Gabriel Batistuta was always one of my favourites. I remember one charity match around 1997 (ish) when him and R9 played together. Wow! Them together was just unreal!
Batigol was a beast! When he moved to Roma & teamed up with my favourite player of all time, Totti, it was a great time to be alive to watch Football Italia on C4.
he's not the greatest ever & I'm a newcastle fan - he was lucky to hit his prime seasons just as the league started and have his full career in England; look at goals per game and he's only 5th, behind henry, aguero, salah & kane
@@andrewharrison7767 I actually see it the other way. The players you've listed only really played in the PL during their prime seasons, so their goals per game ratio isn't hindered by lower scoring seasons towards the tail end of their career. The fact Shearer was there his full career affects that goals per game ratio. Though, agreed, it is fair to say that it is what allowed him the record.
@@andrewharrison7767 he literally is because he has scored the most goals. You can argue if he’s the best player but he is factually the greatest PL goal scorers
Micah’s ace. How can anyone dislike Big Meeks. All these comments from little people who won’t have done half the things he’s done by the end of their lives. 🤦🏽♂️
The big, loud, jolly, Meeks schtick might be fine on a game show but it interrupts interesting conversations about football. He’s all banter and nothing much else. He gets loads of work to draw in “the kids” because he’s got that TikTok “personality.” But if you’re looking for depth and real insight he’s just annoying!
98% of the diss towards Micah, has nothing whatsoever to do with football or the man himself. Once you understand that it becomes clear as day. But it’s all good, we lovers of life and football just keep it moving👏🏾🫶🏾
@@andrewsteer8860i agree, he made Vidic look average and scored against us so many times when he was at Liverpool. Still scored some important, if not as many goals for Chelsea too
Just managed to finish watching all of this. First off I know it was a duo on this episode but the three of you are fantastic to watch and listen to the way you discuss different areas of the game with no one sided or leaning towards the current big teams is a breath of fresh air. I grow up watching Alan with my grandad every weekend on match of the day watching him score week in week out most times I am a little young to remember Gary as I am now 38. I think this episode you have covered what I have been saying since Harland has joined the prem is a round about way. Teams have changed and not had that out and out goal scorer since Alan really the type that is goal hungry not dropping to try and get or create something the type that waits and make and makes again the runs to get on the end of. I feel this is why teams struggle to deal with harland due to not being able to handle and adapt to that type of player and out and out number 9. When harland has not been as effective in games it’s due to team stopping the delivery of the ball this does not allow him to play the way he wants to and try’s to change and he then looks average due to this not being his style of football. He is no doubt a prolific goal scorer but without the delivery not as effective. Keep up the good work lads I look forward to to every episode. SAM the Villa fan
I agree that Ian Rush was far ahead of his time, loved watching how hard he worked. He was so natural, he didn't do anything spectacular, just knew how to put it past the keeper. Probably helped having players like Kenny Dalgleish to supply him, but he still had to make the runs.
Agree.....also worth considering language all other times, too, as it is likely youngster's are watching those podcasts as well! I enjoy the wisdom and experience of these three (when Micah is present) but not the language of such significant role models.....they hold it together professionally when on TV, why not in these chats. 😮
I absolutely idolised Shearer when I was a bairn, I had his DVD of all his goals and would watch it before playing on a Sunday and it helped me score a lot of goals so it’s great to hear this👏
Gary did have fantastic positional sense , seemed like a ball magnet around the box, has good agility too. I re-watched some of Alan's goals a few years back and what I noticed apart from his ferocious shoot was his reaction time, he was often so far ahead the ball was hitting the net before defenders had a chance to think.
4:30 Frank Worthington! I was wandering around Manchester one afternoon, back in the 80s, and bumped into Frank outside the Arndale. There he was, long but immaculate hair, camel coat, smoking a ciggie while his wife was shopping. He gave me about 15 minutes of his time - few other people seemed to recognise him. Lovely, lovely guy. Thanks Gary!
Guys, thank you so much for this episode. I have a son who is at an academy. He's a traditional type of centre-forward, so your advice from a distance is like gold dust. I grew up watching the likes of you guys, Mark Hughes, Les Ferdinand, Andy Cole, Wrighty, Drogba and of course R9.
Absolutely riveting lads from two amazing strikers from back in the day, loved watching you both, Gary was the first fox in the box I noticed and Shearer was an beast of a finisher from anywhere around the penalty box. Being a wolves fan I grew up watching Steve Bull and another striker who I adored watching was Robbie Keane, two different styles of strikers but I certainly do miss watching a proper number 9, the last great Wolves number 9 was Raul Jiminez!! What a joy it was to watch him live.
