Ah, the defender’s art: the subtle grab, the cheeky barge, the full-on shove when the ref isn’t looking. Despite how much some emotional modern forwards might like to protest otherwise, football is still a contact sport, and if you’re going to find yourself space to shoot, you’re sometimes going to need to literally fight for it.
This Zlatan-inspired drill from elite conditioning coach Jamie Reynolds is a good way of replicating match time rough and tumble for forwards: he invites you to line up three balls, then drive headlong into a rugby-style rucking shield, simulating the driving away of a marker, before taking a shot. The perfect toughening up tool.
Reynolds is the founder of Velocity Training Club. For more information visit velocitytrainingclub.co.uk and follow @jamie_velocity
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