Striker movement tips – Attack one on one

When you have the ball on attack, you have an advantage over the defender. Make the most of your ball possession by following the striker movement tips described in this post. The more you practice them, the more confident you will be to beat defenders.

In the video below, our friends from Tactica demonstrate how to beat a defender in one on one situations. They follow this basic sequence for either small or big spaces:

1. Take the first touch onto the defender. If there is no space behind the defender or to their sides, then hold the ball and pass it back to a team mate.
2. Speed up and run directly at the defender while dribbling the ball really tight.
3. Vary the path you are going. Go to left, then to right or vice-versa.
4. Do a trick (we will publish some soon ;)).
5. If the defender is still close to you, push you upper body between him and the ball.
6. Accelerate immediately after you pass the defender.

Common mistakes you should avoid when following this steps:

• Slowing down. The defender will have time to position his body to stop you, or other defenders will close you down.
• Wrong timing:
  • Choosing a side too early
  • Doing a trick too early
  • Doing a trick too late
• Holding the ball for too long when you can’t move pass the defender. Pass it back to a teammate instead.

Once you master these movements, you will need to work on how to take advantage of beating a defender by shooting to goal or passing the ball to a team mate with better chances to score than you.

For more striker movement tips like this, visit our sponsor

Pablo Matamoros

I am a software engineer with 25+ years of experience across diverse industries. I've climbed the corporate leader over the years, which has some benefits but means I moved away from my love for tinkering with technology. So, I build the odd website or application to keep learning and stay in touch with technology. FootballTechniques allows me to combine my programming knowledge with my passion for football.

To find out more about my professional experience, visit PabloMatamoros.com

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