This video focuses on one of the biggest details that determines how involved you become in the game.

At higher levels, attacking midfielders do not wait for the ball.

They create separation before the ball arrives.

When the pass is traveling and you can read where it will go, that is the cue to move.

Not when the ball arrives.

When the pass is played.

Those small timing differences decide whether you receive the ball with a defender on your back or facing forward driving at the back line.

The video also shows how these moments appear when the ball is played into the striker and the third man becomes available.

The players at the highest level recognize these situations early, move before everyone else, and arrive in stride to receive the layoff.

That is how attacking midfielders consistently get on the ball in dangerous areas.