(aka "Onball Attacker"). The "First Attacker" is the player with the ball. The terms "First Attacker", "Second Attacker", and "Third Attacker" are useful in teaching your "Attacking Plan". You may want to teach that there should always be a First, Second, and Third Attacker and what their jobs are. The First Attacker's job is to "penetrate" (i.e., attack the goal) by passing, dribbling or "centering" the ball to a space in front of the goal. When one of your players has the ball, there must always be at least one Second Attacker who is close enough for a pass. (This is called "Support"). For example, if your LF is attacking down the left side on the opponent's half of the field, the LMF should "trail" her as a Second Attacker, stay a pass away, and be ready for a "Back Pass", while the other Forward should run toward the "Near Post" as another Second Attacker and the other MF should run foward the "Far Post" as the Third Attacker, to be ready for a "Cross" or a "Rebound". The Second and Third Attackers should stay 3 steps behind the ball so they won't be offside and can run onto the Cross. There can be more than one Second Attacker (which is defined as a supporting attacker within a pass of the ball). You must have Second and Third Attackers to have an effective attack. You can define Second Attackers as those within a short to medium passing distance and Third Attackers as those in scoring position or running with the attack but a long pass away from the First Attacker. (See "Cross", "Finish", "Rebound", "Styles of Play", "Support", "Trailer", "Second Attacker", "Third Attacker" & "Third Man Running").