Second Striker (SS)

When playing as a second striker (or deep lying forward) your position will be somewhere between the midfield and the center forward. With other words, you should neither play as a midfielder or a pure forward. So, consider yourself being a blend of these two positions. Study the image below as well in order to get a feeling on where you should be operating.

So what are your main duties when playing as deep lying forward? Well, you should work hard to create scoring opportunities for your attackers. Of course you should also try to score when you have a chance but do not over elaborate the current situation.

It is also important to have exceptional ball skills (dribbling, passing, shooting etc). Another important skill you’ll need to learn is heading. This is crucial because you will be involved in many heading duels and by winning them you’ll immediately give your team an advantage on the opponents.

While it is fun to attack and serve your attackers with accurate and quality passes, you will also need to participate in your team’s defense and spend a lot of time chasing the ball. With other words, teamwork is a must!

To give you a hint on how to play as SS I want you to study Ronaldinho and Del Piero which are considered to be some of the best second strikers in the world. Of course, I can’t guarantee that these players will actually play as deep lying forwards when you are watching them but this is their natural position. So obviously, they should be playing as deep lying forwards, in most of the games.

Here is a short summary of the skills required to perform well as a SS (or deep lying forward if you rather prefer this definition)

• Exceptional ball skill, shooting, passing, receiving, dribbling with great accuracy.

• Good heading skills, if you are not good at this one, then you’ll need to improve it.

• Scoring goals, this one is obvious, don’t you agree?

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