Some years ago, I was at a soccer camp in Florida named IMG Academy. I remember that all the kids from the camp were very excited because one team with recognized players had come to train for a week in the academy. The team was the recently created New York City FC.
In that team featured great players at that time like: David Villa, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard, and the coach which was Patrick Vieira. We were all begging the coaches to let us meet them, but the answers were always: We’ll see in the coming days.
One day, New York City FC was playing a friendly match against a Swedish team. We, the campers, were called to be ballboys for the match. I was super excited because I was about to see world players play just a couple of meters close to me.
Unfortunately that day, Pirlo and Lampard were benched, but David Villa was playing. As you probably know, David Villa is one of the best strikers in Spain’s history. That day I appreciated in person the talent that all people said he have. He scored one goal that day. I tried to learn as much as possible of everything he did.
Looking back in time, today I ask myself what skills does David Villa has, that every striker/forward should also have to be as great as him. I figured out 14 skills that Villa and all internationally recognized forwards have that make them the awesome players they are.
This list can be very useful for players that want to try in the forward position. It can help you realize what attributes you have that can help you perform at this position, and also see that ones that you lack and how you can work to improve them.
Composure
Many people don’t ever realize the importance of this skill in the game of any soccer player, not only for forwards. According to dictionary.com, composure is “the state or feeling of being calm and in control of oneself”.
In my words, composure is being a cold blooded player. A player that can perfectly control his emotions and play at a great level even in the toughest and most stressing game situations. The first players that come to my mind are Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Andrea Pirlo.
I remember Zidane taking a penalty “panenka” styled in the world cup final of 2006. That is composure at its finest. In that same World Cup, Andrea Pirlo said the following statement:
“The day of the final, I played FIFA during the whole afternoon. In the night, I went out and won the World Cup”.
This is just incredible, I think that if any common player like us ever plays at a world cup final, we couldn’t sleep for two days or more, and you are telling me this guy can calmly play FIFA and then go and do the real thing in the final… just incredible.
Cristiano Ronaldo is also one of the forwards I admire the most because of his composure when taking penalty kicks and freekicks. What I will say is just an opinion: Many people criticize him saying that he only scores penalty goals, however I truly believe that taking a penalty has a lot of pressure to it, and it is incredible the composure he has to hardly miss one in any situation, either it is a La Liga Game or the UEFA Champions League Final.
Composure is KEY for any striker/forward. A bad forward will usually feel nervous before finishing a goal, feel insecure and not score. While a good striker usually has the composure and is cold blooded enough to finish without hesitating.
How do I develop my composure? There is one thing you should do to start developing your composure: Control the controllables. This means to don’t waste your time and composure trying to control aspects of the game you can’t control like: The decisions the referee makes, the opponents wasting time, mistakes from your teammates.
Instead, mind your own business and control the things you can like making good passes, positioning correctly on the field, making your game, etc.
Technique
In my article: Most Skilled Soccer Positions to Play: A player´s opinion I talked about what was the most skilled soccer position from the technical side. The one I found out to be the most technically challenging was the forward or striker position.
When we say forwards need to be technically skilled, we refer to all the aspects of the game: ball control, passing, dribbling and shooting.
Beginning with your shot. A forward’s value is determined by the goals he makes. To score more goals, developing your shooting technique is basic to become a better forward.
Next is passing. Yes, not all the things a forward does is making goals, they also give assists and create games for their teammates. Obviously, if you don’t make goals as a forward, your place in the team might be in danger, but you can be as helpful by playing with the team.
Take Karim Benzema as an example. His last season wasn’t the best of his career and he was criticized a lot for not making goals. However, when the season was about to end, the coach decided to bench him and then the fans where begging for Karim Benzema to play again, because the team was not producing in the offense.
Maybe he didn’t score goals but he had great chemestry with his teammates, moved proactively in the field, and gave lots of great passes and assists. It is true that making goals is important , but you also need to develop other basic skills like dribbling and passing.
Another example: Cristiano Ronaldo. Have you heard people saying that he is the most complete player ever? If we analyze it from a technical aspect, he is very complete too. Being a great dribbler, shooter, and passer is one of the things that makes him one of the greatest forwards ever.
Creativity
Usually, forwards are one of the most creative players in the field. Many times, I start watching boring games in which they just pass the ball from one place to another. What makes the difference in those games are creative players that are not afraid of making something different in the field.
I think most Brazilian players are very creative. Brazil’s forwards usually are one step ahead from the opponents thanks to that creative master mind that characterizes them. They always see an opportunity where no one else sees it. They imagine absolutely genuine plays and then execute them.
Speed
Speed, speed, speed. Easily one of the most important aspects in the game, specially for offensive players. The game becomes faster and faster everyday. That stereotype that says that defenders are slow is not true anymore. Even if you don’t notice it on TV, all players in the soccer field are fast, even the ones that seem to be slow.
The first time I had the opportunity to be a ball boy at a professional soccer match, the experience was completely different as seeing the game in TV. Being that close to the players, you realize how fast the game actually is. If you’re slow, you’re dead.
Fast players usually set aside from the rest as speed, if used correctly, can give you advantage. Notice that I say used correctly, as I really think that soccer is not only about running fast and forward. Is about changing of speed and direction quickly. Take as an example players like: Mohamed Salah, Gareth Bale, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. What makes them great is not only that they are fast, is that they know how and when to use their speed and combine it with all the different skills I talk about in this article.
Extra Bonus: Many people have created the false believe that in order to be faster they need to have speed boots like Mercurial or the Adidas X. This is totally false, the weight in most top end soccer cleats will be just fine either you use a speed boot or not. If you’re fast, you’re fast and if you’re slow, you’re slow.
