Strikers that don't score goals

TheBrigBear said:
Michy Batshuayi. Think he’s a player that’s constantly on loan from Chelsea.
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Quite harsh, got a really good record overall. Especially if you look at minutes per goal, he’s scored something like 20 goals in 35 games for Belgium.
 
Baz said:
Guivarch and Giroud immediately come to mind as being the main strikers without scoring when France won their two world cups. Giroud never even managed a shot on target in the tournament.

I suppose they could say their job was to distract the defenders and make space for the better players like Zidane, Griezmann, Mbappe etc. to score.
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Giroud has an ok record but maybe not great considering he's playing for teams nearer the top end of the league so you'd expect a little more. He's not a clinical striker by any means but did a lot for the team, he was/is very good at one touch lay offs and holding the ball up for people. WIlshere's goal v Norwich is a brilliant example of this. He's someone like Firmino who's primary role up front is seemingly to get the best out of the players supporting him
 
erskine bear said:
Not every striker is there to solely score goals to be fair.
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I get that, Morelos can have good games without scoring, but you'd think their qualities would fit another area of the field.

We used to have a right-back a lot thought should be a right winger. lol.
 
Guys like firmino & heskey do so much donkey work to allow other players like Owen & salah more freedom. It’s unselfish work that makes the team tick but I do agree that firmino in particular should probly score more, he tends to miss the easier chances and score the harder ones lol.
 
WeWillFolllow said:
Out of curiosity, what do people consider a good goal:game ratio for a top level striker?

Firmino seems to be getting it hard on this thread, but I’d say a 1-in-3 strike rate isn’t too bad in the EPL. This is also ignoring the fact that some strikers have a lot of secondary responsibility e.g. pressing and acting as a focal point.
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1 in 3 is a pretty good ratio for strikers in lower ranked teams in the EPL and it works okay for Firmino because of the role he plays but typically for a title chasing side you are surely hoping for at least 1 in 2 or maybe 1 goal or assist every 2 games if they are more creative.
 
A superb example is Karim Benzema....a player I really like and admire but:

470 games up front for two hugely attacking and trophy laden teams and he has 211 goals.
And 27 goals in 81 caps.

His style is to soften up defences, and create space whilst poaching goals when he can....brilliant at it but you'd reckon someone at Lyon, Madrid and France would score a lot more with #9 jersey.
 
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Earl of Leven said:
A superb example is Karim Benzema....a player I really like and admire but:

470 games up front for two hugely attacking and trophy laden teams and he has 211 goals.
And 27 goals in 81 caps.

His style is to soften up defences, and create space whilst poaching goals when he can....brilliant at it but you'd reckon someone at Lyon, Madrid and France would score a lot more with #9 jersey.
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To be fair, his exploits were sacrificed drastically in order to benefit a certain Portuguese player. Last season when he got out that guys shadow he showed what a great striker he was.

At Madrid 250 goals in 520 games with 137 assists is great going, considering no pens either.
 
erskine bear said:
To be fair, his exploits were sacrificed drastically in order to benefit a certain Portuguese player. Last season when he got out that guys shadow he showed what a great striker he was.

At Madrid 250 goals in 520 games with 137 assists is great going, considering no pens either.
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Wonderful player but by no means a goal machine....that was my point.

In fact many people on thread are missing point and merely listing crap strikers! :)
 
ssblue said:
Jon Stead.

Centre forward for Blackburn and Sunderland in the EPL.

Seasons 04/05 and 05/06 he played 68 games and scored 3 goals.
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Sunderland made t shirts with I saw Jon stead score !!!! Jozy altidore springs to mind, he was woeful .

Our own sebo was not very plentiful when it came to scoring goals either
 
Victor Anichibe - Everton, West Brom Sunderland, some team in China

Only 40 in over 250 domestic appearances

1 in 11 for Nigeria
 
Jonathan E said:
You can still be a top player as a striker without being prolific as a goalscorer.

Joe Jordan scored 117 career goals in 508 games, yet played at the top level in England and Italy and in three World Cups.
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Good example
Think need to consider the teams the player was striker for, amount of chances they may get in a game, plus especially in Italy in that era with defensive systems
 
KL2 said:
Firmino is definitely the main example at the moment, the last 2 years have been brutal. Its not as if he doesn't get opportunities either, he misses some amount of clear chances.

His overall play has dropped off massively this season as well, down in pretty much every category. He's gone from being a key piece to their set-up to someone needing replaced.
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His last two years have been brutal? :))

You can’t be serious surely.
 
