09 Jul 2025 12:43:14
Nowadays I just don't get the clamour for "out and out" strikers from the fans in forums.
If you have goals in your team you have goals if you don't you don't and it isn't always an out and out old fashioned #9 that delivers that it's a team and a tactic.
We have been fortunate enough to have goals and if you think of one of the most deadly forces in the league of recent years (Mane Bobby and Mo) there was not an out an out striker among them. Indeed the one "in the middle" was least prolific but (in my opinion) the linchpin to the team relationship!
If you look at city before Haaland the TEAM scored more goals and gained more points the year before than they did the season he arrived (and he got 50 ish? ) and had success to boot!
We don't need an "out and out number 9" and I worry that if the club followed the fan clamour (which gladly they don't) we could have been going for strikers that in all honestly have done no more in similar leagues / teams than Nunez before them. The chap Arsenal are seemingly getting by way of example.
The truth is Klopp knew how to build a team and I think Slot has a similar skill. It's a key ingredient in what after all is a TEAM GAME!
09 Jul 2025 14:01:06
Yeah, I've always cringed when people talk about needing an 'out and out striker'. Especially Arsenal fans, their invincible season was with Henry and Bergkamp, neither of which was what it seems they would describe as an 'out and out striker' whatever the f that means.
09 Jul 2025 14:09:29
@Metro, so why did we play a CF last season Jota, Nunez, Diaz and Gakpo all had a go and if we are going to play 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 you would hope that the ‘1’ might manage to score a goal or two in a team that won the PL and who, if memory serves, scored more goals than anybody else. If Mo had sustained a major injury last season we would have struggled to make the top 4 based on the goals and assists he scored / made. I don’t see how it will be much different this season as the only real natural goal scorer we had has tragically passed away.
09 Jul 2025 14:30:52
I heard on the radio the other day that Troy Deeney said he and Gabby Agbonlahor would be in the top 10 strikers in the Premier League if they played today, because you don't get out and out number 9's anymore in modern football. In fact a lot of the pundits seem to be peddling this myth that there's no strikers anymore. I had a look through the teams from last season and I honestly don't know what has prompted so many ex-players to carry on this absolute nonsense.
Liverpool - Nunez
Arsenal - Jesus
City - Haaland
Chelsea - Jackson/ Guiu
Villa - Watkins/ Duran
Newcastle - Isak/ Wilson
Forest - Wood/ Awoniyi
Bournemouth - Evanilson
Brighton - Welbeck/ Ferguson
Palace - Mateta/ Nketiah
Fulham - Jiminez/ Muniz
Wolves - Strand Larson/ Kalajdzic
Everton - Beto/ Calvert-Lewin
Man United - Hojlund
Spurs - Solanke/ Richarlison
West Ham - Fullkrug/ Antonio
Brentford - Wissa
Ipswich - Delap
Leicester - Vardy/ Daka
Southampton - Armstrong/ Onuacho
Far as I can see most teams had two proper strikers and only a handful of teams only had one in the squad. The ones that did only have 1 striker tend to be the clubs that are now desperate to sign one this summer!
In my opinion, we only got away with having Firmino up front because Mane and Salah both scored 20-30 goals from the wing. Most teams in world football would pay top dollar just to have even one winger who got 20+ a season. Never mind two at the same time.
I do love the sentiment Metro, as I was a huge Firmino fan. But you do still need a number 9 in the squad. How many times did Origi come off the bench because it wasn't quite working? He's a cult hero just for being an average number 9 because sometimes he was exactly what was needed.
PS. Deeney thinking he or Gabby would be top 10 in the Prem today is absolutely delusional.
09 Jul 2025 14:32:09
You do realise that there are different kinds of 9s in the world now, right? Dembele isn't an 'out and out 9' in the conventional sense but he plays the 9 position and interprets it in a way that works for PSG.
Of course it's a team and a tactic that wins you games, but Arteta's tactic last year was to stick Havertz in the 9 position, which didn't work, then he was forced to stick Merino in the 9 position, which also didn't work, and then he realised that he finally needed somebody to attack the spaces in the box to put away chances that Arsenal were creating, having wasted an entire year and 70 mill on the Havertz experiment.
