Turn, shoot, score – every time

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Back to goal? No problem. Beat the defender and goalkeeper like Zlatan with this drill from Edu Rubio, MK Dons’ head of academy coaching

THE SETUP

Place a mannequin 10-15 yards from the D, next to the receiver (aka ‘Zlatan’ – hair bun optional), with a defender five yards away on both sides. Three passers stand 20 yards deeper, at different angles to the receiver. Mark out a rectangular box around the D, slightly wider than the six-yard box.

THE DRILL

‘Zlatan’ receives the 20-yard pass and turns to beat the mannequin, using only two touches, before shooting from inside the marked-out box. As soon he touches the ball, one of the two defenders tries to stop him scoring. Each ‘Zlatan’ gets nine attempts, three from each passer – see who scores most. Goals count only if the shot came from inside the box with no more than two touches taken in beating the mannequin.

 

HOW THIS HELPS

The drill works a player’s first touch, close control, shooting accuracy and strength in holding off a defender.

 

The Zlatan Ibrahimovic training guides

The Zlatan workout
Evade your marker in the box
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: How to play as a targetman

This drill was designed by Edu Rubio, MK Dons’ head of academy coaching. Follow @CoachEduRubio

Huw Davies

Huw was on the FourFourTwo staff from 2009 to 2015, ultimately as the magazine's Managing Editor, before becoming a freelancer and moving to Wales. As a writer, editor and tragic statto, he still contributes regularly to FFT in print and online, though as a match-going #WalesAway fan, he left a small chunk of his brain on one of many bus journeys across France in 2016.