The McGeady spin is a member of the roulette family, named after winger Aiden McGeady and spread by the FIFA video games. You pull the ball back behind your standing foot, spin with your back to the defender, and push the ball out sideways with the outside of your other foot, so you leave at roughly a right angle instead of carrying on past the defender as in the full roulette (Maradona spin). We read how far your shoulders rotate and your balance through the turn; the touches on the ball aren't camera-visible.
Set up
Dribble with the ball close and slow down as the defender closes in. Pick a moment when the defender is coming at you from the side or at an angle, not straight on.
Slow in, so you can be fast out.
Get into a low base: knees bent, feet under you, chest up. Have the ball on your stronger foot.
Sitting slightly, not bending at the waist.
Spin
Stop the ball and pull it back behind your standing foot with your stronger foot. Use the inside of the foot or the sole, whichever keeps the ball closest.
The ball comes back to you, not away.
Spin so your back turns to the defender, and plant the foot that pulled the ball between the defender and the ball.
Your back is the shield.
With the outside of your other foot, push the ball sideways into the new direction, roughly a right angle from where you were running. Keep the touch short.
Spin, then a short push out.
Accelerate away as soon as the ball leaves your foot, and get your head up to see what's in front of you.
Turn and burn.
Feel it
It should feel slow then fast: a controlled spin with your back protecting the ball, then a burst the moment you come out. If you're losing the ball, slow the spin down rather than rushing it.
Fix-its
- The defender pokes the ball away during the spin You started it too close or with the defender square on. Make some space first, pull the ball back further, and use the spin when they come from the side or at an angle.
- You lose control of the ball in the spin Slow the spin and the pull-back down until the ball stays with you, then add speed.
- You stumble or wobble out of the turn Stay low with your knees bent and your feet under you, and keep your trunk upright instead of leaning out over your foot.
- You come out of the spin at the same speed Accelerate as soon as the outside-foot touch is done. The change of pace is what beats the defender.
Drill
- Picture the move, then walk through the spin without a ball, then do it from standing with a ball. Practise both directions.
- Slow rehearsal on the move: dribble, pull back, spin, push out with the outside of the other foot. Add speed only once the ball stays close.
- Gate grid (15 x 15 m, a gate at each corner, a cone in the middle): dribble to the centre cone, spin and exit through a gate to the side.
- Semi-opposed, then opposed: a partner gives passive pressure from the side, then defends for real. Use the spin to escape and dribble out through an open gate.
- Small-sided game (4v4, 30 x 20 m, mini-goals at each end, 2-minute games): look for chances to spin away from pressure and accelerate after every turn.
Sources
- We Make Footballers (WMF Coaching Team) — How to master the roulette turn (2021)
- GOAL Italia, Andrea Giuttari — Lo strano caso McGeady: leggenda di FIFA grazie alla sua finta (2020)
- GOAL — Best football skills: how to do the Ronaldo Chop, Elastico, Cruyff Turn and more (2022)
- PCGamesN, Paul Kelly — How to do the FIFA 23 McGeady Spin (2022)
- Celtic Way, Tony Haggerty — Aiden McGeady's legacy at Celtic
- Balls.ie, Conall Cahill — Alex Iwobi on the McGeady Spin (2016)
- Ironbound Soccer Club — L-Turn academy session (Coaches' Voice Session Planner)
- FIFA Training Centre — Newcastle U-9s: finding a way forward
- Dos'Santos, Thomas, Comfort & Jones — Training interventions on change of direction biomechanics and ACL loading, Sports Medicine (2019)
Last checked 2026-10-30.