The Art of Goalscoring
This is the second installment of our “The Art Of” series where we cover the most important skills in football — dribbling, goalscoring, and defending.
Last time, the focus was on dribbling.
What’s a football game without goals?
Some of football’s greatest marksmen, the likes of Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski, Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappé, Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane, Mohammed Salah and Erling Haaland are notable for their lethal finishing in front of goal.
Simply put, goals win football matches.
Cristiano Ronaldo doing what he does.
Goalscoring techniques
Finishing techniques separate prolific goal scorers from average ones. These techniques range from first-time shots to powerful volleys to precise placed shots to delicate chips to headers and deft touches around the keeper. The clinical finishers we’ve seen over the years have a combination of these in their locker and execute the most appropriate technique depending on the scenario and likelihood of scoring.
Robert Lewandowski with a clever run and finish.
Robert Lewandowski opting for power to beat the keeper.
The key to these finishes all require calmness under pressure and the ability to make split-second decisions.
Would you rather be a great goalscorer or a scorer of great goals?
It’s a fascinating question. Being a great goal scorer requires consistency while scoring great goals can be a result of being a great goalscorer, but it isn’t dependent on it.
How to become a better goalscorer
Like most things in football, the art of goalscoring can be learned. You can make gains with lots of practice.
Scoring goals consistently and being in the right place at the right time can seem like luck. The reality is that it requires great off-the-ball movement and timing to be in the right areas to evade defenders, followed by calmness under pressure and composure to finish the chance.
Luis Suarez header vs England at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
You can become a better goalscorer doing these things regularly:
Dedicating time to shooting drills, aiming for different parts of the goal
Improving your first touch so that you can set yourself up for better shooting opportunities
Practicing different shot types like volleys, chips and placed shots
Studying goalkeeper positioning and movements so you know when to catch them out
Simulating match conditions (when possible) so you can train under pressure and in real-time scenarios
Go on then, get to work ⚽.