73: Grow Coach Newsletter
Football Coaches: Develop your Coaching Craft.
Welcome from JustCoachMD. We are happy to have you on board and look forward to providing you with helpful content.
Here is What to Expect:
Coaching Craft: What makes a great striker?
Full 60-Minute Practice: Practices to explore a variety of finishing techniques.
The striker’s job is to be unpredictable. If defenders know what you’re doing, it’s already too late. — Marcelo Bielsa
The Striker’s Edge: 8 Essentials Every Goal Scorer Needs
Being a top striker in modern football is about more than just finishing chances. It’s about solving problems, creating chaos, and mastering the moments that matter most. Great strikers are instinctive, intelligent, and ruthless—and coaches have a vital role to play in developing those traits.
In this guide, you’ll find the eight essential qualities of an effective striker, with coach-to-player questions, common mistakes, and fixes to help you transform potential into performance.
1. Technical Excellence
The ability to finish efficiently with different surfaces and techniques, and under pressure. Top strikers use both feet, adjust quickly, and can score with a single touch.
Coach Questions:
What surface is best for this type of finish?
How can you adjust your body to hit the target under pressure?
If you’re not scoring, how can you still test the goalkeeper?
Common Mistakes:
Rushing shots or always using the dominant foot.
Lack of variation (e.g. same finish every time).
Poor body shape when striking.
Fixes:
Repetition of one-touch finishing from different angles and speeds.
Constraints-based games (e.g. only weak foot, or only volleys).
Video feedback on body shape and balance.
It’s not about how many chances you get—it’s about how alive you are when the chance comes. — Pep Guardiola
2. Tactical Awareness
Great strikers move to cause problems: hiding on the blindside, delaying runs, or standing still to create space. It’s all about clever positioning and unpredictability.
Coach Questions:
Where can you stand to stay out of the defender’s eyeline?
Can you make your next movement hard to read?
How do defenders usually react when you move wide or deep?
Common Mistakes:
Always moving too early or too obviously.
Making runs in straight lines.
Not recognising when to stay still.
Fixes:
Practice double movements and blindside runs in opposed practices.
Use freeze frames to highlight smart positioning.
Encourage variation and decision-making, not scripted runs.
3. Mental Toughness
Strikers need thick skin and short memories. Missed chances are inevitable, but great forwards demand the ball and stay confident.
Coach Questions:
How do you respond after a missed chance?
What can you do to stay confident even if you haven’t scored?
What mindset do you want before a big opportunity?
Common Mistakes:
Avoiding risky finishes after missing.
Frustration spills into poor decision-making.
Overthinking instead of playing instinctively.
Fixes:
Create “bounce-back” scenarios in training (e.g. second chance immediately after a miss).
Highlight strikers who score after failing first.
Talk openly about pressure and mindset in sessions.
4. Game Intelligence
Understanding the bigger picture: recognising patterns, exploiting space, and making the right choices quickly and consistently.
Coach Questions:
What picture do you see before the ball gets to you?
What options are available once you receive it?
How does your movement affect the back four?
Common Mistakes:
Ball-watching or reacting too late.
Ignoring cues from teammates or defenders.
Overcomplicating simple situations.
Fixes:
Use scanning triggers (e.g. “scan when X happens”).
Break down attacking patterns on a whiteboard or video.
Include timed decision-making in practices.
A striker needs to have the confidence to miss. If you don’t dare to miss, you’ll never score. — Jurgen Klopp
5. Scanning & Anticipation
Seeing the game early. Scanning before the ball arrives lets strikers prepare the next touch, finish, or run more effectively.
Coach Questions:
What can you learn from scanning before you receive?
Where are the defenders and the goalkeeper positioned?
What’s the best option before the ball reaches you?
Common Mistakes:
Looking too late or not at all.
Scanning without processing information.
Poor body shape when scanning.
Fixes:
Isolate scanning moments in unopposed and opposed practices.
Use verbal prompts (e.g. “What did you see?”).
Reinforce body positioning that enables awareness.
6. Movement Skills
Strikers must move intelligently to create space and disrupt defenders. Whether they lose a marker or arrive late in the box, movement wins goals.
Key Types of Movement to Coach:
Blindside – Running across the back of defenders.
Pin & Spin – Holding a defender, then spinning into space.
Double Movement – Faking one direction then accelerating into another.
Late Arrival – Timing a run to avoid being marked.
Coach Questions:
What movement would create the most separation here?
Can you start on the shoulder instead of in front?
When is the right time to go?
Common Mistakes:
Moving too early, too straight, or into traffic.
Making the same type of run every time.
Being flat-footed when the chance comes.
Fixes:
Practice with live defenders to develop timing.
Highlight the effectiveness of standing still, then moving late.
Use challenges like “Can you arrive unmarked?”
7. Trickery & Deception
Top strikers use disguise to unbalance defenders and goalkeepers through body language, timing, and technique.
Coach Questions:
Can you send the defender the wrong way?
What finish would the keeper least expect?
Could you shoot earlier or later to surprise them?
Common Mistakes:
Telegraphing the finish or pass.