You've hit the nail on the head as to why I failed as a striker as a kid. Playing for my first junior side, I missed a golden opportunity to score. I was so embarrassed to miss. After that I would deliberately not run in the areas where I would have a chance to score, I did not want to put myself in a position where I should score, I did not want to embarrass myself again. I did carry on playing but went back to a more defensive midfield role but to be honest striker was my true position. I would love to go back to being a kid and getting that advise from you guys, don't be afraid to miss. Probably the best advise for a kid you could give.
Always loved a good strike partnership, something of a dying breed Beardsley & Cole Shearer & Sutton Dalglish & Rush Much as I hate to say it being a Watford supporter, but I did enjoy Morris & Adebayo in the PL last season. Mind you we had Ighalo & Deeney a few years ago - and Vydra & Deeney actually - what fun they were ⚽️⚽️⚽️
Another fantastic episode. I still think Micah would have been useful though. Would have been good to hear a defender's perspective on how to track the movements and runs of strikers and what they need to do depending on say strikers that like to come short, or more technical or even just the physical beasts. The youngsters would also learn the impact of the movements and other things Alan and Gary are talking about. As for people saying Micah doesn't contribute much at all generally. All I will say is if you don't like a young, jovial and vibrant person, ignore his personality and just listen to him. You will find out that you have missed a lot due to your bias. Love the pod
Lautaro Martinez for Inter is one of the most underrated current number 9s. He's a machine but never hear people tall about him. The early part of this video was so wholesome 😊
Slowly getting through these along with watching the newer ones, but this one is incredible. Not that they always aren't, but Jimmy Greaves aside, England's two greatest goalscorers of all time discussing the art of it is just perfection
One of the best I saw before Martin Keown…..David Hirst. He was complete. Left foot, right foot, heading, pace, strong. Would’ve have been one of England’s greats if not for injuries and his fondness for a pint or 12
In my year at school there was this lad who could dribble the whole field but never bothered with the football team that was just games. Maybe no Idea in a way I was on the school rugby team and the town I could carry half a dozen o my back but people started to catch up with height and weight it did get a little harder. Moral of the story there have been some fantastic footballers that never were, because it was too dangerous to fail. So in a lot of cases you have pros who are ther because they had nothing to lose
I think you guys maybe forgot about Solskaer when talking about great center forwards that was amazing at scoring goals. How many goals he scored for United compared with how many minutes he played for them was just amazing. He was called The Baby Faced Assassin for a very good reason. Yes, he didn't always play as a CF as he played many games as a second striker or a right winger as well, so he was not a pure number 9. Imagine what he could have achieved at United if he had avoided all his bad injuries.
In 1969 Scandinavian Broadcasting got the rights to show an English match every Saturday. I enjoyed nothing more than watching Frank Worthington and Leicester from Filbert Street during the early 70s. Arguably the most aesthetically pleasing English player ever imo (in competition with Glenn Hoddle). I remember a pre-season game they had in Oslo. He scored a couple of goals. The second was a penalty where he fainted a direct shot which sent the goalie to one side, before he spun 180 degrees around, and with all the time in the world, backheeled the ball into the opposite corner. All done with the utmost style and elegance that was typical for him. No big game, of course, but still, it would have looked pretty stupid to miss it in front of a few thousand spectators. If Gary ever has the time for a Frank Worthington story on the podcast, I, and probably a lot of guys from our generation, would certainly appreciate it. He was a real character. Greetings from one of your satisfied Norwegian listeners. It’s a great podcast the three of you have going.
I'm older than you two, but still remember my first football years. Our coach taught us to practice shooting with both right & left feet, both inside and outside curls. As I recall it this was standard in the 1960s. Very useful skill at set pieces, 4 angles to work with. When and why did that idea change? Btw, my "career" ended in my teens, due to traffic injury.
Fascinating. I have said, esp in the days of tiki-taki (fascination with possession), STRIKING A BALL is a dying art in modern football, with all aspects of foot(both feet). In modern football you see so many passes back, too many touches, and safe football.. “yes, try and do not be afraid to miss..” class episode..
Bit rose tinted. There was just as much an obsession with playing safe football, the definition was just different. It was either blamming it as far up the pitch as possible, usually to the opposition, or passing it back to the goalkeeper to pick up (which the most successful teams like Liverpool and Forest did non stop).
In the past safe football was kicking the ball long because the further away it was from your goal the less danger you were in . That’s where “If in doubt , kick it out” came from. Nowadays, people follow pep’s idea that if you have the ball in your opponent’s half they can’t hurt you so try to keep the ball and them on the defensive. People now are physically better so recover better versus technically gifted players unless those players are on the level of Messi, Mbappe or a Musiala. Players now need both athleticism and technical ability to be a high level player.
@@karmaascendant3936 i am not so sure its “recovering the Ball”, keepibg shape and jockeying is more the tactic. Today players rarely tackle. Loss of possession is usually from mistakes rather than tackles in the pro game
I would LOVE it if you managed to get Ian Rush on this podcast. You do not hear much from him now a days but the guy was a goalscoring machine. Him moving to Juventus like the another great Welshman John Charles.Scoring two goals in the 86 FA Cup final to rob Gary of a medal. I could go on all day.
