Rank the eras for Strikers?

[Juan Matas Beard]

Messi and Ronaldo are not Strikers. They’ve never really been Strikers. Ronaldo has moved more centrally at Juve and the Portuguese NT in the last couple of years but even then it’s not really been his set position as often times he’s rotated back outside to accommodate Higuain up top.

And cmon R9 and Henry in the 2010s? Seriously?

R9 was a complete shadow of his former self by then and retired at the very start of the decade. Henry spent 2010s playing in MLS.

The list is about which decades the players were in their pomp.

Pretty sure Messi played as a striker when he scored 73 goals in a single season. Could make a team of Messi's from different seasons. Not really a LW but I'm sure he would have torn it up there.

LW: Messi (06/07)
CF: Messi (11/12)
RW: Messi (16/17)

 

[Riou]

Messi is world class wide or in the middle, you can class him as a striker if you want...but not Ronaldo, he is a winger.

 

[Shalmaneser V]

Pretty sure Messi played as a striker when he scored 73 goals in a single season.

False 9.

Fabregas played false 9 for the Spain during Euro 12. Do we class him as a striker too?

If we count Messi as a striker then so are Salah and Mane.

 

[Riou]

False 9.

If we count Messi as a striker then so are Salah and Mane.

Messi played in the middle for Barca from 2010-2014...Salah and Mane aren't false 9s, that's Frimino.

 

[Juan Matas Beard]

Messi played in the middle for Barca from 2010-2014...Salah and Mane aren't false 9s, that's Frimino.

How can he class a player as being in the false 9 position if he scores 73 goals in 1 season.

Can remove Benzema as well I guess if the false 9's are out. Salah and Mane are wide forwards.

 

[Shalmaneser V]

Messi played in the middle for Barca from 2010-2014...Salah and Mane aren't false 9s, that's Frimino.

He played as a false 9, rotating with Villa and Alexis. Not as a striker.

Yes Firmino is a false 9, not a striker neither.

 

[Shalmaneser V]

How can he class a player as being in the false 9 position if he scores 73 goals in 1 season.

Can remove Benzema as well I guess if the false 9's are out. Salah and Mane are wide forwards.

Messi is capable of scoring 73 goals as a false 9 simply because he is arguably the greatest player ever ffs. He scores virtually 60 goals playing out wide too.

Yes Salah and Mane are indeed wide forwards and that’s exactly what Messi has been for over 80% of his career.

How was Benzema a false 9? Now you’re just being silly.

 

[Riou]

He played as a false 9, rotating with Villa and Alexis. Not as a striker.

Yes Firmino is a false 9, not a striker neither.

Why don't you class false 9s as centre forwards...do you count them as more of a second striker/number 10 like Bergkamp?

 

[Shalmaneser V]

Why don't you class false 9s as centre forwards...do you count them as more of a second striker/number 10 like Bergkamp?

Sort of.

False 9s are more like decoys operating through the middle assigned to drop deeper and create space for others as opposed to conventional strikers.

 

[Sammy1887]

My eyes are burning while reading Robbie Keane considered to be better than Carlos Tevez?

Even frikkin Jermaine Defoe was better than Keane.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

Robbie Keane...get outta here...

A fraud former Leeds player..and better than Tevez, sort yourself out!

 

[Dokaka]

Messi and Ronaldo are not Strikers. They’ve never really been Strikers. Ronaldo has moved more centrally at Juve and the Portuguese NT in the last couple of years but even then it’s not really been his set position as often times he’s rotated back outside to accommodate Higuain up top.

And cmon R9 and Henry in the 2010s? Seriously?

R9 was a complete shadow of his former self by then and retired at the very start of the decade. Henry spent 2010s playing in MLS.

The list is about which decades the players were in their pomp.

I should've been more clear: The top 5 is meant as top 5 all-time. What I was saying was the 2010's would have 3-4 players in the all-time top 5 for strikers, and I listed that top 5 to show what I meant. I can see why that'd be confusing though.

Regarding Ronaldo and Messi's positions, to me it's a distinction without a difference. Both were on the pitch to score goals and operated 80%+ of the time in areas you'd expect traditional strikers to be.

I get what you mean, but to that end where does this arbitrary distinction on positions end? Messi and Ronaldo weren't typical wingers either, and they aren't considering midfielders. It seems almost antiquated to remove them from the striker debate.

 

[Dokaka]

To add, if people are going to eliminate clear world class goal scorers from the "best striker" discussion primarily because they either A: aren't listed as the in your typical formation infographic on TV or B: Roam too much from the box, I feel like the discussion is kind of flawed from the start.

