It’s a phenomenon that started when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated world soccer. The “true striker” is starting to disappear from world soccer.
As we all know, Messi and Ronaldo are not true strikers. They were wingers or fake number 9s. They broke all sorts of scoring records and won numerous top scoring honors. As their influence grew and grew, many teams focused more on the capabilities of fake nines than true strikers, and chose tactics that could utilize them.
The trend has continued to this day. It’s a time when true strikers are underutilized. The UK’s Mirror published an in-depth report on this phenomenon.
“In the past, center-forwards were the most destructive force in football, dominating the game,” explained Arsenal legend and world-class manager Arsène Wenger, “but in recent years, the number of goal-scoring No. 9s has been declining.
There are limitations to the traditional striker, such as a narrow radius of action and limited movement. A key reason is the belief that a traditional striker can undermine teamwork. The implication is that a center-forward has nothing to contribute to the team other than being on the front line, receiving passes from his teammates, and scoring goals. The theory is that it hinders the team’s energy, the organic movement that brings the whole team together.
As Thomas Tuchel once said, “Soccer is a team sport. It’s not a sport where 10 players serve one player. That’s not soccer. The team is there to serve the team, all 11 players. This is the principle of soccer.”
Nowhere is this more evident than in the German national team. With no true striker and a fake number nine tactic that was a complete failure, this phenomenon eventually led to the firing of coach Jupp Heynckes.
Germany doesn’t have a true striker, nor a true fake number nine. Kai Havertz is a prime example of a fake number nine. He’s a much-maligned striker at Arsenal. In the 1-4 loss to Japan, Haberth was not up to the task. He has been a baffling player. He has never been able to excel.
Not only the national team, but also the big clubs in Europe have accepted this as a sign of the times. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Vinicius (Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), and many others who are considered to be the best strikers in the world are not true strikers. The number of true strikers is shrinking rapidly.
Romelu Kukaku, the last remaining legitimate striker, has been on a downward spiral, and even proven strikers like Harry Kane have recently shown signs of improving their playmaking. This, too, was an attempt by Kane to adapt to changing times.
“This means that the demands on frontline strikers to score goals are lower than before,” Wenger said. “It’s a time when every player can play positional and every player can score goals. We may need to revise the goal that a frontline striker should only score goals.”
However, there is a player who is ‘going against the grain’. Enter the ‘mutant’. This is Elling Holland (Manchester City).
He’s a frontline striker, but he’s no less powerful for it. He has all the responsibilities of a traditional striker and is a goal scorer. His 36 goals in the EPL last season set a new record for most goals in a single season. He was also the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) with 12 goals. This season, he leads the EPL with six goals.
The Mirror said: “Holland remains a strange player in this day and age. His goal is a goal. His momentum is incredible.”
Holland’s ability to go against the grain has even changed the tactics of the world’s greatest coach, Pep Guardiola. Guardiola’s favorite tactic is the fake number nine.소닉카지노
It’s the tactic he used to make Barcelona great, and Messi played a key role in that. Guardiola also has a history of not utilizing Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a frontline striker at Barcelona, which led to a falling out.
Guardiola’s philosophy would be less effective with Holland. He has no choice but to utilize Holland’s value and capabilities. Even to the point of abandoning his favorite tactics. There’s no denying that frontline striker Holland has played the biggest role in City’s rise to the top.
“With every club in Europe revising their strategy to get rid of frontline strikers, only City have the best player in the world in the dying frontline striker position,” said the Mirror. There is a cruel irony in this fact.”