Positions Defined: The Striker

In an attempt to add more value to the website and at the same time, cure my boredom, I am going to start a new series called “Positions Defined”. A segment where we will study the different positions that can be found on the football field. Feel free to add your comments at the end of every edition. Today, we will look at one of the specialist positions, the striker.

The striker can be considered as one of the toughest positions to play. A game of football is about winning and in order to win, you need to score goals. As a striker, you are expected, at times, demanded to score goals for the team. There are a few types of strikers that can be found in the modern game.

The Big Man – Usually a tall, physical player who acts as a target man. Strong in the air and powerfully-built to hold the ball and bring others into play. Teams that play a long ball system usually employ such a player to knock down high balls to onrushing teammates. Examples include Duncan Ferguson, John Carew and Mark Viduka.

The Fox in a Box – A true finisher. If this man gets the ball in the penalty area, chances are he will put the ball into the back of the net. This player usually is not involved in the build-up of the plays. However, he possesses good positioning and often can find the tiniest of space to exploit. Tony Cottee, Filippo Inzaghi and Yakubu would be prime examples.

The Speed Demon – His game is all about speed. Using his superlative pace, he explodes past opponents and is very deadly in one-on-one situations. He feeds off the Big Man, waiting for scraps to fall around the box. Speed demons are usually predictable and masters at beating the offside trap, simply because they do not need to be in line with the last defender. Michael Owen, Andrew Johnson and David Villa are some speed demons.

The Flair Ones – A new breed of striker. They are in abundance eversince defenses have become more organized and difficult to crack. Such players have exceptional dribbling skills and have the capacity to conjure up the unexpected. They are unpredictable and they are perhaps the type of strikers who are very involved in the build-up of plays. Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez and Ibrahimovic are examples of such players.

So what type of striker are you? Considering that we are having problems up front, it’s probably good for our strikers to envision what type of striker you are. Most importantly, every striker needs to have good finishing and they need to have confidence. Strikers need a run of games to get their scoring touch. Personally, I suggest electing strikers within the team and stick them in the position. Do not move them around the pitch. As mentioned earlier, the striker position is a specialist one.

I hope you enjoyed this segment. Please leave your comments! Go Redbacks!

Super Friday

NUS Staff: 1
Redbacks: 4

Venue: NUS Stadium
Scorers: Khai(2), Ayyub(P), Shahrin

It was an eventful outing for the Redbacks FC for the first time getting out of a Sunday bubble to play a game on a Friday evening at the newly revamped NUS field under a floodlight. Expecting to have shortage of players due to work commitment to most of our regulars. RBFC invited guest player in Rosli, Shahrin and Khai to fill up our left and right midfield and striking postion. The NUS outfit being at home were looking very serious with their football which comprised of a olden Singapore Premier League outfit and afew Chinese expats that looks very fit during their routine warmup.

The game started exactly at 7pm under the full floodlight agreed to be played 45min each half. RBFC employed the 4-4-2 formation with Fauzi between the post, Hisham, Azam, Sani and Bob at the back four, Shahrin, Faiz, Azhar and Rosli made the four midfield and Irwan and Ming the forwards. Sizing up each other in the first 10 minutes, the midfield duo of Faiz and Azhar identified their key link and Faiz began to realise that we have a true winger in Shahrin and Rosli as he never played with these 2 seasoned footballers before. The centre mid could stroked the ball to left and right and knew support will be there everytime without fail. RBFC dominated the first half with beautiful simple and effective football. The four midfielder were doing magic in the middle of the park with the simple one twos, flicks and backheels creating chance after chance for the forward to finish. Fortunately for the opponent there’s 2 clear cut and countless half chances that Irwando and Ming should have finished. 1 beautiful volley that Irwando strucked cleanly went screaming over the bar and a point blank header that he should have knocked it down but instead he look up and the chance gone begging. The first half ended nil all courtesy of Irwando.

Hisham’s observation said it all, he commented the first half RBFC played like a team that has been together for a very long time, the soccer was simply fantastic. After the half time debrief, formation was maintained with changes made to the forwards and defence and the fabulous four midfield was left untouched. Ayyub and Khai replaces Irwan and Ming upfront and Raizal slot in the right full back.

RBFC went about playing the sweet possesive football in the 2nd half. At one point RBFC possessed the ball for a very long with most of the attacked came from the midfield. The four midfielders masterminded the moves with patience and precise delivery switching from left to right. The first goal scored by Khai receiving the square from the right thru Rosli’s cross. The 2nd goal came from the left where a neat one two’s and simple touched were played between Azhar, Shahrin and Khai. Khai running with the ball from the left with no where to go, then Azhar made a run that dummied the defender who freed up Khai to shoot at goal.

