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Striker/ Centre Forward:  The goal of the striker is exactly that; goals. Forward players start out just behind the opponent’s penalty area, with the number varying from one to three.

However, there are subtle differences in the style of striker: Target man The target man plays his football in the penalty area and acts as a focal point for attacks.

They are typically good ‘poachers’ (meaning they are opportunistic) and headers of the ball, but rely on chances made by the midfield.

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Notable target men

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Ronaldo (Brazil)

Gerd Müller (Germany)

Alan Shearer (England)

Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kyiv)

Raúl González (Real Madrid)

Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United)

Fernando Morientes ( AS Monaco)

Ronaldinho (Barcelona)

Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona)

Kaká (AC Milan)

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Withdrawn Striker/Deep-Lying Forward:  Much like the offside rule, the withdrawn striker is one of the hardest things to explain yet also one of the most important, being the position of some of the greatest players in football history.

 It is roughly defined as a forward player with both goalscoring and creative abilities, often tending towards the latter.

Popularised by Ferenc Puskás, the creative hub of the great Hungary side in the 1940s and 1950s, it gained further repute due to Diego Maradona (indeed, the term ‘Number Ten’ to define this position refers to Maradona’s shirt number for Argentina).

Such is the peculiarity of the position that the chosen tag differs from country to country, being known as the:

• trequartista in Italy
• the ‘Number Ten’ in South America and the
• ‘9 and a half’ in France.

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However, most of the greatest teams in the game have revolved around this type of player.

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