RashyForPM
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- Jun 25, 2020
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Anyone else noticing this? Feels like one of those topics which goes under the radar.
At the moment, in terms of pure strikers, you can only consider Lewandowski and Kane as world class, and arguably Håland as his record is essentially a goal a game now. I still class Ronaldo as a winger. Going through the top strikers in the top leagues, aside from those three, you have Aguero, Suarez, Zlatan and Cavani who are declining, and players like Werner, Auba (does nothing when he isn’t scoring), Icardi and Lukaku who are in the top 10 strikers in the world. Even worse, Firmino is actually rated in this day and age. Spew that defensive striker nonsense back then and you’d be laughed at.
Just around two decades ago, you had R9, Romario, Shearer, Batistuta, Shevchenko, Henry, Bergkamp, Owen, Raul, Ruud, Kluivert, Crespo etc. At United alone, we had 4 world class strikers in Coley, Yorke, Ole and Teddy. Move on a few years and you have prime Aguero and Suarez, Drogba, Rooney, Tevez, Eto’o, Forlan, Klose, RvP etc. The supposed top strikers of today would not even have been allowed by the great goal getters of the past to lace their boots. I mean, Werner and Lukaku vs. Ruud and Henry!
Why has this come about? Well, essentially, managers love inside forwards now. All top clubs have wingers cutting in and getting goals. It’s practically a primary tactic now. To add to that, Ronaldo and Messi played those roles very often in their pomp. Why wouldn’t this have had an influence on people like Neymar, Mbappe, Sterling, Rashford, Son, Salah etc while they were teenagers aspiring to become world superstars like Ronaldo and Messi?
In short, world class strikers, please show yourselves again. There is still no better asset for football teams than a magnificent striker who gets 35 goals a season, as the greats of the past used to do. Hopefully Håland’s emergence sparks the beginning of the process.
At the moment, in terms of pure strikers, you can only consider Lewandowski and Kane as world class, and arguably Håland as his record is essentially a goal a game now. I still class Ronaldo as a winger. Going through the top strikers in the top leagues, aside from those three, you have Aguero, Suarez, Zlatan and Cavani who are declining, and players like Werner, Auba (does nothing when he isn’t scoring), Icardi and Lukaku who are in the top 10 strikers in the world. Even worse, Firmino is actually rated in this day and age. Spew that defensive striker nonsense back then and you’d be laughed at.
Just around two decades ago, you had R9, Romario, Shearer, Batistuta, Shevchenko, Henry, Bergkamp, Owen, Raul, Ruud, Kluivert, Crespo etc. At United alone, we had 4 world class strikers in Coley, Yorke, Ole and Teddy. Move on a few years and you have prime Aguero and Suarez, Drogba, Rooney, Tevez, Eto’o, Forlan, Klose, RvP etc. The supposed top strikers of today would not even have been allowed by the great goal getters of the past to lace their boots. I mean, Werner and Lukaku vs. Ruud and Henry!
Why has this come about? Well, essentially, managers love inside forwards now. All top clubs have wingers cutting in and getting goals. It’s practically a primary tactic now. To add to that, Ronaldo and Messi played those roles very often in their pomp. Why wouldn’t this have had an influence on people like Neymar, Mbappe, Sterling, Rashford, Son, Salah etc while they were teenagers aspiring to become world superstars like Ronaldo and Messi?
In short, world class strikers, please show yourselves again. There is still no better asset for football teams than a magnificent striker who gets 35 goals a season, as the greats of the past used to do. Hopefully Håland’s emergence sparks the beginning of the process.