Always using the same technique or foot.
Overusing tricks without purpose.
Fixes:
Set “surprise shot” goals in small-sided games.
Play finishing games with random ball types and angles.
Emphasise “look left, shoot right” style deception.
8. Timing
The best strikers arrive at the right moment—not too soon, not too late. It’s the final piece in combining movement, scanning, and finishing.
Coach Questions:
What cue tells you to make your move?
If you go too early, what happens?
Can you delay your run by half a second?
Common Mistakes:
Arriving too early, getting caught offside.
Moving before the pass is released.
Failing to adjust to the defender’s pace.
Fixes:
Use delayed-service drills to practice patience.
Encourage “wait, wait, NOW” style movements.
Use video clips to show elite-level timing examples.
Final Thoughts:
Strikers are made, not born. By focusing on these eight key areas and asking the right questions, you can guide players to become more than just goal scorers—they’ll become intelligent, resilient, and decisive attackers who influence games at every level.
Action Tip:
Don’t wait until match day to develop your striker. Include finishing, movement, scanning, and timing in every session. Break down habits and build confidence daily.
The most difficult thing in football is to score a goal. That’s why strikers are the most expensive players—they decide games. — Carlo Ancelotti
The Practices
2v2 Setting Up and Scoring (Winner Stays On)
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Work on a variety of finishing techniques in and around the box.
Set-Up:
2 x 25 by 25 pitches
2 x large goals 🥅 one on each pitch guarded by a GK (🟢), at the opposite end of the playing area coach (C) is a support player for the practice.
👕Teams: 🔴,⚫️,🟠,🔵,🟡s attacking and defending teams
How to Play:
Practice starts with a ball into the attacking team. The attacking team must score. If the attackers are successful, they collect another ball off the coach (C) and go again.
Each time a goal is scored on any pitch, a pair of waiting defenders enter the pitch, and the team that conceded the goal leaves the pitch.
The defenders must regain the ball and pass to the coach (C) to become the attacking team.
The first team to score 2 goals on a pitch wins the game, and the losing team goes off into the grey shaded box.
When a team enters the pitch, they start as defenders to the team that has just won the game.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: Increase the scoring to win the round >3 goals to win
👨🏫 Review: Timing of movements and finishing techniques.
🚫 Restriction: Only a 1-touch finish inside the box counts.
2v2 into 3v2 | Double Pitch Finishing
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
The practice aims to get lots of finishing opportunities.
Set-Up:
Duel pitch set up on a 50 by 25 space with 2 x large goals and 2 x mini goals. Plus, an orange-shaded escape zone.
👕 Teams: Both ⚫️’s are the attacking team, and 🔴’s are the defending team.
How to Play:
⚫️’s start the attack in a 2v2 towards the goal guarded by the GK (🟢1), The 🔴’s (1&2) defend this attack. The ⚫️’s are scoring in the larger goal, and the 🔴’s (1&2) are escaping into the orange zone.
Once the first attack is over, the ⚫️’s move onto pitch 2.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: A bonus ball on pitch 2 if the team scores with ball 1 and ball 2.
👨🏫 Review: Combinations and movements to overcome the defenders.
🚫 Restriction: A time limit to score of players must move onto the next pitch.
3v3 | Multi-Ball Finishing
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Finishing attacks in the final third
Set-Up:
Half Pitch set up with funnelled lines. A large goal at each end of the pitch is guarded by a goalkeeper 🟢 (1&2)
👕Teams: ⚫️s attacking team and 🔴s defending team. 🔵’s are support players for whichever team attacks.
How to Play:
Stagger the players across the halfway line so that on one side of the pitch there is an overload for the attackers, and on the other side of the pitch there is an overload for the defenders.
This is a three-ball game.
Ball 1 is served in by the coach to the ⚫️s into their overload. So 3 x ⚫️s enter the pitch defended by 3 x 🔴s. The ⚫️s try to score in the large goal past 🟢 GK (2). As soon as the game ends, ball 2 begins.
Ball 2 is from a wide area where 🔵 support player 2 enters the pitch to create a 4v3 overload in favour of the ⚫️s. They try to score in the large goal past 🟢 GK (2).
If the 🔴s win the ball, they attack the opposite goal, and 🔵 support player 2 can help. After the ball goes dead, 🔵 Support player 2 leaves the pitch.
Ball 3 is for the 🔴s to attack the large goal via a cross from 🔵 support player 1 towards the goal guarded by 🟢GK (1). The game is played to a finish, with the ⚫️s attacking in the other direction if they win the ball.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: A bonus ball served in by the coach (C) if the blacks score 2 goals in a row.
👨🏫 Review: The speed of the attacks and the off-ball movements to create scoring chances.
🚫 Restriction: A time limit to score or possession flips to the defending team.
Goals come from movement—clever movement. Not always fast, not always flashy. Just smart. — Arsène Wenger
I send this email weekly. If you would like to receive it, why not join a community of like-minded people who love the game of football?
Enjoyed reading this post, feel free to share it with your friends! Or click the button below so more people can discover us.