My brother will surpass your record Mr. Shearer. 20 yo Momo de Goma just became a naturalized US citizen. Coming to Ireland in December. Once he makes it to the Prem he will honor your legacy.
Remember as a kid watching football programe each Sunday morning. Was done by Bobby & Jack Charlton & there mum. It was all these little routines that these guys are talking about. Somthing similar is needed for youngsters now, everything shown in very basic terms
Well if I remeber right there was that test, in which Mr. Shearer took part btw, about determining the effect headers have on the brain function. Perhaps the "not practicing headers" or limiting them at training is somehow connected with fears that constant heading of the ball might lead to future troubles.
the problem is not the fear of having a bad header, the problem is the proven long-term damage that comes from repetitively heading the ball leads to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (ie, CTE), which is just medical speak for repeated traumas (ie, significant blunt impacts) to the head. Unfortunately, even if you do it as safe and as confidently as possible, as many footballing legends of the past have done, over the length of a player's 25 year career (including youth football and training), the amount of heavy hits to the head will add up and damage the brain in ways that don't show themselves until later in a career/after a career is over. And at that point, it's irreversible and the damage is done. Nobby Stiles (RIP) was calculated to have headed a ball over 70k times in his career. The end of his life was heavily affected by dementia, something directly linked to CTE and the damage done by heading. He knew how to head a ball. But the act itself, repeated as many times as he did, is what did the damage.
Incredible box player. It seems unfair to call him a specialist because he wasn't lacking other attributes but I don't know that anyone else in 30 years has been better within 18 yards of goal.
I saw him score a hat trick away against my Rovers in the(1994?) FA cup. Some God damn glorious goals and a free kick. That guy is Ace and what an exotic time in Italian football for Rush to play in.
how Marco Van Basten is rarely talked about (the guy behind the camera had to bring him up..) The guy was one of the greatest ever! 3 Ballon d'Or.. Also Batistuta, Weah, Romario..?!
Federer gave a talk once saying how he won 80% of his matches but only slightly higher than 50% of points - and was a study of top 25 tennis players and the difference between top 25 and top 5 was that the top 5 didn’t dwell on mistakes and missed shots and would try again next point while those slightly below wild over think if missed - and like shearer saying then he wasn’t afraid make a mistake and look Foolish and can tel haaland doesn’t let a miss affect him
'Potential' is now considered more important than actual ability and results. A players stats showing they created x amount of chances, or were in x goal scoring positions, rather than how many actual goals they scored. Haaland is possibly the only exception and I would consider him a goal scorer or traditional striker, whose primary (and possibly, only) concern is to score goals
It’s hard for me to watch Harry Kane play, and comprehend that he’s world class, when as a youngster I first got into watching football properly from USA 94 and seeing Romario killing that tournament, then watching R9 through his career, right to Henry at Arsenal. They were players I classed as World Class, not only by the type of goals they scored, but by the dribbling and play making. Flip, Harry Kane slow asf on the ball.
Brilliant insight lads,now let’s get back to playing the game properly with proper strikers,watching games now is like Groundhog Day every team playing the same way 🥱🥱🥱
i rally enjoyed this one,very insightful (especially for younger players) plenty of great advice 👍 PS i played for 3/4 seasons in Matlock derbyshire when i was 16+ mainly as a RW because i could run like the 💨!!but also down the middle,loved!! scoring goals obviously but i had a growth spurt and stretched my achilles tendons on both legs around 15 years of age,so i had to forgo playing upfront on my GPs advice,so i played a lot in goal after that because 1 i always enjoyed playing GK as a kid in the park + i shot up to 6’2” with my growth spurt,V Happy days😊.
Isn't the link up play from the winger/midfielder knowing where the striker will be, an integral part too. I remember when Al and Les Ferdinand were at the Toon and left/right wingers were constantly crossing into the box for either to finish. My god we had a great season then, sadly came 2nd at the end.
Loved this episode; the value of the knowledge, experience and passion of two great strikers. Brought back great memories of both players as well as my days of school football, with the best goals I scored still clear as day in my mind. Favourite striker of all time? Ronaldo R9, at his best he was untouchable and an absolute joy to watch. Interesting that you mention that fewer kids today want to play as a striker, at the school I work at and help coach the football team, I’m the only one from players and coaches combined whose best position is striker.
R9 before his knee exploded was unplayable. A lot of his goals came from runs from deeper, & his link-up play was unreal, so definitely not a typical 9 in my opinion.
@@tyrannosaurus696 Good points. He was probably more akin to the modern elite forwards of last 10-15 years who can play in multiple positions, which was more or less unheard of in the 90s and early 2000s.
