The Role of a Number 9

In soccer, players are usually numbered by coaches so the team officials know who they are talking about. A number not only refers to a player but to a certain position so it happens loads of times during the game that after an interchanging movement players “change” numbers. This means that the players change positions and roles as well.
The numbering of the positions have changed a couple of times during the evolution of the sport because the most famous system of play changed either. While goalkeepers are always described as number 1-s in the team’s line-up, the center forward is always given the number 9. This was true for any system from the WM to one of the nowadays favorite 4-3-3.
Although the position of the number 9 hasn’t changed during the time, the roles and special tactical tasks and character types have.
Analyzing the characters of the number 9s, we can realize that more profile fits into the role of this special position.
At the early stages soccer players played without a position to stick to. However, roles existed so every player knew which is his or her role during a game. After the positions became a little bit clearer and position-based games happened, the number 9 character was the one that was good in attacking and so much worse in defending. The original role and task of the 9 was to get the ball, dribble through the defenders and most importantly, to score goals.
Later coaches realized that natural finishing players could arrive in the front of the goal for crosses as well, so coaches chose bigger and more robust players than before. At this point, the role started to separate.
As the evolution continued, these two striker profiles were added one more kind of striker: the one that was able to leave his/her position to assist the teammates. This unexpected change messed up the opponent’s static, man-marking defensive idea. It’s because the striker dropped back and the defender marking him had a really difficult decision whether to follow him or not, moreover they needed to decide until when they would follow the striker as they didn’t want to give their original center-back position up.
So many years later, as the defensive units and the methodology of Sacchi have been found really effective and successful, it spread all over the world, so the striker(s) has been given important tasks in defending. Not only were they trying to disturb the opponent’s build-up, but often they had to drop back to their own half and fill the empty space keeping the distance from the midfielders, too. This required more action and motion from them, so they started to be more athletic in the sense of agility, stamina and running speed. Of course, in the beginning, their task was only to lay the long balls down, but when they dropped back, they had to intervene the play from more aspects.
As it was needed, number 9s started to be part of the build-up play, but stayed near the penalty box after a well-composed build-up. They sometimes realized that they find more space on the flanks so if they wanted to affect the game, they had had to run towards the flanks, behind the opponent’s full-back. This led to another unwanted confusion from the defenders’ side.
Many coaches used systems, like the 4-4-2 where they had two strikers with different tasks and tactical instructions. This led to the fact that one striker may have left his/her role and the other stayed there.
All of these happenings made the coaches think to start the games with striker(s) with very different profiles. Of course, the profile and the tactical instructions were defined by the style of play. To this approach, choosing the appropriate players are really important.
Most of the time when we are talking about styles of play, we often mention the quality and the attributes/approach of the number 9s.

The striker movement profiles in attack could be these:

• Static number 9 – the player who stays near the penalty box and is waiting for good crosses or any other types of assist. These players are the best in this sense, but they are born finishers.
• Wide number 9- the player that usually leaves his/her central position and moves towards the flanks. Usually, this player is fast-paced to ask and run for balls into space behind the opponent’s full backs.
• Positional number 9- the player who usually drops back in case when it’s needed, but still is able to keep his/her position and occupy one or two key defenders. He/she is able to open up spaces for team-mates, but strong enough to keep the position if needed. Strength and high-level technical skills with the opponent’s goal behind him/her is a really important aspect.
• Invisible number 9- Sometimes it happens that a number 9 position is almost never filled persistently. In this case, the striker dropped back, left the original position but is always ready to action to arrive in the right moment.
• False 9

The False 9

It is worth taking a turn towards the position of the False 9. As number 9 is not a player, but a position, it usually refers to the player that fills up that position for a period of time. False 9 is the player that usually starts from the number 9 position and possibly ends up anywhere on the pitch for his/her team good. Always supports the build-up play and the possession, but always keeping in mind that he/she can effectively occupy the opponent’s defense if the movement is at the right time according to the game situation.
A false 9 usually moves towards the actual position of the ball to leave his/her defenders and create a numerical advantage for the team in possession. After this player left the number 9 position, he/she usually tries to arrive at the best moment in front of goal to finish the attacks with a goal. With this unpredictability and sometimes “invisibility”, a false 9 player is really hard to defend against.
This has been the case for one of the first times when the number 9 dropped back effectively and nowadays this player can really help the team in possession with the numerical advantage he/she provides.

How to train the Number 9s?

There are plenty of ways to develop the qualities of a number 9, but this process always starts with analyzing the previous games and actions. After this analysis, the number 9 can train with an individual trainer, in a group (for example: only with the attacking players) or in a team, collectively. The most important is to understand the expected profile and develop the movements in the best way possible. Sometimes finishing drills can be great tools for improving the abilities of a striker.

There are many different types of finishing drills, like this one: Competitive Finishing

This drill not only requires quality finishing, but a quick change between the tasks, decision-making, stepping back on the pitch, quick change of direction and counter-anticipation as well in a competitive environment.

Shooting and finishing game: Shooting Game

These type of small-sided games are really important because it is not only beneficial from a conditional perspective, but natural born strikers will shine during these drills. They will see where the space is, when to drop back for the ball, when to make the game faster near the opponent’s goal. After losing the ball, they will have the opportunity to try to prevent the opponent from counter-attack.

Tactical unopposed practice: Building Attacks on the Wings in 4-3-3 Formation

Tactical drills and practices are really important as soccer is a technical-based game. But the coach must find the right place to it; for example when the players need less stimuli for their cognitive recovery, this can be a useful tool to coach the attacking tactical movements of the players.

You can read about the use of the analytical and global drills here: Global vs. Analytical Soccer Coaching Method

Summary

The role of the number 9 has always been really important. Scouting, developing and coaching the best-profiled players are also very important. The team’s or club’s tradition often defines the expected attributes of such an important player as the number 9. This must always be taken into consideration when scouting other players or training them to play the way the coach wants.
The evolution of the number 9 position is a really interesting one, but there will always be different approaches between players when it comes to being effective by scoring goals.