With 2 – 0 in favor of RBFC, we were cruising, NUS got their break when an intended thru ball deflected via the referee and the ball fell nicely at the feet of the NUS striker which in our opinion was offside, the Striker made it 2-1. RBFC’s 3rd goal came off a penalty taken by Ayyub, he was fouled in the penalty box trying latched a thru ball from Azhar . The last goal came from a individual thunderous shot by Shahrin from the left after receiving switched pass from the Centre mid. The game ended RBFC 4, NUS Staff 1.

Ended the memorable Friday night with dinner and at the Prata House in Pasir Panjang, Truely a Super Friday.

Stole the win

Selamba: 1
Redbacks: 2

Venue: Yusof Ishak Sec Sch
Scorers: Kai, Jaz

The Spiders came back from a goal down to claim a 2-1 victory over their hosts. The game was supposed to be cancelled due to a lack of players but after much coaxing from our opponents, we turned up. We understand how it’s like to be stood up by opponents, therefore, we were unwilling to do the same to fellow footballing enthusiasts. A few guest players were activated and for a second time in our short history, we had to loan a goalkeeper from our kind hosts, much to the relief of this player.

Azam didn’t have a chance to try out his intended “first eleven” for the game, so we had to make do with the players that we had. Azam and Faiz played in the middle of defence with Bob and Aki at the sides. Azhar and his nephew were in the middle of midfield with Jaz and Ming operating on the wings. Kai partnered Akid, Azhar’s son, upfront. The attackers were having a fruitful outing, creating chance after chance. Kai, Ming, Jaz and Faiz all had good opportunities to score, but nobody could make the breakthrough. Ming, in particular, was constantly troubling the opponents with his intelligent off-the-ball running and pressuring.

At the other end, Azam was troubled by the opponent’s huge number 24 and kept us entertained by missing the ball when he kept saying it was “his”. Aki was having a surprisingly good outing at right back and Bob kept firing jibes at a sterile forward line. Azhar showed the team how a centre midfielder should play in a 4-4-2 formation, eating up every blade of grass and providing a key link between defense and offense. It was goalless at half-time.

Our hosts upped the ante by introducing younger, fitter and more skillful players in the second half. They added another big man in midfield with the intention of intimidating our players. He even indulged in slapping the heads of some bewildered Spiders and apologizing immediately afterwards. Perhaps he was jealous that our players had more hair and were better-looking than him. The game opened up and our hosts deservedly got their opening goal, with their striker finishing off a move at the near post.

Redbacks persevered to find a way back into the game. With Faiz doing brilliantly in the defensive midfielder’s role with his running and aggression, Azhar took the chance to move further up the field. After making some space for himself, he smacked a thunderous shot that the keeper miraculously parried onto the crossbar. The ball bounced back into play and this time, Kai stooped low to head the ball into the unguarded net. Game on!

The goal sparked the Spiders with a strong belief that we could possibly steal the win. We poured forward, searching for the winner. Wan Handsome and Azam kept the backline steady, providing the platform for our players to attack. Then, Aki did what he does best. Winning free kicks. Sensing that the end of the game was near, Jaz stepped up to take the kick. In his “one-leg kicking” state, he hit a fierce shot that went in off the crossbar to put the Spiders ahead. The referee then blew the whistle to end the game. A win stolen from the jaws of defeat.

p.s.: The Redbacks would like to wish all mothers our there a Happy Mother’s Day. You are the reason we are who we are today. Thank you for all the love, guidance and support you have given us. There will never be anyone who can take your place. We love you, mothers

Wings? Just Falling…

Hady Mirza FC: 6
Redbacks: 1

Venue: ITE Simei
Scorer: Azam (p)

The Spiders could really use some wings just now. Too bad those things are alien to an arachnid. We faced off against a team which had Asian Idol, Hady Mirza, in it. Yes, that Hady Mirza, no other. Perhaps that explained why we were playing like a bunch of wide-eyed, teenage autograph hunters. We had more supporters than usual, but we wondered if it was for us. It was almost prophetic then that Hady got the first goal after we got our bearings totally off when dealing with a free kick.

We managed to equalize when Ridzwan earned us a penalty. This time, it was Azam’s turn to fulfill his prophecy. Having declared his interest in taking the next penalty, he hit this one with a lot of venom that the keeper failed to keep it out despite getting a hand to it. From that moment on, everything went downhill.

Fauzi’s weak throw lead to the 2nd goal and more abject defending allowed one of their players all the time in the world to place the ball beyond our keeper’s reach. It was not much different in the next half as our hosts scored three more goals to make it an emphatic victory.

In all fairness, we had our chances to get ourselves back into the game. We carved out a lot of chances, some one-on-one breakthroughs. However, we cannot seem to beat their goalkeeper, who was in outstanding form, making some point-blank saves. Our manager, Azam, tried to get another penalty by attempting a dive in the opponents penalty area, but the only thing he earned was tons of laughter all around. Way to go, boss.

In the end, it was a story of have and have-nots. They had good finishing, we didn’t.