off ball movement in soccer

5 Stealth Ninja Assassin Movements To Score More Soccer Goals

I’m pretty sure Cruyff knew that what a player does in those 3 minutes with the ball is very important (i.e. missing easy chances versus finishing them or hitting accurate passes versus giving the ball away), but he was probably trying to make a point about the underrated importance of intelligent behavior off the ball.

When it comes to effective off-ball behavior, physical speed and sheer effort are important but being clever with your positioning and movement to create and maximize space is where we turn our focus. The following 5 behaviors will help you receive more passes, create more chances, and become a more dangerous attacking player overall.

How the Best Attacking Soccer Players In The World Move Off The Ball

The best soccer players in the world are not just killers on the ball, but they are sneaky buggers off of it as well. Research shows that ore goals are scored when the defenders are positioned farther away from the shooter. That sounds pretty obvious, but creating space on the soccer field is getting harder and harder in today’s modern game. Of course, having a ton of speed helps because you can literally just blow by defenders. But the best, like Leroy Sane and Sterling from Manchester City, Mane from Liverpool, Son from Tottenham, all use intelligent awareness and timing in addition to their speed to unravel defenses. Aguero isn’t the fastest guy in the world, but he knows how to hide behind defenders or draw them to one area and then move to the space left. Check out the video I made below to see some examples. Try these runs and ideas at your next practice and watch how you are getting more crosses from the wing and more shots on goal.