| Off the Shoulder Movement for Strikers |
It is important for coaches to take time to work with their strikers individually and iin small groups to teach them the correct movements
By Wayne Harrison, Eden Prairie (Minn.) High School Varsity Girls Coach
Individual Striker Movements
The three possible movements of strikers:
• Short to go long (opposite run)
• Long to come short (opposite run)
• Off the shoulder of the defender.
In Diagram 1, we can see all three movements. In A) the striker takes the defender toward the ball to create space behind, either for himself or a team mate. In B) the striker takes the defender away to create space in front and short to check back into for herself or a team mate. In C) 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 toward the ball and receives the ball to feet.
“Off the Shoulder” has three additional movements to consider
Carrying the idea of off the shoulder, the striker in this position has three possibilities for moves, each of which help the striker to end up in a position where they are facing toward the goal:
• Away from the defender (A), then back across the defender either in front of or behind them for the delivery inside the defender. If the defender checks away with the striker, then the striker checks back inside to their right; the defender’s left always is facing forward. If not checked by the defender, the striker attacks behind the defender for the diagonal pass inside the defender’s start position.
• Moving and staying off the shoulder (B) for the delivery outside the defender to attack, the player on the ball plays a diagonal pass over the shoulder of the defender into the path of the striker facing forward. The striker, by making this move, opens up the angle for the pass and gets in line still with the defender so as not to be offside but again facing forward, ready to attack the pass in front of them.
• Going short (C) to the ball to receive the delivery to feet after first moving not toward but away from the defending player and the ball, and ending up facing forward. In this case the defender “should” drop off to cover himself so the striker can’t make a run behind him, but this is the cue for the striker to check to the ball from a wider angle and more open body stance so he receives the ball at his feet; but facing forward with space to run at the defender; not with his back to goal and with his back to the defender. The first movement helps this space be created.
What usually happens…
Diagram 3 shows the usual position of the strikers; they stand alongside the defender and do not open the angle up to help them receive a pass. Here are the disadvantages to this:
• The striker has his back to the defender. Defender has control.
• The striker‘s body position is square on to the ball, defender and the goal, facing back. The striker can’t see the defender clearly, nor see the goal directly.
• If the ball is played in behind the defender, the striker has to first turn, then run forward and probably is second best to the ball against the defender who has a yard or two start and is probably side on already so only needs to do half a turn.
• 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
In Diagram 4, the striker moves “OFF THE SHOULDER” of the defender. Only a matter of a few yards can open up wonderful space and attacking opportunities. In this case moving off the shoulder of the defender means there is a space behind the defender the ball can be delivered. If the defender does not adjust position, this is a great chance to receive the ball and attack the goal. If that happens, the striker is now:
• Facing forward and off at an angle, not having to turn and run forward, which saves time and puts the defender at a disadvantage.
• The striker can see the ball, goal and defender at the same time.
• The striker can even take their position off the sweeper in an offside position, if the opposition employs one, so they are almost in advance but also wide of the marking defender. This position (off the shoulder) is very difficult to defend.
• If not facing forward at least in a side on position so they can see forward and not have their back to the defender.
In Diagram 5, the striker moves “OFF THE SHOULDER” of the defender. The defender comes with the striker and closes them down. Now the timing of the pass and timing of the run come into play. The striker then checks back inside into the space the defender has vacated and attacks inside and across in front of the defender. The second striker (9) can run off the other center back (B) to create the space inside also. The player on the ball plays it inside the center back.
The striker should understand that the best time to make the cut is when the defender plants his right foot down (and be flat-footed even) and is leaning forward and toward the striker. That is the time to check back inside and across the defender. The defender is likely to be most off balance at this time.
In Diagram 6, the striker moves “OFF THE SHOULDER” of the defender. This is the same as the previous diagram in which the defender closes the striker down, but this time the striker makes a run outside and behind the defender rather than inside and across him. Timing of this is important for being onside.
Working Opposites with Movement of the Strikers
The strikers must recognize when the man on the ball has TIME to play the ball forward. Strikers move toward the ball dragging the man marking defenders close to them (Diagram 7). 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. 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. When the player has time on the ball to pass, expect lots of movement at pace, e.g., short to go long. Midfield player can pass down the side of the striker. When there’s no time on the ball, i.e., 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 the Ball
In Diagram 8, communication is important. 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 the midfielder has no time the striker knows it will be played first time into the first run. 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. This is especially effective when the strikers are not too close together, so there’s lots of space in which to work. 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
This situation in Diagram 9 happens more often in a game. There is no time on the ball and the passer has to release the ball quickly because of pressure on the ball from (C). 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. In a game the team could be prepared to play on the basis that it always makes the pass off the first run unless the players get a call from the striker using the code word to carry out 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.
No Time on the Ball to Wait for a Second Run
In Diagram 10, the ball is in a wide position on the field, and the same principles apply receiving off the first pass, as above (10) down the side to space to run on to and (9) to feet. Here the passer must release the pass early (because of pressure on the ball) or they have not received the code word signal to perform the opposite move. In a game situation for the first 30 minutes it could be a game plan in which the strikers always work off a pass from the first run and get the defenders conditioned into thinking that is always the case, saving the decisive moment later in the game where the code word signal is called and the players work the opposite move receiving from the second run. It may be they only have to do it once in a game and it results in a goal, giving the striker a vital second or fractions of a second thus gaining a couple of yards on the defender in a vital area of the field to receive a pass and score a goal.
Training Exercise to Practice the Opposite Movements
In Diagram 11, the striker comes short and shows for the ball asking for a pass from (D). Defender (F) follows. The midfielder (D) passes to (C), (D) then passes over the top or a through ball into (E)’s path as he/she spins. The defender must play passively. To continue the work once player (E) receives the ball they must beat (F) back to the touchline. Players (C) and (D) go to the middle, and the next two take their place. As the pass is going from (D) to (C) the striker shouts the code word and spins to receive the pass as player (C) is about to pass it. The shout must be early to (C) to make the pass at the exact same time (E) is spinning to receive it.
Variations: The player receiving the pass can get it “short” or “long” to keep the defender guessing. He/she should get it short, when the code word is not used, but the player could use any other word to confuse. He/she should receive it long, when the actual code word is used. Combine with the passer to beat the defender.
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