I was just reading someone else's report on the poacher. Their theory on this was -
The poacher is someone like Filippo Inzaghi.
Everyone knows strikers like Filippo Inzaghi, Gerd Muller, Romario, Gabriel Batistuta, Cristian Vieri, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Hugo Sanchez and Michael Owen. They are all born goal-scorers with a similar playing-style.
They are goal poachers who tend to stay forward at all times and work in and around the penalty area to ****** goals. These players are known for their positional sense, predatory instincts, excellent reflexes and finishing ability.
These men have almost predator-like instincts, stalking a defence until it slips up and pouncing on every opportunity. He’s what the British would call a fox-in-the-box, the sort of striker who plies his trade based on intelligence and plies it well, scoring many goals.
These men have the ability to remain patient and focused throughout a match. They know a defence will slip up once during ninety minutes and when they do, they will be ready for it, ready to punish the defence for their moment of weakness.
These players are constantly playing on the edge, playing on the shoulder of the last defender. They tend to get caught off-side quite a bit, but when they’re through, they will put the ball away.
If I could name one weakness in the typical style of the fox-in-the-box, it’s not even one he can be held accountable for. He’s relying on service. Players like Batistuta, Huntelaar and Inzaghi are not the kind of striker to create their own chances, like say a Zlatan Ibrahimovic. These guys need that good cross or brilliant through-ball to score his goals, so when his team-mates don’t deliver, neither can they.
Looking at the stats that are vital for this striker, I want to start out with the mental stats. There is no intuition stat to reflect the predatory instinct of the fox-in-the-box, but a combination of different mental stats gives you a proper idea of what it should look like.
First of all, you need this player to have composure. It’s pretty logical when you think about it. When this striker appears all alone in front of the keeper, he needs to keep his cool and just finish the chance he has been given. Composure ensures that he does.
We also want a player with flair. He must be able to do the unexpected. Can he do things that will surprise a defence? Flair determines a player’s ability to do just that.
Regarding their ability to find the space behind the defence, we must look towards attributes like anticipation and off the ball. Can a player read the game and anticipate on situations by positioning himself well?
You also don’t want your fox to dally or dwell on the ball. This gives a defence time to recover, which is exactly what we don’t want happening. A high stat for decisions is therefore important. A player needs to make a decision in a split-second and act upon it.
Technical attributes are less important, as there are only two really important technical attributes for a fox-in-the-box. Because these players have to operate in a tight space, it is absolutely vital that their technique and first touch is superb. If he can’t control the ball properly in a tight space, he won’t be able to function properly.
Last but not least we have a look at the physical stats. Basically, pace and acceleration are the most important ones. These players are playing on the edge of off-side, so they need their speed to get away from defenders.
All in all, the following attributes are vital for a fox-in-the-box:
- Off the Ball:
- Anticipation:
- Composure:
- Flair:
- Decisions:
- First Touch;
- Finishing;
- Pace;
- Acceleration.
Setting tactical instructions that force our fox to play as part of the team will not get the best out of him. This means he has a lot of customised instructions in order to achieve maximum efficiency.
Since you want this player to do his own thing upfront, I recommend giving him a high mentality combined with a free role and a lot of creative freedom, so he can wander around looking for space to exploit.
I would also highly recommend setting the striker as a target man combined with the run onto ball instruction. It’s really just common sense and it seems like the best way to get the best out of your fox-in-the-box.
Regarding other instructions, I’d set run with ball to often. The guy needs to exploit space, so he yes, he will have to run with the ball quite a bit. This means setting run with ball to often is logical.
Through balls should be set to rarely. This guy is not on the pitch to pass the ball, but to finish chances. He should be on the receiving end of a through ball, he is not the one giving the pass.
The guy shouldn’t be bothered with crossing the ball, so don’t touch the crossing settings. Same goes for the hold up ball option. This player is meant to act fast, not delay play.
---------- Post added at 08:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 PM ----------
Quite an interesting read im going to test this theory of high mentality and freedom and i will see how it works.
