One of my favourite Utd players ever I must admit. I loved his narrative, after the poor start it felt like an underdog story and as a teenager in the 90's his story appealed to me.
I am biased then, but I firmly believe that he is often overlooked when we talk about that era and people don't realize how good he really was. Part of it is perception(and a poor start) He came to Utd as a 40 goal a season man and Utd fans expected that, even though the team at that time were never set up to play solely to one man as his Newcastle side were. His international career probably plays a part as well, but England were so invested in Shearer at that time that players like peak Fowler(up to 23/24) Ian Wright and Les Ferdinand never got a real chance either.
His finishing was erratic and at times it felt that if he had too much time to think about the finish he could struggle. When he was instinctive and flowing he scored some of the best strikers goals I have seen, but it is the rest of his game that is rarely mentioned. Remarkably quick feet, instant use of the ball, unselfish, was involved in so many key goals with his set up play. Thought it was a true insult to Cole when compared to Lukaku last year, a far superior footballer in every way bar finishing, and his movement off the ball was incredible.
I would take him over Ruud Van Nistelrooy as the focal point of a Utd select team. That doesn't mean that I think he was a better player than RVN in isolation but that his all round game meshes with the rest of the team better than RVN's did. I often found myself frustrated watching RVN at how slow his use of the ball was, how many touches he wanted when compared to Cole instantly laying the ball off and going on his next run.
The quality of his goals is really impressive, so much variation, headers, volleys, runs in behind, quick turns, link up play, overhead kicks, a bit of everything. Has all of his direct assists as well in that vid, credit to whoever made it.
I am biased then, but I firmly believe that he is often overlooked when we talk about that era and people don't realize how good he really was. Part of it is perception(and a poor start) He came to Utd as a 40 goal a season man and Utd fans expected that, even though the team at that time were never set up to play solely to one man as his Newcastle side were. His international career probably plays a part as well, but England were so invested in Shearer at that time that players like peak Fowler(up to 23/24) Ian Wright and Les Ferdinand never got a real chance either.
His finishing was erratic and at times it felt that if he had too much time to think about the finish he could struggle. When he was instinctive and flowing he scored some of the best strikers goals I have seen, but it is the rest of his game that is rarely mentioned. Remarkably quick feet, instant use of the ball, unselfish, was involved in so many key goals with his set up play. Thought it was a true insult to Cole when compared to Lukaku last year, a far superior footballer in every way bar finishing, and his movement off the ball was incredible.
I would take him over Ruud Van Nistelrooy as the focal point of a Utd select team. That doesn't mean that I think he was a better player than RVN in isolation but that his all round game meshes with the rest of the team better than RVN's did. I often found myself frustrated watching RVN at how slow his use of the ball was, how many touches he wanted when compared to Cole instantly laying the ball off and going on his next run.
The quality of his goals is really impressive, so much variation, headers, volleys, runs in behind, quick turns, link up play, overhead kicks, a bit of everything. Has all of his direct assists as well in that vid, credit to whoever made it.