I was a mediocre player but i played in asia version of cl. I still remember they had quota of 2/3 foreign players and mostly were allocated towards a number 10 and a goalscorer. They had a checklist, can you score from near post, far post, header, one on one etc. nobody makes near post runs anymore because of inverted winger and fullback, strikers are very underdeveloped. Even the likes of kane couldnt score from far post and near post, only tap ins. The only strikers that still do them are lautaro, kyogo at celtic, that’s it. We dont make strikers anymore. We make tap ins machine like current kane and ronaldo
No one made those curved runs in from behind the defenders shoulder, across them, into the channels, against a high line, to get on to a throughball. No one.
My grandad turned down pro contracts with Cardiff and Swansea because he earned more money as a Gas Fitter/Supervisor! Mad to think about how times have changed
Thanks for this wonderful mixture of Entertainment and Smartness of the Game. „Eyes up“-not only for the header. The youngs should make races with ball and eyes up, a Co. could hold a transparent to read-mean: Push the ball forward and read a sentence from the transparent on same time. Oh, it would be so interesting to have a Programm Like yourself here in Germany. With Klaus Fischer, Rudi Völler, Jürgen Klinsmann, Dieter Müller, and the Great Gerd Müller. Dont forget Paolo Rossi. Pele was 9,5. My favourite player was Garrincha. And The Jugoslawin Dzaic. (11) Thanks!
With Man C with probably the best centre forward around. Why doesn’t his team pass to him more. You see Harland make numerous runs and the team just ignore his present? A forward with the quality of Harland receiving the ball in the box is very likely to have a positive outcome.
Defoe was vey underrated.. movement and finishing was up there with the best throughout his career
he loves to score goals
Gabriel Batistuta was always one of my favourites. I remember one charity match around 1997 (ish) when him and R9 played together. Wow! Them together was just unreal!
Batigol was a beast! When he moved to Roma & teamed up with my favourite player of all time, Totti, it was a great time to be alive to watch Football Italia on C4.
Which reminded me of Hernan Crespo, another brilliant 9.
You can feel the buzz Shearer gets just talking about scoring goals, you can see why he is the PL greatest ever goal scorer.
he's not the greatest ever & I'm a newcastle fan - he was lucky to hit his prime seasons just as the league started and have his full career in England; look at goals per game and he's only 5th, behind henry, aguero, salah & kane
@@andrewharrison7767 I actually see it the other way. The players you've listed only really played in the PL during their prime seasons, so their goals per game ratio isn't hindered by lower scoring seasons towards the tail end of their career. The fact Shearer was there his full career affects that goals per game ratio. Though, agreed, it is fair to say that it is what allowed him the record.
@@andrewharrison7767 he literally is because he has scored the most goals. You can argue if he’s the best player but he is factually the greatest PL goal scorers
For someone that Idolised Shearer growing up, this was a real treat! 👍
🏴🏳️
I'm a villa fan born and bread. I'm 41 now. But Idolised him when I was younger as well. Loved the way he would just shoot with so much power.
Micah’s ace. How can anyone dislike Big Meeks. All these comments from little people who won’t have done half the things he’s done by the end of their lives. 🤦🏽♂️
Hear hear
The big, loud, jolly, Meeks schtick might be fine on a game show but it interrupts interesting conversations about football. He’s all banter and nothing much else. He gets loads of work to draw in “the kids” because he’s got that TikTok “personality.” But if you’re looking for depth and real insight he’s just annoying!
98% of the diss towards Micah, has nothing whatsoever to do with football or the man himself. Once you understand that it becomes clear as day. But it’s all good, we lovers of life and football just keep it moving👏🏾🫶🏾
Premier League winner. England cap at 18. Scored for England. Meeks was a player
Can't stand Micah. Ruins every conversation he is a part of. But he's made the most of the little he achieved.
Peak Torres was one of my favourites to watch, he was a beast.
As a Man Utd fan, Torres was one of the only players I got scared of facing us. Very few players made Vidic look terrified!
As an Arsenal fan, Torres absolutely terrified me any time we played against them. Peak Liverpool Torres I’m talking not that clone we saw at chelsea
best pure striker of his era, so explosive he wrecked his own legs
@@andrewsteer8860i agree, he made Vidic look average and scored against us so many times when he was at Liverpool. Still scored some important, if not as many goals for Chelsea too
Ya he was the best striker in the world before his injury. Devastating pace and power and an ice cold finisher. Also had bangers in his locker
Shearer was incredible in the air....not just scoring but winning ariel duals with defenders bigger than him
Jean Pierre Papin was another great striker during Gary and Alan's time.
Just managed to finish watching all of this. First off I know it was a duo on this episode but the three of you are fantastic to watch and listen to the way you discuss different areas of the game with no one sided or leaning towards the current big teams is a breath of fresh air.
