Receiving the ball – sideways on, sole of the foot
It might sound easy to receive a pass, but anyone who has played as a pivot will know that any half-decent defender will be breathing down your neck.
To deal with this, the pivot needs to get their positioning and body shape right as they receive the ball. In practical terms, this means that they need to receive the ball with their body half-turned. In all the diagrams on this page, you will notice that the pivot is pictured on the half-turn, not turned straight back towards their own goal, but turned sideways.
Playing on the half-turn is something that can improve your game in all positions of the pitch. It’s especially important to do this when you’re playing as pivot. It allows the pivot both to see more (including having more sight of the defender marking them), but also to allow them to hold the opponent off and receive the pass on the foot furthest from the defender (safely out of their reach).
Eder Lima played the Pivot role for Russia at the European Championships in Antwerp and scored this sublime goal with clever movement playing deep and wide to create space for himself and his teammates.
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