrets when it comes to shooting. Take your shots when you get them. Get in that box as much as possible. Change your runs up, okay? Try to make runs into the channels, into space. Don't always just stay in the middle trying to hold the ball up. When you do have the ball, play the way you face, unless you know you looked over your shoulder and there's space. So I'm going to try to turn this guy with my first touch, okay? Keep it simple when there are other players around you. Hold that ball up. Use your body. Use your strength. Play that ball into space and then spin to get the ball back.