I grow up watching Alan with my grandad every weekend on match of the day watching him score week in week out most times I am a little young to remember Gary as I am now 38. I think this episode you have covered what I have been saying since Harland has joined the prem is a round about way. Teams have changed and not had that out and out goal scorer since Alan really the type that is goal hungry not dropping to try and get or create something the type that waits and make and makes again the runs to get on the end of. I feel this is why teams struggle to deal with harland due to not being able to handle and adapt to that type of player and out and out number 9. When harland has not been as effective in games it’s due to team stopping the delivery of the ball this does not allow him to play the way he wants to and try’s to change and he then looks average due to this not being his style of football. He is no doubt a prolific goal scorer but without the delivery not as effective. Keep up the good work lads I look forward to to every episode. SAM the Villa fan
I agree that Ian Rush was far ahead of his time, loved watching how hard he worked. He was so natural, he didn't do anything spectacular, just knew how to put it past the keeper. Probably helped having players like Kenny Dalgleish to supply him, but he still had to make the runs.
That was a nice touch touch going easy on the language so that young strikers all over can listen to and learn from 2 of the best to ever do it! 😎
Agree.....also worth considering language all other times, too, as it is likely youngster's are watching those podcasts as well!
I enjoy the wisdom and experience of these three (when Micah is present) but not the language of such significant role models.....they hold it together professionally when on TV, why not in these chats. 😮
How could they leave Micah out of this episode?
These are so much better without Micah Richards talking nonsense or shouting and over exaggerating laughing
@@StephenCarrIsBald you must be fun at parties
@@StephenCarrIsBaldDamn bro, lucky for you Micah will last the longest on this pod cause he’s the youngest😂😂
And irreplaceable ofc
All he ever says is "in terms of" ....I wouldn't miss him to much
@@_jenaissante_life doesn’t work like that
I absolutely idolised Shearer when I was a bairn, I had his DVD of all his goals and would watch it before playing on a Sunday and it helped me score a lot of goals so it’s great to hear this👏
Gary did have fantastic positional sense , seemed like a ball magnet around the box, has good agility too. I re-watched some of Alan's goals a few years back and what I noticed apart from his ferocious shoot was his reaction time, he was often so far ahead the ball was hitting the net before defenders had a chance to think.
I'll now always wonder if there was a kid in Sunderland with a footy coach called Mr. Newcastle...
4:30 Frank Worthington! I was wandering around Manchester one afternoon, back in the 80s, and bumped into Frank outside the Arndale. There he was, long but immaculate hair, camel coat, smoking a ciggie while his wife was shopping. He gave me about 15 minutes of his time - few other people seemed to recognise him. Lovely, lovely guy. Thanks Gary!
Guys, thank you so much for this episode. I have a son who is at an academy. He's a traditional type of centre-forward, so your advice from a distance is like gold dust.
I grew up watching the likes of you guys, Mark Hughes, Les Ferdinand, Andy Cole, Wrighty, Drogba and of course R9.
Absolutely riveting lads from two amazing strikers from back in the day, loved watching you both, Gary was the first fox in the box I noticed and Shearer was an beast of a finisher from anywhere around the penalty box.
Being a wolves fan I grew up watching Steve Bull and another striker who I adored watching was Robbie Keane, two different styles of strikers but I certainly do miss watching a proper number 9, the last great Wolves number 9 was Raul Jiminez!! What a joy it was to watch him live.
Getting someone on like Jamie Vardy to talk about this would be great. Someone so often overlooked
You've hit the nail on the head as to why I failed as a striker as a kid. Playing for my first junior side, I missed a golden opportunity to score. I was so embarrassed to miss. After that I would deliberately not run in the areas where I would have a chance to score, I did not want to put myself in a position where I should score, I did not want to embarrass myself again. I did carry on playing but went back to a more defensive midfield role but to be honest striker was my true position. I would love to go back to being a kid and getting that advise from you guys, don't be afraid to miss. Probably the best advise for a kid you could give.
24:15 that’s why Henry was so phenomenal. He created his own chances.
Always loved a good strike partnership, something of a dying breed
Beardsley & Cole
Shearer & Sutton
Dalglish & Rush
Much as I hate to say it being a Watford supporter, but I did enjoy Morris & Adebayo in the PL last season. Mind you we had Ighalo & Deeney a few years ago - and Vydra & Deeney actually - what fun they were ⚽️⚽️⚽️
One on Rushie would be a dream. Probably one of, if not the greatest of all, the natural goal scorers. Love this POD
Another fantastic episode. I still think Micah would have been useful though. Would have been good to hear a defender's perspective on how to track the movements and runs of strikers and what they need to do depending on say strikers that like to come short, or more technical or even just the physical beasts. The youngsters would also learn the impact of the movements and other things Alan and Gary are talking about.
As for people saying Micah doesn't contribute much at all generally. All I will say is if you don't like a young, jovial and vibrant person, ignore his personality and just listen to him. You will find out that you have missed a lot due to your bias.
Love the pod
My guess is that they'll do something like that within 6 months, a year at most?
