Best EPL era Striker

LuckyLloyd

cambo2008 wrote: »

Don't think anybody said that.

Eli Manning wrote: »

lol no one said that. Cantona has a cult hero status at United and he was a very good player but he's not in the top 5 for Manchester United nevermind the PL.

Eli Manning wrote: »

One guy.

.

djPSB

There should be a poll.

Inspector Coptoor

buyer95 wrote: »

Inspector Coptoor wrote: »

In no order:

Bergkamp
Le Tissier
Shearer
RVP
Henry

Le Tiss was hugely overated imo, thats why he only ever won 8 caps for england.

True, but he played with a crap club, carried them on his back & maybe I've rose tinted glasses on but his highlight reel is amazing

Giggsy11

djPSB wrote: »

Torres youtube video
There wasn't a better striker out there when he was in his prime.

RVP is alot better than Drogba ever was. Fowler was also a class act, one of the best finishers the game has ever had.

osarusan

If Wikipedia's records are correct (possible) and if my calculations are correct (very unlikely), these are the EPL goal/game averages.

Shearer - goal every 1.69 games

Henry - goal every 1.45 games

Drogba - goal every 2.26 games

Van Nistelrooy - goal every 1.57 games

Fowler - goal every 2.32 games (tailed off badly later in his career)

Cole - goal every 1.92 games (Same as Fowler)

Rooney - goal every 2.22 games

Torres - goal every 2.04 games

Cantona - goal every 2.34 games

Heskey - goal every 4.66 games


I know there is more to a striker's job than just scoring goals, and some of those listed have played in different positions, but it's obviously a very important part, and of the strikers mentioned so far, Heskey has it nailed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlJ-JEjsLzM

Leiva

djPSB wrote: »

Where the hell is that Torres gone ?

Never seen a player dip in form so quick and still struggling to find it slowly after a number of years . Big season for him imo.If there is still doubt come May I can see him leaving the PL

Back on topic..

Henry all the way . Followed by Fowler .
Both were unstoppable in the height of their careers.
Also RVN and Shearer needs a mention.

PhlegmyMoses

Rooney's record is tempered by the fact that he has played a number of different roles at United.

BetterCallSaul

If Shearer had of signed for Manchester United and won numerous titles we probably wouldn't even be having this debate. He was the best out and out striker we have seen imo. Would have Henry just behind him.

I think Sky had a poll not long ago on this and that appeared to be the consensus as well.

Jason Todd

djPSB wrote: »

TORRES VIDEO

There wasn't a better striker out there when he was in his prime.

RVP is alot better than Drogba ever was. Fowler was also a class act, one of the best finishers the game has ever had.

That almost brought a tear to my eye. Amazing how different his body language etc is nowadays. Had serious man-love for him at Liverpool.

Henry is the best striker IMO. Van Nistelrooy has to be one of the best 'goalscorers'. And IMO, Drogba is/was better than Shearer. He could do everything Shearer could do, but did it in higher profile games and in Europe. The only downside was the play-acting.

Edit: Just seen BetterCallSaul's post, totally agree, if Shearer was at United he'd more than likely have been no.1

PhlegmyMoses

BetterCallSaul wrote: »

If Shearer had of signed for Manchester United and won numerous titles we probably wouldn't even be having this debate. He was the best out and out striker we have seen imo. Would have Henry just behind him.

I think Sky had a poll not long ago on this and that appeared to be the consensus as well.

This is a good point. Instead of Beckham, Scholes and Giggs pinging balls into him he had Gillespie, Robert and Dyer.

Rekop dog

BetterCallSaul wrote: »

If Shearer had of signed for Manchester United and won numerous titles we probably wouldn't even be having this debate. He was the best out and out striker we have seen imo. Would have Henry just behind him.

I think Sky had a poll not long ago on this and that appeared to be the consensus as well.

Shocking that a poll voted by a majority of English people came to this conclusion!

klose

Shearer was obviously the best, no debating that. Then id have Henry and bergkamp behind him.

Red Crow

Leiva wrote: »

Henry all the way . Followed by Fowler .
Both were unstoppable in the height of their careers.
Also RVN needs a mention.

Robbie Fowler wouldn't be fir to lace Henry's boots. Fowler isn't even top 10. I think he spent 15+ years as a PL player and only managed to break 20 goals twice.

And you're thanking people in this thread for ridiculing posters for suggesting Cantona?

BetterCallSaul

Rekop dog wrote: »

Shocking that a poll voted by a majority of English people came to this conclusion!

Oh yes I almost forgot how loved Shearer is by all those rival fans who must of voted for him before their favourite United, Chelsea, Liverpool etc. players because he's English.

It's not shocking. Henry is French and Shearer was the best.

Owen_S

Perhaps Cantona wasn't the best, but the most significant in terms of the impact that his contribution has made to club football as we know it.

