Forward (association football)

In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders.

Shorter statured, more agile strikers like Michael Owen, Romário, Dries Mertens, Sergio Agüero, and Paulo Dybala have an advantage over taller defenders due to their short bursts of speed.

Good strikers should be able to shoot confidently with either foot, possess great power and accuracy, and have the ability to link-up with teammates and pass the ball under pressure in breakaway situations.

[19] Other creative offensive players who play further back, such as Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, Kaká, Rivaldo, Michael Laudrup, and Zinedine Zidane are often instead described as the "number 10", and usually operate as an attacking midfielder or advanced playmaker.

[20] Conceivably, a number 10 can alternate as a second-striker provided that the player is also a prolific goalscorer; otherwise, a mobile forward with good technical ability (dribbling skills and ball control), acceleration, vision, passing, and link-up play, who can receive the ball and retain possession, in addition to being capable of scoring goals and creating opportunities for a less versatile centre-forward, is more suited to playing in the second striker role.

They should also be capable of finishing well with either foot as well as their head (which is less common, seeing as many second strikers are diminutive creative players),[21] as this will lead to a good scoring percentage on attempts on goal and give their team an advantage offensively.

Although they are often deployed in a free role, and given "licence to roam", and either run forward, or drop further back in order to pick up the ball in deeper areas, giving them more time and space in possession, second or support strikers do not tend to get as involved in the orchestration of attacks as the number 10, nor do they bring as many other players into play, since they do not share the burden of responsibility, functioning predominantly in a supporting role as assist providers.

As football tactics have largely developed, and wingers have dropped back to become midfielders, the terminology has changed and "outside forward" has become a historical term.

They can be classified as forwards, considering their origin as the old "outside-forward" position, and continue to be termed as such in most parts of the world, especially in Latin and Dutch football cultures.

[31] In recent years there has been a trend of playing inverted wingers – wide players stationed on the 'wrong' side of the pitch, in order to enable them to cut inside and shoot on their stronger foot and sometimes provide in-swinging crosses.

This tactic was used by Frank Rijkaard, who, whilst at Barcelona, moved Lionel Messi from the left flank onto the right wing, initially against the player's wishes.

[32] Another example of a successful inverted winger partnership was Bayern Munich's pairing of the left-footed Arjen Robben alongside the right-footed Franck Ribéry, on the right and left flanks respectively.

[39] The "false winger" or "seven-and-a-half" is instead a label which has been used to describe a type of player who normally plays centrally, but who instead is deployed out wide on paper; during the course of a match, however, they will move inside and operate in the centre of the pitch, in order to drag defenders out of position, congest the midfield and give their team a numerical advantage in this area, so that they can dominate possession in the middle of the pitch and create chances for the forwards; this position also leaves space for full-backs to make overlapping attacking runs up the flank.

For example, certain managers have been known to use a "wide target man" on the wing, namely a large and physical player who usually plays as a centre-forward, and who will attempt to win aerial challenges and hold up the ball on the flank, or drag full-backs out of position.

Egil Olsen, while managing the Norway national football team, positioned Flo, usually a centre-forward, on the right flank to exploit the opposition full-backs' lack of aerial abilities.

[50] In South America, in 1941, River Plate's La Máquina team started using the left winger Adolfo Pedernera as a man of reference.

Before the start of the 1954–55 season, Manchester City manager Les McDowall called his team into pre-season training two weeks early to try the new tactic.

[58] Roma under manager Luciano Spalletti used Francesco Totti, nominally an attacking midfielder or trequartista, up-front in an innovative "4–6–0" formation in the mid-2000s;[59] this was met with a run of 11 consecutive victories.

[60] At Euro 2012, Spain manager Vicente del Bosque, although sometimes deploying Fernando Torres as a traditional striker, often used Cesc Fàbregas as a false 9 in several matches, including the final.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi has been an epitome of the false 9 position to much success in recent years, first under coach Pep Guardiola and later under his successor Tito Vilanova.

[49] In Italian football jargon, this role is historically known as the centravanti di manovra (which literally translates to "manoeuvring centre-forward"), due to the player's tendency to move freely and participate the build-up of attacking plays.

[6] These players are usually tall and physically strong, adept at heading the ball, and capable of playing with their back to goal in the final third of the pitch.

Some of the most high-profile examples of this type of players in modern football include Olivier Giroud and Fernando Llorente, both World Cup winners, with the former having played the entire tournament as a starting line-up forward tasked primarily with pressing, counter-pressing, winning high or loose balls, and providing key passes to quicker and more agile teammates, namely Antoine Griezmann or Kylian Mbappé.

Usually, the build-up play of a target forward will often consist of one of the following options: firstly, the goalkeeper will either launch a long kick or distribute the ball to a central defender or full-back.

[71] In a two-player front line, it is common for two forwards who complement one another to be paired together; for example, former Italy manager Cesare Maldini often used a large, physical, and prolific player as a traditional centre-forward – such as Christian Vieri – alongside a smaller, faster, creative and more technical player as a second striker – such as Roberto Baggio or Alessandro Del Piero.

[72][73] One of the most prolific forward combinations in the history of the game was the front three of Barcelona, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar, dubbed MSN.

[75] In 2017, Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, and Edinson Cavani scored a record-breaking number of goals for Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League group stage.

[76] The next year, the Liverpool attacking quartet of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Philippe Coutinho, dubbed the "Fab Four" (in reference to the Beatles), contributed to a record-breaking 47 goals for a single Champions League season.

Strikers can be involved in tactics such as high-pressing, cutting out passing lanes, defending set pieces, and tracking back (mostly for wingers).

According to the delay principle of defense in football is the idea that players should disturb the ball holder and block passing lanes, which is done in high-pressing and closing down.