Erling Haaland

[Yannik]

He's ironic.

We don't do that here in my country.

 

[serghei]

We don't do that here in my country.

 

[Morten]

He's ironic.

I also agree height is not that important. What matters is for the player to have killer instinct in front of goal. Suarez is old, but he is still a killer in front of goal, he just lacks the legs to be as intense and as fast as he was.

So, no9 should be:

- fast, but not necessarily as fast as a winger, because he plays closer to the goal
- top finisher
- top movement
- good in tight spaces
- good in physical contacts since he usually has to play with center-backs breaking down his neck.

- great link-up play is a bonus, but few strikers even among the top ones are as good passers as they are shooters.

Good luck finding a number 9 with all of those attritbutes, a striker only needs like 3 of those attributes to make it big.

 

[serghei]

Also, pure '9' is a bit of a dying position. These days the area of action for strikers has gotten bigger and bigger. Guys like Vieri and Inzaghi and Trezeguet are way more rare.

Good luck finding a number 9 with all of those attritbutes, a striker only needs like 3 of those attributes to make it big.

Don't think so, he might go by not excelling in the other areas, but he can't be bad in those either due to the increased requirements in the game.

 

[serghei]

I think price aside, Lautaro ticks almost all boxes, but is a bit of an unknown in the finishing department, which is the most important area. The reason he is unproven is because he plays in a team that doesn't score very often, and he is not even the most advanced player in that team. So, it is unknown if as a main striker, and with better service, he can up his numbers up in the 25-35 goals a season area. He may, he may not.

Best way would be to sign him for a good sum, and keep Suarez as well for 1 full season, to take some pressure off Lautaro in his first year. Because without Suarez here, we will lose quite a good chunk of goals.

 

[Yannik]

So, no9 should be:

- fast, but not necessarily as fast as a winger, because he plays closer to the goal
- top finisher
- top movement
- good in tight spaces
- good in physical contacts since he usually has to play with center-backs breaking down his neck.

- great link-up play is a bonus, but few strikers even among the top ones are as good passers as they are shooters.

Werner ticks all the boxes the most. His link up play is decent, his behaviour in tight spaces is not incredible, but good. Maybe physicality is the biggest issue.
Haaland absolutely smashes the categories fast, movement, physical and finishing but lacks the rest.
Lautaro is best in tight spaces, but lacks the threat the others have and his link up isn't particularly great.
Havertz is also one that can do it all as a False 9. He is certainly the best for link up, but he hasn't been playing the position since very long and I think his role could collide with Messi. Still an interesting option: He amassed 9 goals, 5 assists and 4 MOTM awards in the last 10 games. Oh and he's a Teamcaptain at age 20.

 

[serghei]

Yea, Haaland would be great, but tbh, he's the type of top player we usually don't sign. Just like Suarez, R9 are the type of players Bayern usually doesn't sign. We are South American driven.

 

[stk93]

messi, cr7, pele, puskas, muller, romario, eusebio, di stefano, cruyff

these are the best strikers/scorers of all time and only cr7 is over 180cm

and i miss some players for sure...

to be a clinical striker u need off the ball movement, speed, BALANCE and finishing of course

i will never buy a starter with only one season on high level.. especially if cost more than 70m

sorry for my bad english barca fans

 

[Yannik]

messi, cr7, pele, puskas, muller, romario, eusebio, di stefano, cruyff

these are the best strikers/scorers of all time and only cr7 is over 180cm

and i miss some players for sure...

to be a clinical striker u need off the ball movement, speed, BALANCE and finishing of course

i will never buy a starter with only one season on high level.. especially if cost more than 70m

sorry for my bad english barca fans

I don't think the modern game is comparable to the 70s and 80s. There's definitely a far bigger emphasize on set pieces and crosses. Look at the top No. 9s of the past 20 years:
> 1.90: Ibra, Balotelli, Lukaku, Dzeko
1.85-1.89: CR7, Henry, Kane, Drogba, Van Nistelroy, Benzema, Adriano, Torres, Aubameyang, Higuain, Berbatov, Batistuta, Vieri, Diego Costa, Gomez, Makaay
1.80-1.84: Lewandowski, Van Persie, Inzaghi, Fat Ronaldo, Suarez, Shevchenko, Bergkamp, Eto'o, Raul, Cavani, Totti, Klose, Crespo, Forlan, Firmino, Icardi
< 1.80: Messi, Del Piero, Aguero, Owen, David Villa, Rooney, Mbappe, Falcao, Tevez, Vardy, Di Natale

There's definitely a numberical bias between 1.80m and 1.90, but of course it is still possible to be worldclass and a short king aswell.

