Ends May 12th 2025 
Built by professional Analysts, this step by step walk through of the most important attacking concepts in football will help you better understand how to score more goals. Use this information to plan better sessions, build an attacking philosophy and develop individual players to be more dangerous. With video examples for each concept, this course explains elite-level data analysis principles used by the world’s top clubs in a digestible and usable format.
HOMECOURSESModern Attacking Play
Modern Attacking Play
Full
Syllabus
6+ hrs
Duration
Self Paced
Course
Included
Certificate
Modern
Attacking Play
See what makes top teams like Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal & Chelsea score more goals than the rest. Understand what world-class data analysts have highlighted as the most important types of shots & passes in modern football, and how professional teams use this information to find and coach their players.
Club’s staff who have taken our courses before
Clubs/Federations
Featured Course Contributor:
Example course content:
You'll learn from:
✅ Video examples of Premier League players related to all the concepts explained
✅ Easy to read charts, graphs & shot maps created by professional Data Analysts
✅ Simple tasks anybody can complete
✅ Focusing on world-class players & teams to explain detailed attacking concepts
Value certain shots, passes and attacking principles to score more goals
Build a full team philosophy in attack to mimic the Premier League's best teams
Develop individual attacking players by valuing the things that matter most
Full Course Description
Featured
COURSE TUTORS
Oliver Gage
Oliver also launched an analysis education platform for players and coaches named CoachTech which has ceased operations as he joined the APFA.
Lucy Rushton
Lucy Rushton is the General Manager and Head of Technical Recruitment & Analysis at DC United in MLS and one of the most prominent female’s in professional football. Prior to her role with DC United, Lucy was the Head of Technical Recruitment & Analysis at Atlanta United where Lucy was pivotal in identifying and signing Miguel Almiron who was later transferred to Newcastle United for an MLS record fee. Lucy won the MLS Cup in with Atlanta 2018.
Jim Curtin
Jim Curtin is Head Coach of Philidalphia Union. Under Curtin, the Union won their first ever MLS regular season title and no team has taken more points than them from 2019-2022. Known for his innovative approach to analysis and player involvement, Curtin could be described as a modern facilitator who gives players ideas and tools to self-develop with targeted guidance.
Click to expand details
COURSE MODULES
Learn how to navigate through the course modules and APFA platform.
We use data and video to look at crosses, why they’re beginning to become less common at the elite level, and how crossing has changed over the years as data has become more prominent in football.
Understand where goals come from most often in the Premier League and across football in general. See why we remember special goals over the others and what this means for Players, Analysts and Coaches.
Identifying one of the most dangerous passes in football. See who plays them more than others and why they lead to goals more than almost any other type of pass. Watch video examples from the Premier League’s best creative players.
Focus on one of the Premier League’s best goalscorers in modern times. Why he scored more goals than others and what we can learn from studying him in depth. See videos of his goals to demonstrate key principles.
A second extremely dangerous pass. We look at what they are, why they are so dangerous and who plays them the most. Watch video of the Premier League’s best in action.
Looking at other prolific scorers like Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Raheem Sterling & Mo Salah. What makes them score more goals? And do we over-value certain skills we think influence goals, but might not? Video examples from these elite Premier League players provided.
See why pressing high has become so prominent, why fast attacks are more dangerous and why so many goals come following a turnover. Watch the best pressers in action and see that data combined with video.
Showing how player & team decisions can impact goal scoring, we use Andros Townsend & Wilfred Zaha to demonstrate how similar players can have very different goal scoring records on the same team. We use video examples to break down the principles from the previous modules.
Using all the information from the course, we identify what makes ‘The Big 6’ teams in the Premier League more dangerous than others. Access a Premier League data-set and see if you can identify the best teams based now you’ve looked at attacking play in more detail.
Side by side examples of almost identical situations where Zaha & Townsend make different decisions resulting in success for Zaha while Townsend struggles.
We show how modern Data Analysts can highlight dangerous passes and patterns of play to help recruit and develop players.
See the results from the previous module. Did you correctly identify the best teams in the league based on shots, through balls, cutbacks etc? Submit your information for a certificate of completion.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ
Anybody who wants to learn about Performance Analysis, how it’s used to make more informed football decisions, and how professional teams use it. The course has been tested by professional Coaches & Analysts as well as those aspiring to gain a paid role in the industry. It’s suitable for Coaches or Analysts in US colleges, academies, semi-pro and professional teams. It’s also a great first step for those hoping to gain a role in the football industry.
The course is online and on-demand so you can learn on your own schedule and at your own pace. All the course content is embedded in webpages, so as long as you have an internet connection you can access it.
A combination of the APFA ambassadors and course contributors. Everybody who had input to the course has worked as a professional Analyst or Head Coach.
Most people take 15-20 hours to complete the course, but you can go at your own pace.
Course fees help fund the APFA in giving back the football community. They help us power the website, put on networking and career events, host webinars and fund opportunities for under-represented groups. The APFA also donates to charitable causes. For more information on this check out the ‘About Us’ section of the site.
Possibly. But this course requires, watching lots of video content, reading PDF documents and building a written plan. You might be able to do it on a tablet with a larger screen, but a laptop would be best.
When you’re ready, purchase the course and you’ll receive a confirmation email with access details. The course will also be available via your membership account which you either already have, or you’ll create during the checkout process.