Check out my recommended soccer training gear that you can use to train your speed and be faster in the soccer field.
Precision
Precision and accuracy are vital for any good forward. Either it is making passes or shooting to the goal, accuracy is something that needs to be trained and given the importance it deserves. Forwards have no chance to make mistakes. When the opportunity comes to make a goal, you need to be precise and make it. Another example could be in a counter attack. Attackers need to take quick decisions and execute the passes precisely or the play will end and the opportunity will be lost.
You need to be precise at absolutely everything, even for timing your runs! If a forward isn’t precise enough to run at the time he has too, if he runs too late or too early, either he will not reach the ball or will be offside probably. Be precise at every aspect of the game and in the decisions you make.
Intelligence
Yes, soccer players are intelligent too. Our school system has make us believe that the only intelligent people are the ones that get good grades only. They ignore the fact that there exists multiple intelligence, and that to play sports like soccer you need to develop one.
You see, a good forward can’t only play forward (as the position says) every single time and try to score goals every time he has the ball. Instead, he needs to be intelligent and know when to act. If the team is winning the game, probably the best thing to do is just to play the ball backwards and keep the possession of the ball if you don’t have a clear opportunity to go forward.
In a real game situation, you’ll have multiple options or decisions you could take. In order to take the correct one, you need to think fast and make an intelligent decision to what is best for the team. Intelligence I think is an aspect that is truly developed through time. The more time you play and the more experience you gain, the more intelligent in soccer you’ll be.
Game Vision
Vision, not only for forwards, but for all soccer players, is a key element to success. No one can play soccer with their head down. That’s why when we were little kids they always said to keep our head ups when dribbling the ball. Because by doing this, we could actually see and have a better vision of the entire soccer field.
One of the soccer players with the best vision I’ve seen is Xavi Hernandez from Spain. It is incredible how every time he receives the ball he has his head up looking everything around him. What makes him different from all the other players is that his vision is not limited just to a couple of meters; he has a great vision of the entire field and puts passes in spaces few people see.
Vision can actually be trained to be faster and more precise. I learned how to do it in a soccer camp I went in Florida called IMG Academy, where I also met David Villa. You can read more about training your vision in my article: The Ultimate Vision Training Guide for Soccer Players.
Self-Confidence
Confidence is an important factor for any forward. Specially when finishing the plays, a forward needs to be confident about his abilities and know that he is capable of doing great things. Without confidence, it is very hard for any player to perform at the level they would like, and I tell you by own experience.
The greatest tip to develop confidence that I can give is: Self talk. The most important person you talk to everyday is yourself, and what you say to yourself matters more than you might actually think. If you don’t support and motivate yourself during the toughest times, then who will?
When I refer to self talk I mean to phrases like: “Let’s do this”, “Get that ball”, “Give everything you have”. Try taking care of what you say to yourself and you’ll feel a lot more confident before and during playing.
Patience
It is impossible to always be the one scoring the goals in your team. I know that is the job of a forward, but sometimes you just got to be patient and wait for your moment. I know a lot of teammates that start to get desperate if they don’t score a goal in one or two games, behavior that at the end is more prejudicial than helpful.
Be patient and the goals will come, it is very hard to be at the top of one’s game every single match and season. Even the best players ever have had bad games, so don’t stress out and let your time come.
Sacrifice
A good forward scores a lot of goals, a great forward scores goals and sacrifices for the team. If you think that being a forward is just staying up the field and waiting for the ball to come to you, you’re absolutely wrong. Forwards have to come down and help the defense too.
In modern soccer, everyone attacks and everyone defends. It is a myth that forwards shall just stay up the field and wait for a pass to score. Forwards must pressure the other teams possession to force them to loose the ball. In case another player gets out of his original position, a good forward has to cover his space. It is becoming more and more common to see forwards even defending in corners!
I talked about the importance of being intelligent as a player. Well if the team is winning, no matter if you haven’t scored, you need to sacrifice as a forward and help the team in defense too.
Power
Power and explosiveness is an element that every forward needs in his recipe. Power in his shot, power in his acceleration, power in his jump, power in everything.
Power or precision? Which one do you prefer? I think you need to develop both, but sometimes, having a powerful shot can be more than enough to beat a goalkeeper. The best thing about this is that power can be trained in the gym. Develop your power and explosiveness and soon you’ll be the defenders worst nightmare.
In my recommended soccer training gear (click here), you’ll also find equipment to train your power and explosiveness to become a better forward.
Quickness
Be careful not to confuse speed with quickness. When I say speed I refer to the velocity you can run at. Quickness in the other hand is the time you get to think and to take game decisions. All the things mentioned above require quickness to be developed.
For example it is useless in soccer to be creative if your creativity isn’t quick. You can’t execute your creative plays after the defender already took the ball away from you. That’s why it is important to develop a quick mind when playing this sport.
Team work
Soccer is a team game, obviously. There is no position in the game that can play all alone by themselves. In order to be a great forward, you need to understand that the first priority is the team and not yourself. If you can’t score goals, but you can help the team, then that is even better.
Don’t be selfish, if you know that your teammate is in a better position to score, then pass the ball to him. Try passing the ball quickly, taking the least amount of touches possible. Dribbling by yourself is completely useless (except in some specific cases when necessary).
I guarantee that if you play with the team, you’re level of playing will go up dramatically, the team will win, and you’ll probably score more goals.
Commitment and Dedication
The most important aspect of all. As in everything in life, you need to commit to this and to all the aspects I mentioned above. The only way to be a great forward or striker is to work for it every single day. Make the effort and the reward will be worth it.