Nothing better than scoring a goal. On a pitch, that feeling is unmatched. Love the podcast. My absolute fave.
1 of the best football podcasts 💯⚽
The sages of striking. I feel like every young player needs to listen to this.
Fowler for a few seasons was top notch
Played in the wrong era. Mid 90’s he was eclipsed by Cantona and Wright.
@miamitten1123 nah. Was injured all the time because Liverpool played him far too much when he was younger. Was always a great talent though.
Shearer the best 9 I've ever seen in my 40 odd years of football. Incredible finisher
You guys need to make a video about the older legends you watched or played against. That would be a good video
Would love a First Division episode.
Lautaro Martinez for Inter is one of the most underrated current number 9s. He's a machine but never hear people tall about him. The early part of this video was so wholesome 😊
Being an Arsenal fan of a certain age - one of the best no9’s - Alan Smith. Never seen a more industrious striker.
He could smell a Sunday dinner on a Thursday
Smudger is definitely underrated.
Slowly getting through these along with watching the newer ones, but this one is incredible. Not that they always aren't, but Jimmy Greaves aside, England's two greatest goalscorers of all time discussing the art of it is just perfection
One of the best I saw before Martin Keown…..David Hirst.
He was complete. Left foot, right foot, heading, pace, strong. Would’ve have been one of England’s greats if not for injuries and his fondness for a pint or 12
Yes.
A good R9 is difficult to find these days.
Extremely good episode (with two Legendary Strikers it couldn't have been otherwise).
Thank you!
In my year at school there was this lad who could dribble the whole field but never bothered with the football team that was just games. Maybe no Idea in a way I was on the school rugby team and the town I could carry half a dozen o my back but people started to catch up with height and weight it did get a little harder. Moral of the story there have been some fantastic footballers that never were, because it was too dangerous to fail. So in a lot of cases you have pros who are ther because they had nothing to lose
How could you leave out the original Supermac Malcolm McDonald. He cost Arsenal £333,333 to move from Newcastle back in the 70s.
30:12 nice to mention Rush. The true top scorer in English top flight football, since football didn’t start in 1992.
Just here painting with my step son while listening to this one, so many top tips for youngsters here, thanks for sharing
They could’ve mentioned Thierry Henry even though he’s not your typical number 9 but boy could he score!
He was very much the vanguard of the modern forward, starting from wide and cutting inside with Bergkamp staying more central as a 10/false 9.
darwin nunez should listen to this
I think you guys maybe forgot about Solskaer when talking about great center forwards that was amazing at scoring goals.
How many goals he scored for United compared with how many minutes he played for them was just amazing.
He was called The Baby Faced Assassin for a very good reason.
Yes, he didn't always play as a CF as he played many games as a second striker or a right winger as well, so he was not a pure number 9.
Imagine what he could have achieved at United if he had avoided all his bad injuries.
In 1969 Scandinavian Broadcasting got the rights to show an English match every Saturday. I enjoyed nothing more than watching Frank Worthington and Leicester from Filbert Street during the early 70s. Arguably the most aesthetically pleasing English player ever imo (in competition with Glenn Hoddle). I remember a pre-season game they had in Oslo. He scored a couple of goals. The second was a penalty where he fainted a direct shot which sent the goalie to one side, before he spun 180 degrees around, and with all the time in the world, backheeled the ball into the opposite corner. All done with the utmost style and elegance that was typical for him. No big game, of course, but still, it would have looked pretty stupid to miss it in front of a few thousand spectators.
If Gary ever has the time for a Frank Worthington story on the podcast, I, and probably a lot of guys from our generation, would certainly appreciate it. He was a real character.
Greetings from one of your satisfied Norwegian listeners. It’s a great podcast the three of you have going.
What a treat this was. Would love to see a practical application on the training pitch
Alan, when you said it was ironic, I thought you were going to say that your teachers name was Mr. Sitter, not Mr. Sunderland.
This show was about scoring goals, now I see why Micah was not on lol 😂😂😂
Always remember Shearer on interviews when he had a mini drought....'ive always got confidence in my ability & i know itl come good' 😂
I'm older than you two, but still remember my first football years. Our coach taught us to practice shooting with both right & left feet, both inside and outside curls. As I recall it this was standard in the 1960s. Very useful skill at set pieces, 4 angles to work with. When and why did that idea change? Btw, my "career" ended in my teens, due to traffic injury.
Fascinating. I have said, esp in the days of tiki-taki (fascination with possession), STRIKING A BALL is a dying art in modern football, with all aspects of foot(both feet). In modern football you see so many passes back, too many touches, and safe football.. “yes, try and do not be afraid to miss..” class episode..
Bit rose tinted. There was just as much an obsession with playing safe football, the definition was just different. It was either blamming it as far up the pitch as possible, usually to the opposition, or passing it back to the goalkeeper to pick up (which the most successful teams like Liverpool and Forest did non stop).
