It’s an important attribute for a striker to have, the ability to jump above the opposition and get their head on the ball. When your players head a ball, if they can jump with the right technique, they are likely to get above most defenders in youth matches.

Young players often are not spending enough time at training practicing getting themselves off the floor and their heads on the ball. A header is a very effective way of scoring at all levels of the game but especially youth matches where players shy away from heading.

Coaches need to spend time on the technique and the movement to get into position to attack the ball using the head. Time spend in training will be repaid over and over again in matches.

Watch the Champions League goals below:

Unopposed sessions allow your attackers to be more confident in receiving the ball because they get the success they require from doing it.

Using unopposed exercises for build up and combination play in attack is a good way of coaching your players to move the ball, and encourages movement to support the ball as play moves around the pitch.

In this session, strikers and midfielders combine with a neat lay off and a precise threaded ball to set up a shot across the goalkeeper.

Set up a 40 yards by 30 yards playing area with four mannequins (poles or cones will do), two cones and two goals. You need eight outfield players and two goalkeepers.

How to play it

1. The forwards move away from the mannequin to receive a pass.
2. The forwards set the pass back to the supporting midfielders.
3. The midfielders return the pass into space for the forwards to spin and run after. The forwards now shoot across the goal.

Rotation

The midfielder becomes the forward for the next turn.

Spain is indeed blessed with some great players in La Liga – Barcelona’s Argentinian Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s Portuguese attacker Ronaldo, but the man making the headlines in the Europa League final was Falcao. He also finished as the tournament’s top scorer for the second year running, hitting the back of the net on 12 occasions.

Atletico beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 with two first half goals from Falcao.

The two goals were both of wonderful quality after receiving a pass from Diego down the right flank, he cut inside and curled a delightful effort into the top left-hand corner of the Bilbao net. proved it was no fluke 28 minutes later, collecting a low cross, skilfully dragging the ball back to rid himself of his marker and smashing it past Athletic goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz from close range

But even more amazing both goals were score with what he regards as his weaker foot: Falcao explained: “I don’t know what to say; I hit both with my left foot. My right was just there to support my weight.”

Europe is indeed watching.

See the goals below:

Any coach struggling to use defensive sessions or struggling to understand positional sense, how to coach positional sense or the words to tell youth players to use when they are defending 1v1, 2v1, 2v2, or when they are outnumbered will get a great deal out of Chris’s courses.

A former coach at Arsenal, Chelsea, Wigan, Fulham, QPR, Gillingham, Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol Rovers & Bristol City, Chris has a vast knowledge that coaches can learn a great deal from.

Chris is now going to do an attacking one-day course and I for one am going to make sure I go on it. It’s always a great day and a great way to meet other coaches and find out what they are coaching and what they hope to gain from going on coaching courses.

Chris told me: “I’m now ready to share my experiences of working with strikers like Nathan Dyer, Scot Sinclair, Bobby Zamora and Sanchez Watt .”

And he tells me that I can’t miss his course because he’s going to reveal his ‘Working with Strikers’
system on the course.

As usual the course fees are very reasonable which is especially good. They usually cost around £40 but he’s always got special offers on so why don’t you check his course out and maybe I’ll see you there!

Check his course out by CLICKING HERE

Being able to see everyone and everything that is going on means a coach can give feedback more effectively, correct errors or encourage good work. Here is a quick guide to better positioning in training.

• Position yourself far enough back to be able to see all the players working.
•  Try to keep to the outer perimeter of practice areas so there are no players behind you at any time.
•  Make sure you move to various positions around the practice area to give yourself different perspectives of the action.
• If you need to deliver one-to-one coaching, bring the player to you so you can help them while keeping an eye on the rest of the players.
•  When demonstrating or talking to the players, create a half circle so they can all see.
• Always demonstrate with the weather (sun or rain) in your face rather than the faces of the players.
• Ensure there is nothing interesting happening behind you when talking or demonstrating to the players.

When talking to your players use the right words. I find that often a coach will praise the players that can easily do the tasks they set out for them but  if you read my blog Praise Talent or Praise Hard Work  you may think differently.

Also check out Five Ways To Make New Players Part of the Team.

John Terry, CHELSEA v Manchester Utd (Champions League Final 2008)

After a 1-1 draw on the night, Cristiano Ronaldo missed his spot-kick to put Chelsea within touching distance of the trophy, but his crucial slip sent the ball crashing against the outside of the post, leaving the England international on the floor and in tears.

