Apart from Erling Haaland (23), how comes there's no world-class strikers under 30?

[bridgeno1]

Kyle Lafferty

Typical anti-Arsenal bias on this forum for missing out Nketieh.

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

A disclaimer

*Before anyone will say Kylian Mbappé, he's a inside forward who spends majority of his time on the left flank during games whenever his team have possession,

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I just realized how there's no genuine current world-class striker who haven't reached the age of 30, apart from Haaland as the exception. The 23-year-old is definitely one of the GOAT strikers of all-time without a shadow of doubt.

- Scored 250 goals in 300 games during his career
- Scored 30 goals in 33 games for Norway
- Achieved countless of goalscoring records & individual awards

In the 21st Century, we have seen loads of phenomenal world-class strikers (Suarez, Henry, Van Nistelrooy, Lewandowski, Kane, Zlatan, Aguero, Cavani and many others).

When the likes of Darwin Nunez & Rasmus Hojlund were sold for £100m and £70m respectively, then the dreath of young world-class strikers isn't really a meme out of thin air.

How comes there isn't many world-class striker under the age of 30 compared to the past?

178 games and 162 goals actually confirms that Mbappe playing from the flank might just be the only world class attacker out there righy now. He's the closest thing to R9, in the sense that R9 wasn't just rooted to a stagnant position, he played across the front-line and could do damage from either the left, right, behind the target man or even from the target man position. I wasn't bitting the Mbappe hype until the game we played against Monaco, then I was like "maybe that's a one off", then the last 2 world cups made me change my mind completely about him. Absolute beast and in my opinion, the only world class striker right now.

Haaland is similar to the likes of Drogba, Diego Milito, Huntelaar, Forlan, Inzaghi, Crespo, Falcao (in his prime, not the washed up guy that showed for the rags), Deadly, especially in front of goal and if you had used the term "world class target man", you would have been 100% correct but in terms of what really makes a striker world class (especially when compared to those who came before him, like R9, Etoo, David Villa, Luis Suarez, Henry, Aguero), I'm afraid he's not in that category as each and everyone of these players could cause damage from any part of the front line and that's the category Mbappe falls into.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Typical anti-Arsenal bias on this forum for missing out Nketieh.

Who?

 

[Plays By Sense Of Smell]

Pep has ruined the traditional 9. Look at how many times we have threads pop up asking if we’re a better side without Haaland.

Haaland is a freak and has to be accomodated, but if we didn’t have him, we’d be playing false 9 a lot more, especially in bigger games.

The nippy 9s now have become wide forwards as they can score loads from there.

I think this holds true in that, in the defender or goalkeepr vs attacker scenario, you always say 'make the other person decide' amd ideally, you give obviously give them the decision you want them to make.

When you're right down the middle, it's another decision/moment of doubt for most strikers, to figure out if they want to get it ontonl their better side, subject tonwjere they are starting from


If they begin slighlty to one side, they probably already have a much stronger feel for whether they want to take it either side, so can be much firmer in their decision making.

More focused earlier, generally = more effective.

 

[youngbob]

Brief death of the "classic number 9" during the late 2010s, early 2020s. Coming back with the likes of Haaland, Isak, Osimhen, Martinez, etc. Also got to remember that the two best players in the world between about 2006 and 2018 were Ronaldo and Messi, both inside forwards/wingers.

Look at the profile of players who've won the PL Golden Boot in the last decade.

2014 - Suarez (number 9)
2015 - Aguero (number 9)
2016 - Kane (number 9)
2017 - Kane (number 9)
2018 - Salah (winger)
2019 - Aubameyang, Salah, Mane (all wingers)
2020 - Vardy (number 9)
2021 - Kane (number 9)
2022 - Salah, Son (both wingers)
2023 - Haaland (number 9)
2024 - Haaland (number 9)

Three times in the last five/six years that a winger has won the Golden Boot.

 

[Semper aggressus]

Are those five truly world class? Are they in the same bracket as Van Persie, Henry, Aguero, Lewandovski?

Nowhere near.

 

[The Blue Eh]

178 games and 162 goals actually confirms that Mbappe playing from the flank might just be the only world class attacker out there righy now. He's the closest thing to R9, in the sense that R9 wasn't just rooted to a stagnant position, he played across the front-line and could do damage from either the left, right, behind the target man or even from the target man position. I wasn't bitting the Mbappe hype until the game we played against Monaco, then I was like "maybe that's a one off", then the last 2 world cups made me change my mind completely about him. Absolute beast and in my opinion, the only world class striker right now.

Haaland is similar to the likes of Drogba, Diego Milito, Huntelaar, Forlan, Inzaghi, Crespo, Falcao (in his prime, not the washed up guy that showed for the rags), Deadly, especially in front of goal and if you had used the term "world class target man", you would have been 100% correct but in terms of what really makes a striker world class (especially when compared to those who came before him, like R9, Etoo, David Villa, Luis Suarez, Henry, Aguero), I'm afraid he's not in that category as each and everyone of these players could cause damage from any part of the front line and that's the category Mbappe falls into.

Come on, blue. You’re better than that. “Cause damage from anywhere in the front line” is a straw man criteria and irrelevant to being a world class striker — a very specific position in that front line.

And you used my favorite football fallacy: comparing an early-in-career player (23 year old Haaland) to non-contemporaneous players who have a full body of work, and are part of football lore.

Let me try that too. The (true) story goes that Dixie Dean once lost a testicle from an aggressive challenge during a game v. Altrincham. When a teammate attempted to tend to the injury, Dean scolded him, “Don’t rub them. Count them!”. He was 17 years old then. Two years later he fractured his skull in a motorcycle accident. Doctors weren’t sure he’d even survive, let alone play football. About a year later Dean went on to score 60 goals in a season, a record that hasn’t since been surpassed. So, is Mbappe even fit to lace Dixie Dean’s shoes?

I take it you are not a fan of Haaland? ;-)

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

Come on, blue. You’re better than that. “Cause damage from anywhere in the front line” is a straw man criteria and irrelevant to being a world class striker — a very specific position in that front line.

And you used my favorite football fallacy: comparing an early-in-career player (23 year old Haaland) to non-contemporaneous players who have a full body of work, and are part of football lore.

Let me try that too. The (true) story goes that Dixie Dean once lost a testicle from an aggressive challenge during a game v. Altrincham. When a teammate attempted to tend to the injury, Dean scolded him, “Don’t rub them. Count them!”. He was 17 years old then. Two years later he fractured his skull in a motorcycle accident. Doctors weren’t sure he’d even survive, let alone play football. About a year later Dean went on to score 60 goals in a season, a record that hasn’t since been surpassed. So, is Mbappe even fit to lace Dixie Dean’s shoes?

I take it you are not a fan of Haaland? ;-)

Big fan of Haaland but to say he's the only world class attacker out there now is crazy

 

[The Blue Eh]

Big fan of Haaland but to say he's the only world class attacker out there now is crazy

On that we agree.