Core skills are crucial for footballers to learn when mastering their art. Developing the in- and out-of-possession core skills, from strength to super strength, can be the difference between winning and losing games.
Crystal Palace once again enjoyed success in the sunshine at Wembley, picking up their second major trophy in three months with a 3-2 win on penalties against Liverpool following a 2-2 draw in the 2025 FA Community Shield. FA Learning Game Insights analyst Luke Saunders examines where the game was won and lost using a core skills lens.
What are the core skills?
The core skills of football are the building blocks of the sport and are present at every age and stage of the game. If you want to know what players need to work on to master some of them, check out the resources below:
Take a look at the image below to get a glimpse of how often the core skills occur in a game. It shows how frequently each of the in- and out-of-possession core skills occurred in the 2024/25 English Premier League season, separated by units — defenders, midfielders, and attackers.
This table shows the frequency of the in- and out-of-possession core skills for each unit of a team. The number shows how often each player within that unit performs each of the core skills. Data is per 90 minutes and is from the English Premier League 2024/25 season.
Defenders in the 2025/26 FA Community Shield
Seven defenders played a minimum of 80 minutes in the game. They averaged 52 attempted passes and 44 completed passes. The standout was Virgil van Dijk, who completed 49 of his 70 passes—the highest number of all defenders.
In fact, van Dijk registered the highest number of all in possession core skills for defenders, except for shots – 49 carries and 87 balls received in addition to his standout passing numbers. His ability on the ball dictates the tempo with which Liverpool attacks. He can decide to play direct, looking to exploit the space behind Crystal Palace’s defence, or play short and build through his midfielders. This highlights the importance of defenders being able to make decisions about when and where to play and getting opportunities to practise this skill in training.
This video shows two clips of Liverpool player Virgil van Dijk. The first involves him receiving the ball on the left-hand side of the pitch, with an open body shape on his first touch. He plays a long switch pass in the air on his second touch, aimed towards his teammate, Mohammed Salah, who is making a run to the edge of the box on the right-hand side. The second clip shows van Dijk receiving the ball centrally on the halfway line and uses his first touch to dribble into space in front of him, and his second touch to play a short pass to the side of him. His movement is then backwards into space, to receive the ball back and play a one-touch pass to another teammate. Liverpool then loses possession of the ball, and van Dijk recovers to defend the Crystal Palace attack.
This image shows Virgil van Dijk’s passing relationship with his teammates. Arrows between him and his teammates show that he made a minimum of 5 passes to them. The only player without an arrow is the right back, Frimpong. There are four red arrows which show the teammates he passed to the most often. These were: Alisson (GK), Kerkez (LB), Szoboszlai (LCM) and Wirtz (AM).
Midfielders in the 2025/26 FA Community Shield
Crystal Palace had three midfielders who played for a minimum of 80 minutes – Eberechi Eze, Ismaila Sarr and Adam Wharton. These three averaged 6 challenges, 2 shots, and 27 passes each. When we spotlight a player within a certain area of the pitch, Adam Wharton in the midfield 3rd stands out.
Across the whole of the pitch, Wharton received the ball 52 times, attempted 37 passes and completed 25 – all of these being the most of Crystal Palace’s midfield trio. More specifically, he was involved in the 2nd most transitions starting in the midfield 3rd, out of both teams (20), with only van Dijk registering more (22).
He scanned and spotted a trigger to transition quickly and took advantage of the space in Liverpool’s defence to assist Ismaila Sarr’s equaliser. This highlights the importance of midfielders being able to pass quickly when receiving the ball under pressure to combine with their teammates.
This video shows Crystal Palace player Richardson winning possession of the ball and playing a pass to Wharton. Wharton then plays a pass in behind to his teammate Sarr, who takes one touch and scores on his second touch. Sarr scores at the near post, past the Liverpool goalkeeper’s left-hand side.
This image shows the possession sequence for Ismaila Sarr’s goal. Richardson wins possession, plays it forward to Wharton who quickly passes to Sarr who takes a touch, moves with the ball and finishes to score.
Attackers in the 2025/26 FA Community Shield
2 attackers featured in this game – Hugo Ekitike (Liverpool) for 71 minutes and Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace) for the full match. Each player had 3 shots, 1 on target and 1 goal but it was Ekitike who was the busier of the 2 – he had 9 challenges, 12 carries, completed 14 of 16 passes and received the ball 25 times.
It was Ekitike’s impact in the attacking 3rd that made his core skills stand out. His ability to receive the ball under pressure and open his body to move the ball into space created the opportunity to score his goal.
For his goal, Liverpool showed off their core skills. The possession lasted nearly two minutes, with 48 passes involving every single player in the team. This highlights the importance for attackers to repeatedly practise being involved in long possessions and build-ups, whilst still being able to finish the possession with a goal.
This video shows Liverpool in possession of the ball, starting on the left-hand side of the pitch, playing multiple passes around the back 4, including the Liverpool goalkeeper, to the right-hand side. Crystal Palace have a narrow shape, allowing Liverpool to switch the ball back around to the left to launch an attack through Wirtz, who plays a pass in-behind for Ekitike. Ekitike plays pass back to Wirtz, before receiving it from him again. He takes his first touch to turn, second touch to get the ball out of his feet, and third touch to score an inside of the foot finish into the far-side bottom corner, to the Crystal Palace goalkeepers’ left.
This image shows the possession sequence for Ismaila Sarr’s goal. The players involved are represented by red circles with their shirt numbers. Solid, red arrows indicate passes, and red dashed arrows indicate movements with the ball. The possession starts on the right-hand side of the pitch with a throw-in and ends with Ekitike finishing with a goal.
CONSIDERATIONS
- Are there certain core skills which stand out within your team? How often are you giving your players an opportunity to practice their core skills?
- How do your players perform the core skills? Do they look different depending on the game state, phase of play or moments of the game?
- Do your players combine their individual tactics with the core skills? Are they more effective in certain areas of the pitch or when facing a certain type of opponent?
- Does your practice design connect core skill mastery with the ability to execute the team’s game model?
Header image courtesy of: Clive Mason/Getty Images. LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 10: Marc Guehi of Crystal Palace lifts the FA Community Shield after his team's victory following the 2025 FA Community Shield match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on August 10, 2025 in London, England.