Melion

Eli Manning wrote: »

Robbie Fowler wouldn't be fir to lace Henry's boots. Fowler isn't even top 10. I think he spent 15+ years as a PL player and only managed to break 20 goals twice.

And you're thanking people in this thread for ridiculing posters for suggesting Cantona?

Look at Fowler before he got injured in 97/98. Would easily have gone on to be remember alongside Henry and Shearer, unfortunately it didn't work out.

I think bias comes into a discussion like this too much. Cantona IMO was a great player but to even mention him alongside Henry is embarrassing, Henry from 2001-2006 was one of the best players in the world, scored every kind of goal and was absolutely clinical. An amazing player.

Will I Amnt

@LuckyLloyd
This is what you said

I love the 'what do you mean Cantona wasn't the bestest evar!!??' rubbish we need to wade through every time this topic comes up.

It was one post.
Why are you not berating all the other posts that mention Shearer or Fowler or anyone but Henry???

Rekop dog

Owen_S wrote: »

Perhaps Cantona wasn't the best, but the most significant in terms of the impact that his contribution has made to club football as we know it.

How so?

LuckyLloyd

cambo2008 wrote: »

@LuckyLloyd
This is what you said


It was one post.
Why are you not berating all the other posts that mention Shearer or Fowler or anyone but Henry???

This is not the first of these threads, nor will it be the last.

Shearer deserves to be in the conversation, God and Cantona clearly do not.

Leiva

Eli Manning wrote: »

Fowler isn't even top 10

?
Overall stats have him in 4th spot .

http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Statistical_Analysis_of_Top_100_Premier_League_Goalscorers.html

Eli Manning

Eli Manning wrote: »

Robbie Fowler wouldn't be fir to lace Henry's boots. Fowler isn't even top 10. I think he spent 15+ years as a PL player and only managed to break 20 goals twice.

And you're thanking people in this thread for ridiculing posters for suggesting Cantona?

Sure Cantona never even broke the 20 goal mark if that's your benchmark. He only broke the 15 goal mark once.

Will I Amnt

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

This is not the first of these threads, nor will it be the last.

Shearer deserves to be in the conversation, God and Cantona clearly do not.

Fair enough,enjoy your wading through the sea of imaginary posts.

The_Kew_Tour

Some excellent Strikers, but Henry and RVN are 2 best for me.

Drogba and Shearer are worth mention. Augero and RVP could become others in years to come.

A_Sober_Paddy

Drogba nowhere near

Bergkamp, Cantona, Henry, Shearer, RVN...

But from what I remember of Cantona he was my favourite and as an all round player he was the best with Bergkamp, as pure goal scorers you have Henry, RVN, Shearer & Fowler. Oh and maybe Michael Owen could make an appearence.

Oh forgot Tony Yeboah:D

Anyone

rarnes1 wrote: »

Sure Cantona never even broke the 20 goal mark if that's your benchmark. He only broke the 15 goal mark once.

He never did anything at international or european level either, very overrated played in my opinion, good player for the small occasion.

Andy Cole was mentioned above, the team Cole played in(which imo was the best Utd team) created so many chances that it bumped his goals a huge amount....any striker in that Utd team playing as many games as Cole did would have scored a similar amount of goals.

Rekop dog

BetterCallSaul wrote: »

Oh yes I almost forgot how loved Shearer is by all those rival fans who must of voted for him before their favourite United, Chelsea, Liverpool etc. players because he's English.

It's not shocking. Henry is French and Shearer was the best.

If it helps you're wrong!

You take that poll anywhere else in the world and Henry wins. He excelled at at time when the league was very strong especially coming into the mid 2000's when all the English teams where doing well in Europe. Standing out in an excellent league is very different to standing out in a relatively poor one.

Red Crow

rarnes1 wrote: »

Eli Manning wrote: »

Robbie Fowler wouldn't be fir to lace Henry's boots. Fowler isn't even top 10. I think he spent 15+ years as a PL player and only managed to break 20 goals twice.

And you're thanking people in this thread for ridiculing posters for suggesting Cantona?

Sure Cantona never even broke the 20 goal mark if that's your benchmark. He only broke the 15 goal mark once.

I never mentioned Cantona as the greatest and nowhere did I suggest he was a benchmark.

lol at the cult following of Cantona haters.

A_Sober_Paddy

rarnes1 wrote: »

James Beattie > Cantona

Ha Ha Ha

With your logic Heskey is better than RVP, Bergkamp & RVN

Will I Amnt

Cantona shouldn't feature in this thread as he wasn't an out and out striker.
Best EPL forward would have been a more appropriate thread title.

BetterCallSaul

Rekop dog wrote: »

If it helps you're wrong!

