England's lack of striking options

SlickRic

i'm pretty sure this has been discussed before, but it hit me afresh there.

england really lack top-quality strikers. badly.

my childhood took place in the era of shearer, ferdinand, cole, fowler, sheringham and the like. michael owen too of course, when he was at his liverpool best.

any reasons?

you can't use the foreigner excuse. the middle of the field consists of gerrard, lampard, hargreaves when fit. i'd even argue that barry is of a higher class in his position than pretty much even english striking option. again at the back you have terry, ferdinand, carragher (if he hadn't retired)

maybe they're just cr*p?

i mean heskey should not be anywhere near an england international frontline. he struggled to get into a stuggling villa team ffs.

rooney, granted. awesome. but short of that, who? i'd argue nobody really of note.

are there options capello just doesn't see? crouch has an awesome record but isn't an all-round player that you'd expect from an england international striker. then you're going into the likes of bent, cole. ashton could be great, but that's irrelevant because he'll never be fit. owen, although always a threat, will never be the same again imo.

it's all just a little baffling...

Headshot

the way their looking atm they're missing a good team

Headshot

SlickRic wrote: »

i'm pretty sure this has been discussed before, but it hit me afresh there.

england really lack top-quality strikers. badly.

my childhood took place in the era of shearer, ferdinand, cole, fowler, sheringham and the like. michael owen too of course, when he was at his liverpool best.

any reasons?

you can't use the foreigner excuse. the middle of the field consists of gerrard, lampard, hargreaves when fit. i'd even argue that barry is of a higher class in his position than pretty much even english striking option. again at the back you have terry, ferdinand, carragher (if he hadn't retired)

maybe they're just cr*p?

i mean heskey should not be anywhere near an england international frontline. he struggled to get into a stuggling villa team ffs.

rooney, granted. awesome. but short of that, who? i'd argue nobody really of note.

are there options capello just doesn't see? crouch has an awesome record but isn't an all-round player that you'd expect from an england international striker. then you're going into the likes of bent, cole. ashton could be great, but that's irrelevant because he'll never be fit. owen, although always a threat, will never be the same again imo.

it's all just a little baffling...

mike65

Death by quote!

Englerland have enough options (if all fit) its how they are used thats matters.

SlickRic

Headshot wrote: »

you're just happy because he won you some money :pac:

SlickRic

mike65 wrote: »

Englerland have enough options (if all fit) its how they are used thats matters.

who? in comparison to years gone by?

owen is a shadow of his former self. heskey, well i won't say anything about him again :rolleyes:

cole, ashton and crouch is it really.

shearer, fowler, andrew cole, a younger owen, sheringham would all walk into that team.

even le tiss would have a chance!

TonyD79

They just need to gel their midfield together and find a place for Rooney.I remember when France won the world cup they had no top class strikers (Henry hadnt joined Arsenal at that stage) but the rest of the team was enough.

SlickRic

TonyD79 wrote: »

They just need to gel their midfield together and find a place for Rooney.I remember when France won the world cup they had no top class strikers (Henry hadnt joined Arsenal at that stage) but the rest of the team was enough.

i certainly don't believe you need an array of top-class strikers.

i'm more just making the point that they have few as opposed to previous times.

Headshot

if Ashton wasnt injury proned he'd be in the england squad

dannydiamond

Lol and Heskey scores....

SlickRic

dannydiamond wrote: »

Lol and Heskey scores....

yeah.

i should have really waited until after the game to make the post.

Bounty Hunter

Heskey isnt as bad as most make out hense him starting and scoring for England but he is lucky as his is the one postion that England have no real alternatives in. There are no real decent target man CF's in england who are English, Ashton showed promise that he could develop into the player they need but this cant happen whilst he is so injury prone.

purple_hatstand

SlickRic wrote: »

i certainly don't believe you need an array of top-class strikers.

i'm more just making the point that they have few as opposed to previous times.

That’s not even remotely true.

Gerrard and Rooney?

Effective alternatives - Heskey, Crouch, Defoe…(they are certainly not ‘world-class’, but they are effective for England).

Goalscoring midfielders - Lampard and Barry.

England (much like Chelsea) miss Joe Cole.

It should also be noted that England have won all their matches and have the second-best goal difference across all the qualifying groups.

Qualification is surely more important than ‘world-class’ performances?

The real test is next summer for teams in England’s position…

SlickRic

purple_hatstand wrote: »

That’s not even remotely true.

Gerrard and Rooney?

Effective alternatives - Heskey, Crouch, Defoe…(they are certainly not ‘world-class’, but they are effective for England).

Goalscoring midfielders - Lampard and Barry.

England (much like Chelsea) miss Joe Cole.

It should also be noted that England have won all their matches and have the second-best goal difference across all the qualifying groups.

Qualification is surely more important than ‘world-class’ performances?

The real test is next summer for teams in England’s position…

i don't dispute much of what you've said for a minute.

england have prided themselves on having great strikers.

gerrard, like rooney, is not an out-and-out striker. i'm not getting into a debate about 'different types of striker' but they're not typical number 9s like the ones i've listed. (of the ones i've listed i know sheringham, therefore, can arguably be taken out).

this is probably a pointless debate, but it was just a thought at the time.

BaZmO*

SlickRic wrote: »

this is probably a pointless debate, but it was just a thought at the time.

Welcome to the Soccer Forum, home of the pointless debate since ye olde times.

purple_hatstand

SlickRic wrote: »

this is probably a pointless debate, but it was just a thought at the time.

not pointless at all - whether or not the players at Capello's disposal can perform against top teams in the later stages of tournaments is the real issue.

They haven't managed too well previously and the way they were dismantled against Spain in the friendly last year (much the same as ManUtd v Barca 2 weeks ago) doesn't bode well for the future.


Getting the midfield balance right is more important than 'world-class' strikers in those types of games though IMO.

mike65

Well they have what they have atm. Others might come though Sylvan Augustus Ebanks-Blake spings to mind (he'd be worth selecting for the commentary)

BaZmO*

purple_hatstand wrote: »

They haven't managed too well previously and the way they were dismantled against Spain in the friendly last year (much the same as ManUtd v Barca 2 weeks ago) doesn't bode well for the future.

Football is a results game, friendlies mena nothing more than given an excuse to give the youngers players and those on the periphery a chance of a run out.

England have 6 wins from from 6 games. Not bad for a team with no options up front. :rolleyes:

purple_hatstand

BaZmO* wrote: »

Football is a results game, friendlies mena nothing more than given an excuse to give the youngers players and those on the periphery a chance of a run out.

England have 6 wins from from 6 games. Not bad for a team with no options up front. :rolleyes:

Agreed, but my point was about games against top teams - as in; beating Kazakstan, Andorra, Belarus etc...is all well and good but England always struggle in the latter stages of tournaments when they come against top teams. They took the Spain game seriously (friendly or not) and were undone - I think what I'm saying is maybe England don't get enough meaningful games against top teams to give a true reflection of their level.

stovelid

BaZmO* wrote: »

England have 6 wins from from 6 games. Not bad for a team with no options up front. :rolleyes:

Most Irish supporters would love an equivalent lack of striking options. Or their goal difference.

It's England. No matter what happens there will be handwringing.

Johnny Utah

stovelid wrote: »

Most Irish supporters would love an equivalent lack of striking options. Or their goal difference.

It's England. No matter what happens there will be handwringing.

Yeah, we'd also love an easy qualification group..... that would be nice too!

stovelid

Johnny Utah wrote: »

Yeah, we'd also love an easy qualification group..... that would be nice too!

I knew somebody would say that.

You reckon we would be guaranteed to hammer Croatia and Ukraine?