What type of striker do we need?

[mil1lion]

I guess we could go for a number 3 and sign Gyan.

 

[mattstev2000]

Considering I think most of our strikers are pretty average... all of the above please.

 

[Dan Ashcroft]

Absolutely a #9. I am a Jonathan Wilson devotee and am convinced that modern forward play is all about your #9.

A #10 who can also play wide in a 4-5-1 (e.g. Arda or Cavani) would be very nice as well, but is a second priority.

Out-and-out poachers like Defoe, Pav and Huntelaar are anachronistic hangovers from the 80s and 90s IMO.

 

[$hoguN]

Out-and-out poachers like Defoe, Pav and Huntelaar are anachronistic hangovers from the 80s and 90s IMO.

David Villa and Eto'o both fall into this category surely, and i'd take either of them

 

[Dan Ashcroft]

This.



This.



AND THIS:grin:



Well, yeah...but some of us try to look at the bigger picture.
Here are three elements that go into my analysis:
1) We really need a top No.9, really, badly...not just for himself, but to bring out the best in several of our other players;
2) Jermaine Defoe is still relatively young and just coming into his best years (according to the traditional way of reckoning things). There is still room for improvement, as demonstrated last year by the way he developed his upper body strength. We should expect that to be even more noticeable this season and beyond. IMHO he was pretty good until his injury. He was then injured. He was then rushed back to soon. So, I am not reading too much into his second half of season form. For the record, I am not one of those who worships JD by any means. I actually felt that the club were right to sell him, previously (for reasons given at the time), and while I am happy, this season, to wait and see how his upper body strength work brings him on for a second season, I certainly believe that unless he does improve another :shrug: 5 - 10% (through experince, upper body strength, etc), he is not top top quality. So, please, don't just categorize everyone who coupld potentially disagree with you as devotees of JD...it's just lazy;
3) As said at the end of the season, we really need to keep this squad together, and so don't need too many players - 3, including a Goalie (or at most, 4), is, IMHO, ideal. One of them has to be a number 9, again, IMHO. That doesn't leave much room,and there are other areas where improvements can be make and are needed more urgently that attack, especially as, for the reasons given in 2, above, JD may well improve. Some of us remember the years of wholesale disruptions to the squad and don't want to see them repeated, and we especially don't need a completely new strikeforce.

Defoe is nearly 28 and for someone who relies heavily on his acceleration (not pace), I think, like Owen and Linekar before him, he's probably only got 2 years left at the top.

 

[Dan Ashcroft]

David Villa and Eto'o both fall into this category surely, and i'd take either of them

I don't know - both also make an allround contribution that enables them to play practically as #10s as well - Eto'o for Inter and Villa for Spain have both recently being playing as deeper and wide forwards in 4-5-1/4-3-3s.

 

[danielneeds]

David Villa and Eto'o both fall into this category surely, and i'd take either of them

Both have shown they can be effective in wide roles this year (Eto'o for Inter, Villa for Spain), could you ever see Defoe being that adaptable? Probably not.

Pavlyuchenko has played up top on his own for Russia in the past, Crouch is very much one-off kind of player.

 

[StartingPrice]

Defoe is nearly 28 and for someone who relies heavily on his acceleration (not pace), I think, like Owen and Linekar before him, he's probably only got 2 years left at the top.

So, he's 27. A striker is usually considered to be reaching his peak roundabout the ages of 27 to 31. I used the term 'relatively'...I stick by that.
I think he relies on far more than his pace, TBF. Owen's injuries and the fact that he was in clubs at the very top of the tree who actually wanted a totally different type of striker, to function in a completely different way, means it is impossible to say he was 'done' by the tie he was 29 for the reasons you give. Was Liniker? Maybe my memory is so faulty, but I really don't think so...and he was a completely different type of striker to Owen anyway.

 

[$hoguN]

Is it bash Defoe season again? Villa and Eto'o have both got to the top by being out and out strikers, not wide strikers. Its not an antiquated position providing the player scores goals and Defoe does that. Yes there are upgrades but you have to be realistic, the majority of Premiership teams would benefit greatly from having Defoe, thats the long and short of it really.

We do need a big number 9 who can link play and also score goals, but to say modern football is all about them is false, modern football is about having players who are able to contribute in a number of ways, Defoe has got better at this and i'm sure will continue to improve.

 

[mil1lion]

Out-and-out poachers like Defoe, Pav and Huntelaar are anachronistic hangovers from the 80s and 90s IMO.

I admit there aren't many about at the highest level now. But the few that stand out for me over the years are Nistelrooy and Inzaghi. They don't offer much to overall build up, but they come to life in and around the box. They'd both score goals for fun with us (in their prime).

My biggest gripe with Defoe is that he isn't the most intelligent striker. A more intelligent version of Defoe would be good in any generation of football. Although ideally a younger version of Klose who can pull players about the pitch aswell.

