The modern day number 9.
Following on from my observational article in October where I spoke about specifically number 9s who offer nothing in build-up and channel movement are dying, this observational piece is focusing on what I perceive to be the requirements and reasons as to why recruitment teams, coaching staff and football in general has and are starting to produce these less goal oriented strikers. Without going over covered ground from the last time, the link is here if you want to read that (https://medium.com/@louorns_/championship-strikers-the-poacher-is-dead-0b2e6b25a432)
If you look at world football in general, there’s a favourable stance when it comes to the type of 9s the elite clubs want to sign, which has trickled down to leagues outside the top 5 – The Championship, Eredivisie, Challenger Pro League, Liga Portugal Betclic. I don’t know who started this ‘trend’ but I want to say Karim Benzema made it somewhat cool to be this style of striker. Yeah he scored at a decent rate, but he is exceptional at linking play, sustaining pressure and occupying a whole back line. Fast forward to today and the elite clubs have also adopted this approach. If you look in the Premier League: The bigger clubs have Erling Haaland, Gabriel Jesus, Darwin Núñez, Ollie Watkins, Alexander Isak, Rasmus Højlund, Nicolas Jackson. Then with the up and coming clubs they’ve got Dominic Solanke, Ivan Toney, Joâo Pedro, Matheus Cunha, Elijah Adebayo.. you get the idea. Whilst all these strikers have a varying degree of ability, they all possess similar skillsets.
Requirements:
Intensity off the ball
Strong channel runner
Occupy defences with hold-up play and sustaining pressure with the ball
Viable out-ball when under pressure
Able to get shots off through separation
There’s more things I haven’t mentioned but to me those are the clear noticeable traits these players have. Things will happen regardless if they score or not.
Obviously the lower down you go in the leagues, you can get away with just poachers. For example, in the Championship nobody really commits to playing a two striker formation throughout the season bar maybe Preston who have recently fluctuated to a back four. In League One it’s not as prevalent (Lincoln, Charlton, Cheltenham, Carlisle), but in League Two there’s more teams committing to a two striker formation. However, it’s more than likely that these players (who aren’t capable of anything outside of just being a goal threat) will be moved on the higher up the leagues they go, unless the instinct is so good in front of goal you can ignore the possible deficiencies in the rest of their game – Macaulay Langstaff I’m looking at you. It’s not a coincidence that the strikers who’ve left a League Two club to join a team higher up the pyramid are the ones who offer a lot outside of goals – Ali Al-Hamadi Ipswich, Brandon Thomas-Asante to West Brom and Elijah Adebayo to Luton; it’s not out of the realms of possibility that all three of them will be playing Premier League football next season. Looking at the EFL currently, the top 10 scorers in the Championship are mostly wide players or withdrawn strikers who can play a variety of roles. In League One it’s strikers who thrive in linking play and have ability to drop into different zones of the pitch and not look out of place. Then you get to League Two where it’s filled with teams who play two up as the top scorers in the league, which feeds into my point.
But why is football moving this way? Well it’s just natural with any sport, there’s growth in what you demand from a human side and a tactical evolution. I won’t disclose the name of this scout, but when speaking to him about strikers over the January window – he said he was tasked to find a #9 that offers more in a physical presence and dropping in as the team he works for value the wingers/inside forwards as the goal scorers of the side and that he wants his front line to be able to suffocate with and without the ball in central areas. It’s effectively an easier way to dominate parts of the pitch and more of the game depending on the quality of side you have. You can’t carry more than one ‘luxury’ player anymore as the whole team suffers because of that, what you do off the ball is to a point more important to what you have to do on it. I’m seeing it first hand with my team Watford – in an ideal world neither Bayo or Rajovic would be at the club, but even though the latter has more goals, when Bayo is in the team, Watford score more goals, concede fewer goals, dominate the ball more, create more chances etc etc, simply because Bayo has an inconsistent ability to sustain pressure and keep the ball ticking over in the final third – he’s also a relentless presser. There’s no ‘correct way’ to use a striker or have a certain skillset, but if your club is signing someone who’s just able to sniff out chances when you play a one striker system, be prepared to be extremely frustrated with your recruitment team, as it’s not the players fault the higher-ups haven’t understood the assignment or the way football has been heading. Chaos is taking over.