Might as well discuss "best forwards" instead considering how antiquated strikers from the 80s/90s/2000s look compared to forwards today. Even Nistelrooy started to look like a relic towards the end of his tenure at Man Utd.

Aubameyang and Benzema might as well play difference positions, yet somehow those two are both "strikers". Yet Bergkamp isn't included, even though he basically operated in the same spaces Benzema does his entire career. It doesn't make sense.

It almost feels like the argument at times being made is "X player is/was too good to be a striker" It always boils down to "he did too much".

 

[Shalmaneser V]

I should've been more clear: The top 5 is meant as top 5 all-time. What I was saying was the 2010's would have 3-4 players in the all-time top 5 for strikers, and I listed that top 5 to show what I meant. I can see why that'd be confusing though.

Regarding Ronaldo and Messi's positions, to me it's a distinction without a difference. Both were on the pitch to score goals and operated 80%+ of the time in areas you'd expect traditional strikers to be.

I get what you mean, but to that end where does this arbitrary distinction on positions end? Messi and Ronaldo weren't typical wingers either, and they aren't considering midfielders. It seems almost antiquated to remove them from the striker debate.

No it’s my fault, must have misread your post. I see what you mean now though.

Can’t argue with and Ronaldo & Henry but the other 3 not guarantees for me considering the other level of competition.

Also I tried to narrow down the field to just strictly out and out strikers. If I were to throw false 9s, second strikers, attacking mids and wide forwards into the mix, id be there all day.

 

[albakos]

Agreed that Messi/Ronaldo are out of this world and based on that the 2010's edge out any other period.

However seeing Ronaldo Nazario Da Lima in his prime, he was truly breathtaking.
His breakout season at Barca was majestic, he tore everyone apart.

The injuries were his curse though, I'll never forget the sight of him in the dugout crying it out loud after another injury forced him out of the game and Inter lost the title at the last week.

 

[krackpot]

90s really had every type of player, not just strikers. you had good players at every team, as @GDeep™ says.

Romario, the little one
R9, el fenonimo
George Weah, King George
Baggio, the divine ponytail
Batigol, il re leone
Bergkamp, the iceman
Rivaldo, the cheat
Shevchenko
Vieri
Kluivert
Hasselbank (sp)

then you had zippy little players like Figo, Rui Costa, Bebeto, Crespo, Overmars, Ortega, etc, etc.

Late 90s to early 00s is perhaps the best time to watch football.

 

[Dokaka]

90s really had every type of player, not just strikers. you had good players at every team, as @GDeep™ says.

Romario, the little one
R9, el fenonimo
George Weah, King George
Baggio, the divine ponytail
Batigol, il re leone
Bergkamp, the iceman
Rivaldo, the cheat
Shevchenko
Vieri
Kluivert
Hasselbank (sp)

then you had zippy little players like Figo, Rui Costa, Bebeto, Crespo, Overmars, Ortega, etc, etc.

Late 90s to early 00s is perhaps the best time to watch football.

A lot of this is nostalgia though, mainly down to the much more limited exposure we had to football overall meaning we usually only saw a lot of players on big occasions and/or in highlights.

There's a plethora of players right now whom are easily as good as some of the all-time greats, but they've become watered down in our brains because we see and hear about them every single hour of every single day. They don't feel special.

Someone like Kluivert led the line for Barca when they were going through some rough years, being consistently criticized as not being clinical enough etc. Yet his name is iconic to people in my (and many others) age bracket because he was the striker when you saw Barca play on TV.

In reality, Kluivert was like Benzema level. Good, but no where near the all-time greats. And Benzema is seen as a bit of a water carrier for even better players these days, which says a lot.

 

[krackpot]

A lot of this is nostalgia though, mainly down to the much more limited exposure we had to football overall meaning we usually only saw a lot of players on big occasions and/or in highlights.

There's a plethora of players right now whom are easily as good as some of the all-time greats, but they've become watered down in our brains because we see and hear about them every single hour of every single day. They don't feel special.

Someone like Kluivert led the line for Barca when they were going through some rough years, being consistently criticized as not being clinical enough etc. Yet his name is iconic to people in my (and many others) age bracket because he was the striker when you saw Barca play on TV.

In reality, Kluivert was like Benzema level. Good, but no where near the all-time greats. And Benzema is seen as a bit of a water carrier for even better players these days, which says a lot.

yeah that is a fair comment but it could be argued that the big players shone where and when it mattered.

With kluivert i think the attitude problems overshadowed his talent but he was unplayable on his day. A bit like Anelka. Plus he played with Rivaldo, who was an attention hog.