Near-Post Flick-On

A glancing header at the near post is the highest-scoring corner in the game.

Big target attacks the near post to glance the ball on; two runners crash the back post and six-yard line behind the defence.

The setup

Your best header of the ball starts central and attacks the near post. Two runners stage wide and deep.

The movement

The target glances the inswinger across goal; the late runners arrive behind the defensive line to finish.

Why it works

Everything in this routine is about making the ball travel across the six-yard box rather than into it. A defender heading a ball that is coming towards them is comfortable — they are facing the flight, they can attack it, and they clear it upfield. A defender dealing with a ball that has already been flicked on behind them is in trouble: it is moving away from their eyeline, the keeper is committed to the near-post flight, and the finish is often from two yards.

The target does not need to win a duel or generate power. They need to get in front of their marker and make contact — a redirection, not a header at goal. That is a far lower bar than out-jumping a centre-half, which is why this works for teams who are not physically dominant. What decides the routine is the delivery: near-post, head height, moving away from the keeper. Get that wrong and the whole thing collapses into a routine corner.

Coaching points

• Aim the delivery for the front edge of the six-yard box, head height.
• The target only has to redirect it — back-post runners attack the space behind.
• Time the back-post runs LATE so defenders can’t track and head clear.

Common mistakes

• Aiming for the target rather than the space. The delivery should be struck to a point on the front edge of the six-yard box whether or not anyone gets there — the target runs onto it, they do not stand and wait for it.
• The back-post runners going too early. If they are already in the box when the ball is struck, they get picked up and the flick-on lands on a defender. The run has to start as the taker begins their approach.
• Putting your biggest player on the flick. You want your best timer of a jump at the near post, not your tallest — the contact is a glance, and being early beats being big.
• Using an outswinger. The ball has to be moving towards the goal for a glance to carry across it; an outswinger flicked on goes away from danger.

How to drill it

Start without defenders and without a keeper. Taker and target only, ten deliveries, and the single instruction is that the ball must be redirected across the face of goal — mark a cone at the back post and count how many glances reach it. Nothing else matters until the delivery and the contact are repeatable.

Then add the two back-post runners and a keeper, still unopposed, and work only on the timing of the runs: the runners should be arriving as the flick happens, not waiting for it. Add two defenders last. Most sides add defenders far too early, and the session becomes a scrap rather than a rehearsal.

Common questions

Do we need a tall target man for this?

No. The contact is a glance rather than a power header, so timing the jump and getting in front of the marker matter more than height. Plenty of teams use a quick, well-timed attacker at the near post precisely because defenders expect a big one.

What if the opposition put a defender on the near post?

Move the delivery a yard further out, so the target is attacking the ball in front of that defender rather than behind them. If they commit two players to the near post they have weakened the middle, which is what the back-post runners are there to punish.

Inswinger or outswinger?

Inswinger. The routine depends on the ball already travelling towards goal so that a glancing contact carries it across the six-yard box. An outswinger requires the target to generate all the direction themselves, which turns a redirection into a proper header.

Category: Corner

Open this routine on the free board — move the players, draw your own runs, share it with your squad.