The striker is standing with his back to goal, I am standing between him and the goal. The problem is whenever a ball is played to him he would shield me off and play a great pass.

My question is what do I do in this situation?

Do I concentrate on staying goalside of him and keep letting him do these great flicks and passes?

Or do I try to tackle him from behing and risk giving away a free kick?

Or is there another solution?

plenty of years on... now im a coach, if one of my defenders came to me with this scenario i would personally tell them the same thing. "goal side" is a term that you will hear at every single football match the world over. so dont under estimate its importance.

The problem you seem to have in my opinion is a lack of support from your team mates. If your holding a forward up and not allowing them to turn you, but they are finding a telling pass, then you need to explain to your own players to track back and close down quicker. After all... the striker wouldn't have the option of an easy pass if people closed down.

like i said, im  no expert but i would like to think im a logical person. so break it down simply to yourself. He doesn't turn you and score, he finds a pass that leads to a goal scoring oppotunity. He did'nt get passed you so you're doing your job. The only way he could make this pass is because one of your players isn't closing down their player. Quite simple as a written answer, but not so simple to irradicate on the pitch.

most coaches will tell you an 11-a-side game is actually eleven 1v1 games. You can only do your job, you cannot do everyone elses too.

Its a team game and only players working together as a team will succeed.

nhgfc.co.uk

1) b4 the striker get the ball, position yourself to intercept the passes.

2) challenge him hard for every 50-50 ball.you got to be harder than him. that make him more panic and less confident to hold on to the ball.

3) if he managed to get full control of the ball, not to close him up too near, that make him know where you are and easy for him to shield you, stay about one yard behind him, bent your body a bit low, eye on the ball and that make your more ready and quickly to thrust in for tackle or win the ball when he make his next move.

just to add one point on nhgfc, your teams attacker, especially midfielder have to stop opponents player from giving good passes to the striker. that will make your job more easier.

lastly, thank your coach for not teaching you!

Phuabh