I’ve been reading Ruud Gullit’s book, How To Watch Football. It’s a good mix of an instructional approach for new soccer fans getting to know the game and deeper insights from Gullit’s career that even specialists won’t have heard before. He pointed out one thing in particular that I wanted to share.
This point is important for anyone who plays at a college or amateur level and calls themselves a forward. It’s about what to do when you lose the ball trying to get around a man or create a scoring opportunity. Or more specifically, it’s about what not to do.
“Standing still after an attack is deadly for a team. Some players look down at the ground in shame after missing a shot and walk back. Instead, you should really look up and run straight back to your position, otherwise the keeper will throw the ball over your head to the right or left back and they’ll have all the time they need to start a counterattack. At AC Milan every player switched roles automatically whenever we lost possession. If you didn’t work like that, you simply didn’t get selected. By playing with discipline we nullified every surprise that the other team had prepared for us.”
Strikers get more than their fair share of praise when things go right, but their team can really benefit if they pay attention to the transition when things don’t work out. Their teammates will love them and so will your coach. So encourage them to put the extra yards in and make themsleves undroppable.
Are there any exceptions to this rule?
“There is only one player in the world who doesn’t have to, and that is Messi.” – Pep Guardiola