You take that poll anywhere else in the world and Henry wins. He excelled at at time when the league was very strong especially coming into the mid 2000's when all the English teams where doing well in Europe. Standing out in an excellent league is very different to standing out in a relatively poor one.

I meant they were voted in as the top two strikers in the best ever team, didn't mean to insinuate Shearer was better than him (that part was my opinion) but that they were the top two.

I'm not sure what age you are but I'm assuming you watched Shearer throughout his career for comparison?

Rekop dog

BetterCallSaul wrote: »

I meant they were voted in as the top two strikers in the best ever team, didn't mean to insinuate Shearer was better than him (that part was my opinion) but that they were the top two.

I'm not sure what age you are but I'm assuming you watched Shearer throughout his career for comparison?

Yes

BetterCallSaul

Rekop dog wrote: »

Yes

Fair enough, If you think Henry was better then that's fine, I can see that point of view. But if you want to say he had to play in a harder league, well, Shearer had to play with worse players around him in a worse team. It's all relative.

Anyway, back on topic, it seems we agree that both were better than Drogba.

A_Sober_Paddy

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Ha Ha Ha

With your logic Heskey is better than RVP, Bergkamp & RVN

Get someone to check your detector

SM01

Henry in his prime was just magical.

Melion

TBH i cant see why any United fan has Cantona ahead of RVN.

niallo27

cambo2008 wrote: »

Cantona shouldn't feature in this thread as he wasn't an out and out striker.
Best EPL forward would have been a more appropriate thread title.

He shouldn't feature because he was completely overrated and no where near the top players down the years.

PhlegmyMoses

Melion wrote: »

TBH i cant see why any United fan has Cantona ahead of RVN.

It's a romantic thing. He was the talisman during the start of a successful era. It's a bit of delusion but hardly a heinous crime. Anyone picking Fowler or Bergkamp is guilty of the same crime.

racso1975

drogba has one more goal then bent, yet bent has not been mentioned in this thread

PhlegmyMoses

racso1975 wrote: »

drogba has one more goal then bent, yet bent has not been mentioned in this thread

Drogba offers far more than just goals. He terrified certain defences. Arsenal and Liverpool were particularly affected.

niallo27

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

It's a romantic thing. He was the talisman during the start of a successful era. It's a bit of delusion but hardly a heinous crime. Anyone picking Fowler or Bergkamp is guilty of the same crime.

I don't think so, Fowler in his prime was ****en lethal, as good as anybody. He didn't have the careers other players but at his prime he was up there.

PhlegmyMoses

niallo27 wrote: »

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

It's a romantic thing. He was the talisman during the start of a successful era. It's a bit of delusion but hardly a heinous crime. Anyone picking Fowler or Bergkamp is guilty of the same crime.

I don't think so, Fowler in his prime was ****en lethal, as good as anybody. He didn't have the careers other players but at his prime he was up there.

It wasn't just injuries for Fowler. He couldn't cope when the league became more physical and athletic. Instead, players like Anelka and Henry were thriving. He never adapted his game.

BetterCallSaul

When the question is 'Best in the EPL era', "In his prime" shouldn't come into it really, it's more about consistency.

Hannibal

In terms of strikers I'd say:

1. Alan Shearer
2. Robbie Fowler
3. Didier Drogba
4. Michael Owen
5. Les Ferdinand

I think they can't be compared to "forwards" as they're different roles but sometimes with similar effectiveness.

1. Thierry Henry
2. Dennis Bergkamp
3. Wayne Rooney
4. Gianfranco Zola
5. Robin van Persie

PHB

Cantona, in his time, was better than most of the strikers. The problem is, the game has evolved significantly since then. He dominated the league for a few seasons, and dragged United to a title. But that's back in the day, and the league has become a way way way higher quality now.

For me, I think the same is true for Shearer, who was better than Cantona in his day.

Actual best striker? I'd go with Henry, who is just ahead of RVN. Then Drogba after them. All different types, but were probably in their primes, the best version of their type of striker in the world.

From a Man UTD fan here, why is Cantona even being mentioned??

Henry all the way home, sheer brilliance and by no means limited his game to just scoring goals.

BetterCallSaul

Dotsey wrote: »

In terms of strikers I'd say:

1. Alan Shearer
2. Robbie Fowler
3. Didier Drogba
4. Michael Owen
5. Les Ferdinand

I think they can't be compared to "forwards" as they're different roles but sometimes with similar effectiveness.

1. Thierry Henry
2. Dennis Bergkamp
3. Wayne Rooney
4. Gianfranco Zola
5. Robin van Persie

Good point, when I say I think Shearer was the best striker, I fully acknowledge that Henry was 10 times the footballer.

efb

Henry.

GavRedKing

Henry, the guy was devasting.

Owen_S

Not a single mention for Robbie Keane? :pac: