Strikers who can't score

[Brett Angell Delight]

Emile Heskey has a lot to answer for

 

[Walken]

Looking at the England game and Broja has just gone off. He always seems to get a gig, yet he has a goal every 6 games at club level, and broadly the same for Albania. We obviously have Beto and Barry of our own. Strikers who seem unable to do the basics of the role. You've obviously got the likes of Kane and Haaland who can score goals for fun, but the vast majority of teams in the league seem to have centre forwards that are utterly dreadful. Delap, for instance, is spoken about as an England player, yet has 1 goal in 12 games since joining Chelsea. I can't remember an era where so many strikers have been so bad.

The game dun changed

 

[Khalekan]

When you grew up on R9, Batistuta etc. you're gonna' feel a bit jaded these days TBH.

In the immortal words of James… If I hadn’t see such riches I could live with being poor…

 

[degsy]

I'd buy that if all leagues were like Serie A in the 90s, but they aren't. I think last season had the 2nd most PL goals scored in the history of the competition. It's just not centre forwards Everton that are scoring them.

Fixed that for you mert

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The game dun changed

#9s still exist as a role though. It just seems that they're "really" bad at it. Historically our academy has always been pretty good at producing promising centre forwards. What are the coaches doing?

 

[Neiler]

You were all thinking it after reading the thread title.

 

[Rita_Poon]

I'd buy that if all leagues were like Serie A in the 90s, but they aren't. I think last season had the 2nd most PL goals scored in the history of the competition. It's just not centre forwards that are scoring them.

Also, last season had three of the historically worst teams ever to surrender a PL season.

 

[WA Toffee]

Looking at the England game and Broja has just gone off. He always seems to get a gig, yet he has a goal every 6 games at club level, and broadly the same for Albania. We obviously have Beto and Barry of our own. Strikers who seem unable to do the basics of the role. You've obviously got the likes of Kane and Haaland who can score goals for fun, but the vast majority of teams in the league seem to have centre forwards that are utterly dreadful. Delap, for instance, is spoken about as an England player, yet has 1 goal in 12 games since joining Chelsea. I can't remember an era where so many strikers have been so bad.

Thay are coached to be players first, goalscorers second. It's just the latest fashion, it will evolve again in time

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Thay are coached to be players first, goalscorers second. It's just the latest fashion, it will evolve again in time

As a team, we've struggled to score goals for a bloody age. You'd think coaching players to score goals would be a good thing.

 

[Jamo Martinez]

Thay are coached to be players first, goalscorers second. It's just the latest fashion, it will evolve again in time

Defo. It's cyclical. I don't know when but poachers in the style of Kevin Phillips and Solksjaer will become fashionable again.

 

[Benicetoourboys]

Defo. It's cyclical. I don't know when but poachers in the style of Kevin Phillips and Solksjaer will become fashionable again.

The sooner the better.

 

[Alanbileysfeathercut]

Arthur Scargill

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Defo. It's cyclical. I don't know when but poachers in the style of Kevin Phillips and Solksjaer will become fashionable again.

I dunno tbh. I get that the trend at the moment is to play a variant of 4-3-3, but nearly all teams play with a central striker. None set up with false nines. It's just that none of the actual nines seem to be very good. You can see with Haaland, Kane et al that really good strikers can score a lot of goals, it's just they're incredibly rare, and the gap between them and the majority seems vast, and much bigger than, say, the gap between Ndiaye and Saka or Yamal or the very best in that position. The gap between Beto and Haaland is so vast it's like they're playing a different sport.

 

[Seathestars]

It’s the hardest job on the pitch by a mile.
Can finishing be taught, I’m not so sure. I think it can be improved with practice and experience but the real poachers like Rush, Lineker, Kane are all born with a gift.

 

[Rita_Poon]

It’s the hardest job on the pitch by a mile.
Can finishing be taught, I’m not so sure. I think it can be improved with practice and experience but the real poachers like Rush, Lineker, Kane are all born with a gift.

Maybe not a Eusebio type almost one in a century type, but Greaves was incredible. What can be taught is not panicking. Once panic is overcome composure can be worked on. rush always said he passed the ball into the corner of the goal.
What we've seen is the classic big small combo evolve, Quinn and Philips for example. Now the big unit has to be more athletic and be able to knock defenders around for 90 minutes. Philips has been converted into a wide forward or an AM. Quinn also has to work back for dead ball defence. So sometimes the fastest players will be the most advanced looking for a break from a quick turnover whilst the big unit gets back up field to carry on battling.