Lionel Messi, BARCELONA v Chelsea (Champions League Semi-Final 20120)

Barcelona started the second half 2-1 up but Chelsea were down to 10 men. Messi had the chance to gain the psychological advantage but hit the bar and Chelsea went on win the game.

Denis Bergkamp, ARSENAL v Manchester Utd (FA Cup Semi-Final replay 1999)

Bergkamp could have won the game with a last minute penalty. The match was notable for a disallowed Arsenal goal, the sending-off of Manchester Utd’s Roy Keane for a second bookable offence, a last-minute penalty save by Peter Schmeichel, and finally and most memorably a winning goal by Ryan Giggs, intercepting a pass near the half way line, before taking the ball past five Arsenal defenders and scoring past goalkeeper David Seaman.

Ruud van Nistelrooy MANCHESTER UNITED v Arsenal (Premier League 2003/04)

With the scores level at 0-0, United were given a controversial penalty in injury-time after Patrick Vieira had earlier seen red for a kick-out at Van Nistelrooy, but the Dutch striker made it three consecutive misses from the spot after he rattled the underside of the crossbar.

Gareth Southgate, ENGLAND v Germany (Semi-Final Euro’ 96)

After Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle failed at Italia ’90, it fell to Southgate to end the hopes of the Three Lions on home soil six years later, as football ‘came home’ but then swiftly left for Germany on penalties.

Roberto Baggio, Brazil v ITALY (World Cup Final 1994)

The first World Cup final to be decided on penalties, it was a moment that would define Baggio’s career despite some of the great things he achieved for both club and country.

Top scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie with 32 goals Bas Dost has been linked with some of the biggest names in England and Germany, but Dost himself claims to be more than happy in his native Netherlands with Heerenveen.

Signed from Heracles Almelo at the age of 20 after hitting 17 goals in 61 games, he has been a revelation since, impressing with his unorthodox style and finishing fourth highest scorer in Europe this season as he led Heerenveen back into the top five.

John Guidetti (Feyenoord) aged 19

Carlos Tevez is not the only wave-making exiled Manchester City striker – over in Holland, John Guidetti, on loan at Feyenoord from City, has 20 goals in 23 starts for the Rotterdam club. Just 19, he has scored three hat-tricks this season, one of which was against Ajax, Feyenoord’s greatest rivals.

Playing in Holland but not Dutch Guidetti is Swedish and won his first senior Sweden cap in Croatia and has a good chance of playing against England in the second Group D game at Euro 2012.

Luuk de Jong (Twente) aged 21

21-year-old rising Dutch star Luuk de Jong is tall, quick and technically gifted – De Jong boasts 62 strikes in all competitions over the last two seasons. The Holland international, who played against England at Wembley in February, scored 25 goals in the league this season for Steve ­McClaren’s FC Twente.

McClaren believes that Luuk de Jong’s style of play makes him a perfect fit for the Premier League. “Luuk is big, strong, brilliant in the air and scores goals so easily. He has every quality a top class striker needs to have for a big club.”

The Netherlands international has been in fine form this season, and has recently been linked with Borussia Monchengladbach, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Tottenham.

“Very soon he will be the best in the Netherlands – and he even has all the qualities a forward needs to become a European great,” says Patrick Kluivert.

I remember Peter as a very skillful player, slight of build, operating just behind the front strikers at Newcastle, Liverpool and of course England.

His skills have proved devastating for creating and scoring goals, netting over 230 in his career. He was a player with lovely ball skills and fantastic vision, as well as tremendous stamina, enthusiasm and work-rate.

He was also able to score long range shots, or clever placement using timing and dribbling skills.

As a youth player Peter was discovered at the famous Wallsend Boys Club on Tyneside in the 70s – 
the club has a pedigree of bringing through great players including Alan Shearer, Michael Carrick, Lee Clark and Steve Bruce.

He is now football development manager at Newcastle United helping to drive forward the recruitment of talented youngsters for the club’s Academy and Development Squad, so what better person to answer questions on how to coach youth skills.

I caught up with Peter at Newcastle where he was coaching with the world famous coach Alf Galustian and asked him about youth coaching and what a coach learns from watching someone as experienced as Alf.

1. We all have favourite areas of coaching – as a former attacker do you find it easy to coach defending as well as attacking exercises?