PMB1872 said:
Firmino’s record at Liverpool has only really been crappy since the start of last season, but I think they could definitely do better than him now.
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There was a point where he was arguably the most important forward, but Mane has overtaken them and Salah is well ahead of Firmino. A great player, but now replaceable. I can see why Liverpool fans love him though.
 
barcelonabear said:
Firminio role is totally unique I’m not really a fan of it but it works for them (Morelos is doing the Same role this season and it doesn’t suit him at all), it involves starting in the 9 position and pulling into the 10role taking defenders with you creating space
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Kane has been doing that and allowing Son and Lucas/Bergwijn to be the ones on the break, although Kane is still banging them in as well. Him and Lewandowski probably the two most in form strikers in the world at the moment. His passing is unreal.
 
I was going to say Benzema but then looked and he's almost 1 in 2 at Real. 520 games and 250 goals.
 
GovanFront4 said:
Kane has been doing that and allowing Son and Lucas/Bergwijn to be the ones on the break, although Kane is still banging them in as well. Him and Lewandowski probably the two most in form strikers in the world at the moment. His passing is unreal.
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You could argue Alfredo has done the same for our other forwards too this season
 
JW1988 said:
You could argue Alfredo has done the same for our other forwards too this season
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Absolutely. I also think the other strikers we've signed has shown that this is the way we want to play. Both Roofe and Itten are comfortable dropping and holding it up.
 
WinkieWATP said:
His last two years have been brutal? :))

You can’t be serious surely.
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On the goal scoring front, he has been brutal. Less than 1 in 4 last season and 1 in 8 so far this season, over the last 18 months he is statistically one of the worst finishers in Europe's top 5 leagues and has one of the worst goals to expected goals ratios.

He has been invaluable in previous years and crucial to their set up, but even those attributes have dropped dramatically, many of his biggest defenders now saying his performances are becoming a major concern.
 
PMB1872 said:
Won’t go down well with the guys from NI but David Healy’s 99 goals in 428 club games is a pretty grim effort for a striker.
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Not at all, it’s a bit of a mystery how Healy could be as good in an NI jersey as he was but pretty much anonymous by comparison at club level.
 
WeWillFolllow said:
Out of curiosity, what do people consider a good goal:game ratio for a top level striker?

Firmino seems to be getting it hard on this thread, but I’d say a 1-in-3 strike rate isn’t too bad in the EPL. This is also ignoring the fact that some strikers have a lot of secondary responsibility e.g. pressing and acting as a focal point.
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It's more to do with modern football and how teams set up

Firmino is integral to the way Liverpool play and links with salah and mane very well creating more space for them to capitalise on their pace. There's a reason Blind man marked him last week in the champions league

He may not be prolific but he's a massive part of their team set up and playing a striker who gets more goals (more selfish) could cut out the effect of mane and salah
 
PunkScott said:
This begs the question, if they aren't doing the job they are meant to, why are they played in that position?
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Probably because defenders are too busy watching the "striker", that they forget about other players that can get the freedom to score.
 
Airfix said:
Joelinton at Newcastle united. £40m for a couple of goals.
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I think the crux of the thread is strikers who play regularly with big clubs, have big reputations and win trophies, despite not scoring often.

It's not really a shite striker thread....but this guy is one of the worst players I have ever seen.
 
Kevin Kyle. 19 goals in 90 games for Sunderland Then he only scored 44 goals over the next 8 years. 3 for us.

10 caps for scotland , 1 Goal.
 
May get death threats for this, Dado Prso. One good goal scoring season at us and one good season in Ligue 2 which boost his stats massively.

Even with that ended up with a goal just under every four games.
 
It’s a funny one - you just assume that strikers will score loads of goals but there is something to be said for someone being the supporting act in a partnership where the other striker is knocking them in from all angles as a result of the work done by the other player.

The thing is that there is much more popularity for a single striker these days than the traditional pattern shop in a 442 that most of us grew up with..

Language like “false 9” has crept in somehow as well - it confuses the %^*& out of me.

All I can say is that my son couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo but his football coach plays him up front and what Rab Jr does very well is cause havoc across the 2 player defence in a 7-a-side game in his agegroup. I like liken it to Hateley in his pomp ragdolling defences but I’m probably biased :cool:.
He pulls defenders all over the place and it lets the budding Hagis & Maradonas in the team get a decent run at the goalie and score a heap of goals so I can see value in it.

Professional footballers who are strikers and don’t score goals still confuses me though.
 
GovanFront4 said:
Kane has been doing that and allowing Son and Lucas/Bergwijn to be the ones on the break, although Kane is still banging them in as well. Him and Lewandowski probably the two most in form strikers in the world at the moment. His passing is unreal.
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I noticed Kane dropping deep with England in the last big tournament and thought he was awful, seen him this season and he’s been unreal turning into one of the most complete footballers I’ve seen
 
erskine bear said:
I would be surprised if he didn’t beat Henry’s record, great striker. 9 behind I believe, hope he does it.
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Yeah me too.

I was actually quite surprised that Henry’s record was as low as it was.

Still a good record for France but just had it in my head that Henry would be way out in front.
 
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