Forward:
Winger – Left and Right
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Currently, most of the best players in the world play in this position and as a result of the devastating impact wingers have, the role has attained supreme importance. Pace is the first key ability of a winger followed by dribbling ability to take on defenders and finally the end-product in terms of goals and assists. Wingers usually hug the touchlines and deliver the ball from there while more technical players can cut in and involve in the play as well.
A new breed of wingers came about in the last decade and they are called the inverted wingers. Popularised by Netherlands and Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben, these inverted wingers play on the side opposite to that of their preferred shooting foot. For example, Robben plays on the right wing despite being left-footed and vice-versa for the right-footed inverted wingers.
This allows for these players to cut inside from the touchline onto their stronger foot, shifting the marking full-back onto their weaker foot and thereby causing havoc and scoring goals at will. Most of the wingers these days play in the inverted winger position. The current best players in the world, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Eden Hazard, Alexis Sanchez and Gareth Bale all have their preferred position as an inverted winger.
Second striker and Deep-lying Forward
This is another position that is located between the attacking midfielder and striker and is normally used when the attacking midfielder is absent in the formation. This leads to the second striker being involved in the creation part as well apart from scoring.
The position is not a well-defined one with the requirements of good passing skills, vision along with scoring ability similar to that of an attacking midfielder. However, second strikers or deep-lying forwards are strikers first and creators next. Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney in recent years and Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero are some of the best players in this role.