 

[Morten]

I don't think the modern game is comparable to the 70s and 80s. There's definitely a far bigger emphasize on set pieces and crosses. Look at the top No. 9s of the past 20 years:
> 1.90: Ibra, Balotelli
1.85-1.89: CR7, Henry, Kane, Drogba, Van Nistelroy, Benzema, Torres, Aubameyang, Higuain, Berbatov, Batistuta, Vieri, Diego Costa, Gomez
1.80-1.84: Lewandowski, Van Persie, Inzaghi, Fat Ronaldo, Suarez, Shevchenko, Bergkamp, Eto'o, Raul, Cavani, Totti, Klose, Crespo, Forlan, Firmino
< 1.80: Messi, Del Piero, Aguero, Owen, David Villa, Rooney, Mbappe, Falcao, Tevez, Vardy

There's definitely a numberical bias between 1.80m and 1.90, but of course it is still possible to be worldclass and a short king aswell.

Good one
You guys do have a sense of humor after all.

 

[Yannik]

Good one
You guys do have a sense of humor after all.

well not certainly the worldclass talent he was destined to be, but had talent, was one of the best for a while. Unfortunately a nutcase.

I could've easily thrown out half of this list to only show the truly worldclass strikers of the past 20 years, but I was in a flow.

 

[stk93]

I don't think the modern game is comparable to the 70s and 80s. There's definitely a far bigger emphasize on set pieces and crosses. Look at the top No. 9s of the past 20 years:
> 1.90: Ibra, Balotelli, Lukaku, Dzeko
1.85-1.89: CR7, Henry, Kane, Drogba, Van Nistelroy, Benzema, Adriano, Torres, Aubameyang, Higuain, Berbatov, Batistuta, Vieri, Diego Costa, Gomez, Makaay
1.80-1.84: Lewandowski, Van Persie, Inzaghi, Fat Ronaldo, Suarez, Shevchenko, Bergkamp, Eto'o, Raul, Cavani, Totti, Klose, Crespo, Forlan, Firmino, Icardi
< 1.80: Messi, Del Piero, Aguero, Owen, David Villa, Rooney, Mbappe, Falcao, Tevez, Vardy, Di Natale

There's definitely a numberical bias between 1.80m and 1.90, but of course it is still possible to be worldclass and a short king aswell.

i take quality over quantity

and then from that list just some players over 180cm are really good headers not all of them..

balotelli scores like 15 goals with head (over 1.90)
ibra - 12 goals with head from 133 for psg (over 1.90)
rooney - 30 from 251 for united (176cm)
aguero - 25 from 253 for city (173cm)

 

[Yannik]

i take quality over quantity

and then from that list just some players over 180cm are really good headers not all of them..

balotelli scores like 15 goals with head (over 1.90)
ibra - 12 goals with head from 133 for psg (over 1.90)
rooney - 30 from 251 for united (176cm)
aguero - 25 from 253 for city (173cm)

well as previously said, you could take half the names from each height class to make a more quality based list and it would still be pretty much a 180+ dominance. Not all of them are good at headers, but most of them and the best right now score frequently from set pieces.

 

[serghei]

Being taller and stronger can't hurt. A lot of teams jam the ball in the box for the striker to get to the end of it with some header. It's not cute maybe, but it is a quick way to create danger. It's a good thing to have in the toolbox so to speak. A strong guy who can battle with defenders and dominate the box in the air. Liverpool missed this tremendously with their 3 shorties up front vs Atletico.

However, big strong guys who don't have clear deficiencies in other important areas are very hard to find. So, it might be best to look for technique, and link-up play, and creativity as a main weapon, and add that stronger no9 as an option from the bench. Somewhat similar to how Tottenham used Fernando Llorente.

 

[stk93]

well as previously said, you could take half the names from each height class to make a more quality based list and it would still be pretty much a 180+ dominance. Not all of them are good at headers, but most of them and the best right now score frequently from set pieces.

score frequently from set pieces?? only ronaldo does that and some defenders

henry 16 headers from 350 goals