In the past safe football was kicking the ball long because the further away it was from your goal the less danger you were in . That’s where “If in doubt , kick it out” came from. Nowadays, people follow pep’s idea that if you have the ball in your opponent’s half they can’t hurt you so try to keep the ball and them on the defensive.
People now are physically better so recover better versus technically gifted players unless those players are on the level of Messi, Mbappe or a Musiala. Players now need both athleticism and technical ability to be a high level player.
@@karmaascendant3936 i am not so sure its “recovering the Ball”, keepibg shape and jockeying is more the tactic. Today players rarely tackle. Loss of possession is usually from mistakes rather than tackles in the pro game
I would LOVE it if you managed to get Ian Rush on this podcast. You do not hear much from him now a days but the guy was a goalscoring machine. Him moving to Juventus like the another great Welshman John Charles.Scoring two goals in the 86 FA Cup final to rob Gary of a medal. I could go on all day.
If you want to learn about goalscoring, then there are not many better people to listen to than Lineker and Shearer.
Now we need big Meeks to do an episode of the art of conceding goals
My brother will surpass your record Mr. Shearer. 20 yo Momo de Goma just became a naturalized US citizen. Coming to Ireland in December. Once he makes it to the Prem he will honor your legacy.
Number 9 dying breed?
Enter Erling the freak Haaland.
Breaking all the records.
Remember as a kid watching football programe each Sunday morning. Was done by Bobby & Jack Charlton & there mum. It was all these little routines that these guys are talking about. Somthing similar is needed for youngsters now, everything shown in very basic terms
Died when Michail Antonio got dragged from left back and put up front for West Ham 😂
I could listen to #Linikers stories all day. #Legend
Well if I remeber right there was that test, in which Mr. Shearer took part btw, about determining the effect headers have on the brain function. Perhaps the "not practicing headers" or limiting them at training is somehow connected with fears that constant heading of the ball might lead to future troubles.
the problem is not the fear of having a bad header, the problem is the proven long-term damage that comes from repetitively heading the ball leads to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (ie, CTE), which is just medical speak for repeated traumas (ie, significant blunt impacts) to the head. Unfortunately, even if you do it as safe and as confidently as possible, as many footballing legends of the past have done, over the length of a player's 25 year career (including youth football and training), the amount of heavy hits to the head will add up and damage the brain in ways that don't show themselves until later in a career/after a career is over. And at that point, it's irreversible and the damage is done. Nobby Stiles (RIP) was calculated to have headed a ball over 70k times in his career. The end of his life was heavily affected by dementia, something directly linked to CTE and the damage done by heading. He knew how to head a ball. But the act itself, repeated as many times as he did, is what did the damage.
I grew up as a spurs fan idolising Lineker. Plus Romario and batistuta
I loved batistua and davor suker
Romario & Stoichkov at Barcelona 🤤
We never had a garden We had an out side toilet and a backyard to play on my own with a Woolworth plastic ball
Suarez variety of finishes. Henry’s 1-1 finesse prowess, RVP movement
Henry was a great forward, but not a true number 9
I still feel Ruud van Nistelrooy was generally underrated both then and now. Fantastic finisher.
How was he underrated then? The only player anyone thought was better was Henry.
Incredible box player. It seems unfair to call him a specialist because he wasn't lacking other attributes but I don't know that anyone else in 30 years has been better within 18 yards of goal.
Underrated..... he was utter class & everyone cld see it 🤷🏻♂️
Shearer in todays market worth 250 million easily, what a player, great memories.
I saw him score a hat trick away against my Rovers in the(1994?) FA cup. Some God damn glorious goals and a free kick. That guy is Ace and what an exotic time in Italian football for Rush to play in.
how Marco Van Basten is rarely talked about (the guy behind the camera had to bring him up..) The guy was one of the greatest ever! 3 Ballon d'Or.. Also Batistuta, Weah, Romario..?!
@WRXnumberSeven oh man I had forgotten Weah!
Federer gave a talk once saying how he won 80% of his matches but only slightly higher than 50% of points - and was a study of top 25 tennis players and the difference between top 25 and top 5 was that the top 5 didn’t dwell on mistakes and missed shots and would try again next point while those slightly below wild over think if missed - and like shearer saying then he wasn’t afraid make a mistake and look
Foolish and can tel haaland doesn’t let a miss affect him
Ideas for next ep with Micah: the art of conceding goals🔥
Both of you I tried to emulate when scoring goals and I my first football boots had Gary's name stitched into them.
That’s a great anecdote , love it .
'Potential' is now considered more important than actual ability and results. A players stats showing they created x amount of chances, or were in x goal scoring positions, rather than how many actual goals they scored. Haaland is possibly the only exception and I would consider him a goal scorer or traditional striker, whose primary (and possibly, only) concern is to score goals
Ruud van Nistelrooy - absolute beast!