I think all coaches need to learn how to coach both topics: the modern player especially as a youth player has to be both attacker and when they lose the ball win it back by pressing deep – defending from the front. Messi is probably the best example.

2. As a skillful striker you must have had a few tricks you used, which were your favourite and how did you practice them.

I learnt mostly by playing – we didn’t have a programme like Alf’s Coerver Coaching, so most of what I did was learnt in games. If I had had a programme like Coerver to follow, I am sure it would have made me a better player, especially for scoring goals!

3. Messi and Ronaldo both use skill in their play but appear to have one or two clever moves that they use a lot. How many skills should a youth player work on to use in match play?

I think young players should learn as many skills can they can so they can use them to beat players in as many different ways as possible; it will help their future game and it’s great fun to learn new skills.

4. I think repetition is one of the most vital coaching tools. But players can find doing the same old thing boring. How do you hide repetition when coaching?

As you know I have been close to Alf for many years – once I was exposed to Coerver (over 20 years ago) I realised that repetition was crucial for perfecting skills.

I follow Alf’s view that for young players you can hide repetition by playing fun games – for example simple relays where repetition is included.

Watching Alf coach today I can see so many possibilities to coach young players in using skills to win 1v1s and 2v1s where the repetition is hidden by the actual game they play.

5. You played in youth teams at Wallsend Boys in the 70s, which one factor would you say is the most important change in the way kids are coached today?

The quality of facilities and the improvement in coaches knowledge and understanding of what is best for the players and not what is best for the coaches

6 Can you explain one specific exercise you have been using with your team that my coaches can go out and use with their players?

While Alf has been here at Newcastle we have been concentrating on attacking principles. This is one of the sessions I have seen Alf coach and I am now using to help my players in their attacking role.

SESSION: To improve Shooting under pressure

How to set it up

• 10 players plus a server or the coach
• A 40x25yd area with a goal and goalkeeper at each end.
• Two teams of four players and a server
• Each player has a ball lined up by each goal.
• Two cones 5 yards either side of the server
• The coach or a designated player is stationed in the middle of the field as a wall passer.

How to play it

• The first player in TEAM A passes to the server in the centre, then takes the return pass and after controlling and dribbling the ball shoots on the opposite goal.
• As he shoots the first player in TEAM B passes to the server and sprints to take a return pass and take at least one touch before shooting.
• As soon as the TEAM A player shoots he sprints around the cone to try to stop TEAM B from scoring.
• When TEAM B shoots he must recover around his marker cone to defend again the second player in TEAM A who’s repeats the sequence.

COACH’S TIPS

• At first the recovering player going around the marker cone will be too far and he will not be able to apply much pressure on the shooter.
• But gradually move the markers towards the Coach so the distances of recovery is less and less and there’s increasing pressure on the shooters.
• Eventually allow the recovering players to use the WP as their marker to go around.

PLAYER TIP

• Be sure the first pass to the server is firm so there’s no lag time waiting for the return pass and the defender to get close.
• Take your first touch from the server away from the approaching defender to set up your shot.
• Head up before shooting.
• Aim low far post the GKs toughest shot.

With so many leagues and cups being played in grass roots, pro and international levels it is a fantastic opportunity to watch top class games. I have always thought that being at a live game rather than watching on TV gives more opportunities to see what is going on in the game.

I will often watch one player when I am at a live game, say an attacker, and watch them for 10 minutes and jot down what they do during the game. Movement and position and what they do in attack and where they go when the team is defending.

I can learn a lot by watching clever players and their movement – then pass it on to my own players so they know what to do at every moment in a game. Being in the right place at the right time is one of the keys to success for a young player, it just makes everything that bit easier.

Last month I was listening to Rafael Benitez. Without a job since leaving Inter Milan in the final days of 2010, the Spaniard was talking about how he keeps up with the events in soccer.

This is what he does when he watches games, much like myself:

“I try to relax when I am watching a game but it is something you cannot change, you are analysing the game. You are watching what will happen and why it is happening. I’ll be watching with my wife and I’ll say ‘goal’ then two seconds later it’s a goal. Because you can see the positions of the defenders, the winger may be free or the full-back goes late or something like that. So without thinking too much, you are just analysing.”

Watch Benitez talking to former England and Arsenal legend Ian Wright, now working with Absolute Radio in London