Finishing football drills

Cutting inside onto the strong foot is the most predictable move in modern football, and it still works. Predictable is not the same as stoppable.

Offside is a timing skill wearing a rules problem's clothes. Break on the pass, not before it, and bend the run to come from behind.

The youngest players learn to attack by being brave. Two against one to a small goal, no keeper: run straight at the defender and have a go.

Knockout games are the most motivating format in youth football and give the least practice to the players who need it most.

Only chip a keeper who has committed and left his line. Stab under the ball for height and backspin rather than scooping it.

The turn is won before the ball arrives. Move the marker, show at an angle, take the first touch away from him, then finish low.

Read the flight early, get into the line, lock the ankle and strike through the middle. Getting under the ball is why volleys end up in row Z.

Rebound goals are decided before the shot is taken. Somebody has to already be moving while everyone else watches the strike.

A good first touch is not a still ball, it is a ball in a better place. Cushion it away from the marker and towards goal, then finish.

The most common clear chance in football, drilled from both sides. Striker decides early and places it, keeper sets, advances and spreads late.

Separation comes from movement, not speed. Go where you do not want the ball first, and the space behind opens by itself.

Draw the keeper out, wait for him to commit, then take it round him and roll it in. The finish that looks easy and is missed constantly.

In a shooting circuit the set is harder than the shot. A bad lay-off ruins a repetition for two players and nobody blames the setter.

Get to the byline first, then pull it back low and firm into the golden zone. The cutback beats a defence because everyone is facing the wrong way.

One defender facing two attackers has exactly one correct play, and it is to delay. Passing early lets him off the hook.

Beating a pair is a different problem from beating a man. The second defender is covering, so the move has to occupy him too.

The youngest players learn to shoot by scoring goals. Each child dribbles in and shoots at a small goal, no keeper, then fetches a ball and does it again.

Sole-of-the-foot control is not a stylistic flourish. On a hard floor with a low-bounce ball it is how a pivot keeps the ball at all.