Can you teach a natural finisher’s instincts? McCann believes you can assist them. Give players the principles early, at eight, ten or twelve years old, and the talented ones become world class while ordinary players learn to score big goals too, something he saw in his own teams. He does not scout for goal scorers; he develops everyone and lets the good ones come forward. Watch the full masterclass: 9 yard scoring.
Asked how to build desire in a group of teenage girls, McCann’s answer is simple: make it fun first. He runs small goal-scoring tournaments within the squad, mixes older and younger players, or puts three goalkeepers and a handful of attackers in a tight area. Give players the tools to enjoy scoring, he argues, and the commitment the nine yard area demands follows on its own. Watch the full masterclass: 9 yard scoring.
You get about half a second. Once the ball goes past you, McCann says the race is to react and turn towards goal quicker than your defender, opening up to where the ball has gone. His rule is no spectators: nobody stops until the ball is in the net or out of the circle, because reaching goal thirty times for three goals beats never arriving at all. Watch the full masterclass: 9 yard scoring.
Stay or come? McCann runs a checklist: stay on the post when the passing angle is good or there is traffic between you and the ball, come when the angle is poor and the path is clear, usually late and over the defender’s right shoulder. Either way, set far enough off the post that your contact takes you towards goal, ideally inside the post. Watch the full masterclass: 9 yard scoring.
The contest is won before the ball arrives. McCann shows two routes, taking a front position or holding a ball-side position with your body between opponent and ball at the point of contact. Light body contact is fine: a small knock-off can buy a one or two metre jump on the defender, and winning the front position also draws penalty corners. Watch the full masterclass: 9 yard scoring.
Good rebounders turn a second or two before the shot, McCann explains, watching goalkeeper and goal with peripheral vision. He wants a low body position with hands in front, set early and far enough from where the ball will drop that you can react, then momentum going towards goal on contact. If your body is moving away from goal, the rebound can only go high. Watch the full masterclass: 9 yard scoring.
Hands in front of the body is the whole trick. On the receive McCann wants the right arm extended and the left working as a chicken wing, so body momentum, not a little hit, moves the ball and it stays the same distance from the feet. After that the forehand shot is pure footwork, while on the backhand the body follows the line of the ball. Watch the full masterclass: 9 yard scoring.
For McCann, mentality is everything. You cannot be worried about getting hit; you have to want the goal enough to put yourself there, even if it goes in off your foot. In training he never lets an exercise stop until the ball leaves the circle, and his video sessions highlight players who take up scoring positions even when the ball never arrives. Watch the full masterclass: 9 yard scoring.
Momentum decides which foot you shoot off. At full speed, McCann wants the forehand struck off the right foot and the backhand off the left, whether you are moving towards goal or away from it. He sees young players trying to hit flat out off the wrong foot, which is how knees get damaged, and notes the top goal scorers all do it correctly without thinking. Watch the full masterclass: 9 yard scoring.
Zone C, the 9 yard area, took 26% of all actions, and inside the circle C1 and C2 carry most of the shots and goals. The wide zones behave differently: L1 and R1 see plenty of activity but few goals, while the left side produced 27 penalty corners, so baseline and 1v1 defending matter there. He flags the right side, where R3 accounts for 4.3% of actions, as ground nobody has worked out yet. Watch the full masterclass: How analysts look at scoring.