Similarly, if Nunez was able to play the center forward position in a way that Slot needed him to, we wouldn't be having this conversation today.
The long and short of it is that 9s have different skill sets for different systems, and the one we had leading the line last year doesn't suit our needs at the moment. Whether he scores goals or not is another question, a 9 in today's game, while his job on paper is to put chances away and he has to do that at a decent enough rate, the way he knits everything together on a tactical level for the team is arguably more important.
I don't think anybody on here has said that we can just buy an old fashioned 9 (what even is an old fashioned 9? Delap doesn't strike me as one, Kane isn't an old fashioned 9, do you mean somebody like Chris Wood? ) and all our problems are solved, so I'm not sure why you would suggest that there is such a clamour. We want a 9 who can play the role Slot needs him to play, that's all.
09 Jul 2025 14:50:12
Agree, that we need to just trust Slot to build the team as he wishes and that might see players come in that we don't currently see as the best fits but could have the skill sets that Slot is looking for.
I would be of the opinion that we need a more conventional '9'. I have seen some suggest that Wirtz could play as a false 9 and I would be very much against that notion considering the players we currently have. Bobby is one of my favorite all time players, I loved how he played, but I do not think he would have been as successful in the false 9 role if LFC didn't have the pace and finishing ability of Salah and Mane. Pace from the wide areas is essential with a false 9 or no player is able to take advantage of the space that is created. The current version of Salah is not that player, shows how great he is to adapt his game as one of his biggest attributes, pace, has declined. On the opposite flank same story.
With the addition of a proper 9, if the right player, they could hit big numbers. Salah is as much a creator now as his is a finisher, adding Wirtz and flying fullbacks to that should mean plenty of chance creation from central areas and the wide areas. If we can add a player who has good movement in and around the box, has the technical ability to hold up the ball and link the play, and some composure in their finishing, I would be hopeful of a 20+ goal contribution from the 9. I remember seeing Nunez live at the Copa last season and was shocked by how poor he was at linking the play when the ball was played into him, between a poor touch or decision he gave the ball away so many times.
If Diaz was to leave, along with Nunez and Chiesa, and if Isak and Alverez are impossible deals I would like Ekitike, Mikautadez and then a wide player. I am hesitant to think of a name for a wide player as I really feel like I have no idea how Slot is going to want to play with Wirtz added in with the flying full backs. I do like Eze and Fofana as I think they would fill multiple roles and could play in different styles (touchline or inside forwards) . Rogers at Villa would be amazing if an inside forward is idea from the left side.
09 Jul 2025 15:07:12
MKS, I'm much more shellshocked by your condescension listening to the crap Deeney and Gabby serves than what they actually said. The joke of the century was BBC giving Deeney TOTW column. What they say is no better to the player they were IMHO.
09 Jul 2025 15:22:27
Ugbes, I like Jeff Stelling, Jim White and Darren Bent. Unfortunately sometimes I get blindsided by O'Hara, Cundy, Gabby or Troy. Normally I'll switch to music when they start talking.
09 Jul 2025 16:54:23
WDW we didn’t play a number 9 last season at all. You’re right that Nunez, Diaz, Gakpo, Jota and even Chiesa played through the middle but of all of those players Nunez is as close to a ‘9’ as you will get and he was very quickly banished to the bench.
Diaz managed to cement that spot because he drops deep and gets on the ball, more like a 10 or a false 9.
Personally I don’t think we can play with an out and out 9 whilst Salah is in the team. Salah is our main source of goals so any striker we sign will be criticised for not scoring enough.
Think about it, the team has always played at its highest level with a false 9 since Salah signed. We’ve tried to play with a striker and it hasn’t worked so we always revert back to the CF dropping deep allowing the wingers to tuck in.
09 Jul 2025 17:55:46
I think a few, not all, failed to get the point ?
And what a “strikers” list presented by MKS that made music from a Jim Henderson production sound in my ears ? ?.
09 Jul 2025 21:05:58
Jim Henderson? Is that Jordan’s Dad? Lol, great typo Metro.