 

[walworthyid]

We desperately need a number 9 in my opinion who can offer good hold play, vision, goal scoring and above all strength. As good as berba was, he often played poorly away from home and although he did produce some stunning performances playing up front on his own (Bolton at home springs to mind where he was virtually unplayable) that is not his game and he lacked the raw physical power or pace to do it consistently against good defences.

Last year, there were 2 things that I really noticed and that underpinned our success; our domination of midfield in almost every match we played, and our very solid defense.
What we lacked though was real power up front.

A number 9 would not only give us that presence, it would also give us real flexibility and enable us to play to our strengths. We have niko, ider and Mods who can play behind a striker as well as cole/turan/a n other. We could play 4-2-3-1 and other permutations thereof.

As for Defoe, he is good for 20 goals a season, although I must say that I don't really think he is any better than Pav. As for Dan Ashcroft's comments about all-out goal scorers being a thing of the past, I must agree. There is not really a top team in the whole of Europe that has a player like that and unless Defoe and to a lesser extent pav, can offer a bit more, they will struggle to play at the highest level.

Personally I would sell Keane, Crouch and one of defoe and pav and replace them with a top class number 9 and bring eidur back. If we keep all those strikers Harry will be less inclined to play with one up front.

 

[danielneeds]

I don't buy the idea that out and out goalscorers are a thing of a past.

Its a theory put forward by Jonathan Wilson at the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/jan/22/the-question-jonathan-wilson-goalpoachers
Obviously Dan Ashcroft is a disciple.

However just look at the Germany team currently lighting up a very average World Cup, who do they have up front? A very old fashioned poacher in Miroslav Klose.

When you see him play away from the penalty area he looks average, but give him good service and he will always score because he has an innate feeling for the way the penalty area works.

The difference between him and Defoe is that Klose can win balls in the air, he is also working incredibly hard off the ball in this World Cup, showing a fitness and motivation that seems to have been bestowed on their whole team.

As others have said, we have been spoiled in terms of strikers over the last few years. We don't know we are born in many ways. Defoe has his short comings, but his goals are still a massive fillip for a club trying to achieve success.

 

[nferno]

we need a number 9/out and out and wide left striker, hopefully dzeko and jovetic.

 

[brett.spurs]

a #9 and a #10.

 

[talkshowhost86]

I think we could genuinely do with one of each if we want to cement our position in the top four and compete in the Champions League. I think we've got fantastic quality in goal, in defence and in midfield but I think our strikers can all be improved upon. That may seem harsh considering how well we did last season and by no stretch of the imagination are our current strikers bad players but I think if we want to move forward there's no room for sentiment and alot of room for improvement.

Our current 'no 9' is Crouchie. I actually really like Crouchie. I think he offers something that not many other strikers in the world offer and put simply he terrifies defenders with his height. On top of that he's actually a good footballer and I reckon that played regularly he'd always get 15+ goals for us. Problem is that he isn't very quick and his link up play isn't really that good. Against the best teams we need someone who can hold the ball up, bring others into the game and score goals. Basically we need a Berbatov and Crouch isn't quite at that level.

Our current 'No 10' is probably Gudjohnsen/Keane. I think Gudjohnsen is quality and can do that role if needed but I don't know if he can do it regularly and for 90 minutes. As for Keane I think it's probably best if he moved on now. I don't want to re-open the debate about whether he's good enough but I think since he came back from Liverpool he hasn't had the fans on his side and that in itself is reason enough.

Our 'goalscorer' is Defoe and he did a pretty good job of doing that last year. But I think, hand on heart, we'd all admit there are better finishers out there and the man must have been offside more than everyone else in the Premiership combined in his career.

And our 'wide striker' is...ummmmm....Pav? Well he does run the channels better than any of our other strikers but he's not the Bellamy/Villa/Anelka type who can play out wide and still get a hatful of goals. I suppose Gio can play that role but he'll need to do alot to convince Harry and the rest of the fans that his head is in the right place at Spurs.


That all sounds very harsh against our strikers when I don't mean it to. Truth be told I'd be reasonably happy if we went into the season with the same squad as last season but overall I think we'll need to up our game a level next season and I think the strikers are where we need to do that first.

 

[THOWIG]

Mario Gomez

 

[DC_Boy]

apparently west ham bid for Klose

now i can't believe klose would come to either of our clubs - but for sure klose would be great for us and allow us to play 4-5-1

 

[am_yisrael_chai]

Didier Drogba - let's just hope 'arry doesn't think kenwyne jones or Carlton cole can be the next Drogba.

 

[Yiids]

What about Gyan of Ghana?

Seemed to play the lone striker role well and seems handful!!!

 

[Berglad]

apparently west ham bid for Klose

now i can't believe klose would come to either of our clubs - but for sure klose would be great for us and allow us to play 4-5-1

I'd be kind of sick if he went to West Ham. That's a bid we should hijack as he won't be that expensive at 32 and is pretty much surplus to requirements at Bayern. He's a great, experienced player with a couple good years left and could be a wonderful "bridge" signing for us.