Every team looks to their front men to provide the majority of their goals. If you’re not ready to take the chances when they fall to you, then your team will struggle to get results. It might look like strikers at the top level have a natural ability to find the net, but I can guarantee the world’s best goal scorers will spend hours on the training ground sharpening these skills.
In every game there are likely to be split seconds which determine the outcome, you may only get one opportunity to make the difference, so you need to be equipped to take it. The best way to do this is to work on finishing in as many game-scenarios as you can. Keep working on putting the ball in the net until it becomes instinctive. Once you get to a point where scoring on the training ground becomes second nature, you’ll find that you automatically start to become more prolific on the pitch.
Darren Bent has firmly established himself as one of the Barclays Premier League’s most prolific strikers. Bent’s professional career began with Ipswich Town where he established himself as a name to watch scoring an impressive 55 goals in 116 appearances, in all competitions for the club.
His goal-scoring ability was widely recognised and he signed for Charlton Athletic prior to the start of the 2005/06 season. In his debut season with the club, Bent was the highest scoring Englishman in the Barclays Premier League with 18 goals and received Charlton’s ‘Player of the Season’ award. His goal-scoring prowess continued in the 2006/07 season with 13 goals for the club, again finishing the season as Charlton’s top goal-scorer.
Signing for Tottenham Hotspur in June 2007, Bent notched an impressive 25 goals in 43 appearances in all competitions during two seasons with the club. Once again, Bent was named as his club’s top goal-scorer in the 2008/09 season with 12 goals.
Seeking a fresh challenge, Bent signed for Sunderland for the 2009/10 season. Proving his Premier League pedigree, Bent has been smashing in the goals again this season, cementing his position as one of the League’s top marksmen. On this form he will be pushing hard to be in England’s World Cup squad, and inflict his deadly finishing on the rest of the world in South Africa.
Finishing Master Class - Questions & Answers
Darren Bent talks about his experiences in the game.