This was a great episode
It’s hard for me to watch Harry Kane play, and comprehend that he’s world class, when as a youngster I first got into watching football properly from USA 94 and seeing Romario killing that tournament, then watching R9 through his career, right to Henry at Arsenal. They were players I classed as World Class, not only by the type of goals they scored, but by the dribbling and play making. Flip, Harry Kane slow asf on the ball.
Brilliant insight lads,now let’s get back to playing the game properly with proper strikers,watching games now is like Groundhog Day every team playing the same way 🥱🥱🥱
i rally enjoyed this one,very insightful (especially for younger players) plenty of great advice 👍
PS i played for 3/4 seasons in Matlock derbyshire when i was 16+ mainly as a RW because i could run like the 💨!!but also down the middle,loved!! scoring goals obviously but i had a growth spurt and stretched my achilles tendons on both legs around 15 years of age,so i had to forgo playing upfront on my GPs advice,so i played a lot in goal after that because 1 i always enjoyed playing GK as a kid in the park + i shot up to 6’2” with my growth spurt,V Happy days😊.
Isn't the link up play from the winger/midfielder knowing where the striker will be, an integral part too. I remember when Al and Les Ferdinand were at the Toon and left/right wingers were constantly crossing into the box for either to finish. My god we had a great season then, sadly came 2nd at the end.
It's much harder for a number 9 these days as there are no wingers and most are up top alone
It’s easy to shoot the ball.
It’s hitting the target and running past the defenders /goal keeper that matters.
Also movement is key.
😂Ask NUNEZ 🏃
Loved watching the likes of John Hartson and Duncan Ferguson back in their day. Absolute animals.
Loved this episode; the value of the knowledge, experience and passion of two great strikers. Brought back great memories of both players as well as my days of school football, with the best goals I scored still clear as day in my mind.
Favourite striker of all time? Ronaldo R9, at his best he was untouchable and an absolute joy to watch.
Interesting that you mention that fewer kids today want to play as a striker, at the school I work at and help coach the football team, I’m the only one from players and coaches combined whose best position is striker.
R9 before his knee exploded was unplayable. A lot of his goals came from runs from deeper, & his link-up play was unreal, so definitely not a typical 9 in my opinion.
@@tyrannosaurus696 Good points. He was probably more akin to the modern elite forwards of last 10-15 years who can play in multiple positions, which was more or less unheard of in the 90s and early 2000s.
viktor gyökeres 💚
I was a mediocre player but i played in asia version of cl. I still remember they had quota of 2/3 foreign players and mostly were allocated towards a number 10 and a goalscorer. They had a checklist, can you score from near post, far post, header, one on one etc. nobody makes near post runs anymore because of inverted winger and fullback, strikers are very underdeveloped. Even the likes of kane couldnt score from far post and near post, only tap ins. The only strikers that still do them are lautaro, kyogo at celtic, that’s it. We dont make strikers anymore. We make tap ins machine like current kane and ronaldo
They need to do Top 10 shearer goals
Rush and van Basten were both amazing goal scorers.
Micah on the skive again
No one made those curved runs in from behind the defenders shoulder, across them, into the channels, against a high line, to get on to a throughball. No one.
Brilliant, luv your insight to the game.
My grandad turned down pro contracts with Cardiff and Swansea because he earned more money as a Gas Fitter/Supervisor! Mad to think about how times have changed
There was a great question posed - Top 5 goal scorers of all time with variety of finish.
Most landed on Suarez.
It was all about the number 10 when I was a kid.
Maradona, Messi, Pele, Cruyff (I know he wore 14 but he was a classic 10), Riquelme...
Romario is so underrated. Top 5 for sure.
The Art of being a ??? Absolutely !!!
Thanks for this wonderful mixture of Entertainment and Smartness of the Game. „Eyes up“-not only for the header. The youngs should make races with ball and eyes up, a Co. could hold a transparent to read-mean: Push the ball forward and read a sentence from the transparent on same time. Oh, it would be so interesting to have a Programm Like yourself here in Germany. With Klaus Fischer, Rudi Völler, Jürgen Klinsmann, Dieter Müller, and the Great Gerd Müller. Dont forget Paolo Rossi. Pele was 9,5. My favourite player was Garrincha. And The Jugoslawin Dzaic. (11) Thanks!
Most of the goals I scored when I was a kid were running onto it the game has totally changed now
Kick it in the goal, kick it in the goal, kick it in the, kick it in the, kick it the goal.
Master -Class👍
I followed Keegan to start with, then I saw Hoddle. From that day I was Spurs. At least I saw a few cup wins 😊
Great heading tip! 😃
Yes lads lets go haven't missed a episode yet 💪💙🙏
They won't bum you mate
Brilliant!
With Man C with probably the best centre forward around. Why doesn’t his team pass to him more. You see Harland make numerous runs and the team just ignore his present? A forward with the quality of Harland receiving the ball in the box is very likely to have a positive outcome.