I remember watching football back in the 1990s and the 2000s. My God it was exciting.
There were so many dangerous players in front of goal, so many dynamic strike partnerships, so many strikers regularly hitting 20 goals a season and higher.
Cole and Yorke, Shearer and Sutton, Thierry Henry, Teddy Sheringham, Wayne Rooney, Dennis Bergkamp, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Ruud van Nistelrooy – the list goes on and on.
It’s not really like that anymore, is it?
Sure, you’ve got the odd Haaland or Isak, but they stand out precisely because they are in the minority. In fact, the top scorer at many clubs isn’t a number 9 at all: Mo Salah at Liverpool, Cole Palmer at Chelsea, Bryan Mbeumo at Brentford.
The number of goals scored per season isn’t really changing much – in fact, a new record was set in 2023 – but the people scoring them has.
This has caused major issues for some teams, Manchester United being a perfect example. The Red Devils have struggled to find the net at the best of times but their forwards have been especially impotent of late.
So what’s going on. Where have all the strikers gone? And why have they disappeared?
Formation Changes
In the old days, the 4-4-2 formation required clubs to have a larger selection of strikers battling for a place in the team. The shift to a single striker systems cuts the potential playing time of strikers in half, making the position less attractive, but it also means clubs don’t need as many.
The knock on effect is less competition in the squad for a place on the team sheet. How can a striker push himself to excel when he isn’t under pressure to perform for his place?
These newer, more fluid systems, rely more heavily on the wingers and attacking midfielders moving into space created by false nines, for example.
We have also seen the number 10 drop back a bit and take on defensive responsibilities as well as linking up play to create attacking opportunities. It’s all part of the possession based play styles that are now more popular.
This leaves little opportunity for a classic poacher. Someone like Andy Cole who was always in the right place to hammer the ball into the net. So long as the midfield got the ball to someone like that, they were odds on to score.
That’s the other issue, the strikers that do exist often don’t get the same sort of service they used to. They aren’t allowed to focus solely on scoring either. The obsession with pressing and outnumbering the opposition in the midfield means that even a number nine has to split their focus.
Basically, the game has changed so much that the traditional number nine has been forgotten and left behind. The problem now, is that when clubs need one, there aren’t enough of them, and of those that do exist very few could be classed as elite.
Defence Improvements at the Back
What makes this situation even more difficult for traditional number 9s, is that defenders and goalkeepers are better than ever at their jobs.
These days, footballers are all athletes. The last of the old school beer drinking ankle breaking centre backs have long since retired, to be replaced with fit, strong, quick and intelligent defensive lines who study their opponents in detail.
They know exactly what a striker likes to do, how they move, any little tricks they are known for, etc. They are professional and disciplined and understand exactly how to shut a classic striker out of the game.
Especially now there is only one of them.
Much of the time they don’t even need to deal with a striker who has the ball, because they simply deny him service instead. This effectively renders him an empty shirt.
When it comes to goalkeepers, they are bigger, more athletic, and can get down low or up to the top corner much faster than their predecessors. So even when a number 9 does manage to get a shot off the keeper is harder to beat.
Both goalkeepers and defenders are also more confident on the ball. They aren’t afraid to take a striker on, or hold them off. This is because academies and training staff try to produce players with more universal ability these days. It’s not just about being good at one job, players need to be able to do everything.
Disappearing or Developing?
I suppose the question many people will ask is whether the number 9 role is disappearing or simply developing into something else. Many roles have developed in recent years, just look at how full backs have become instrumental in creating goals – Trent Alexander Arnold is breaking assist records all over the place.
When it comes to strikers though, my argument would be that a striker who doesn’t score goals is not really a striker at all. Whatever else they might be doing, if they’re not scoring then why are they there? You can look at all the stats and data you like, but at the end of the day it’s the goals that matter.
If a number 9 is being shut out of a game then they aren’t contributing to play and may as well not be there. You need to use them or lose them.
Eventually, teams will accept this and either change the style of play to better serve their strikers (or even change the formation again), or they will scrap the traditional number 9 role altogether. Put that player somewhere else, give them a different job.
If it’s the latter, then the number 9 as we know it will indeed disappear. Forever? Maybe.
The academies develop players to serve the needs of the club and the game as a whole. If no one needs a classic striker anymore, why would any academy bother to train one? Little boys dreaming of becoming footballers are inspired by the players they see on the pitch.
They can’t be inspired by what they don’t see.