O Striker, Where Art Thou?

Despite England’s failure to qualify for the World Cup in 1994, England was full of striking options between the flops of ‘94, and the near-fairytale side of ’96. Had we known, 20 years later, exactly how thin our options would be, perhaps we would have savoured them a little more.

Comparing eras is difficult, even only 20 years apart. But this is hardly chalk and cheese; it’s hardly comparing Gareth Bale to Stanley Matthews. The mid-90s Premier League was more British and more physical, with less rotation and whinging. But the goals per game rate has increased by a significant amount. Between 93 and 97, the scoring rate never exceeded 2.6. The last five Premiership season have hovered around or above 2.8 goals per game.

Whilst being aware of the differences in eras, however small, the chasm between the strikers is staggering. By the time Euro ’96 rolled around, Terry Venables had a choice from 11 English strikers with at least one 20 goal season behind them. I’ve ignored players who hadn’t had a 20 goal season for 2-3 seasons, and players who would go on to have 20 goal seasons in the late 90s. But the list is still impressive. Here is the list of 20-goal strikers available to Venables, the goal totals are in brackets (bear in mind that the totals are only league goals, not cup goals).

• Alan Shearer (34)
• Robbie Fowler (28)
• Andrew Cole (34)
• Ian Wright (23)
• Les Ferdinand (25)
• Chris Sutton (25)
• Matt Le Tissier (25)
• Stan Collymore (22)
• Chris Armstrong (23)
• Peter Beardsley (21)
• Teddy Sherringham (21)

Then, for good measure, we could also include Dion Dublin (18), Mark Bright (19), Dean Holdsworth (17), Paul Merson (13), Tony Cottee (16) and even Steve Claridge with 12. That makes 17 strikers, 11 with 20 goal seasons, 4 who came close, plus Merson and Claridge in double figures (there are a few I have missed a few out, such as Dalian Atkinson and Brian Deane).

What if we compare that with the top 17 strikers available to Roy Hodgson? For starters, only 10 English strikers were Premiership regulars (if two thirds, 25 games, constitutes a regular). They are Rooney, Sturridge, Saido Berehino, Cameron Jerome, Agbonlahor, Jay Rodriguez, Lambert, Crouch, Gary Hooper and Frazier Campbell. With one game to play, here are the top 17 English strikers, with their season goal total in brackets.

• Daniel Sturridge (21)
• Wayne Rooney (17)
• Jay Rodriguez (15)
• Rickie Lambert (12)
• Danny Welbeck (9)
• Andy Carroll (9)
• Peter Crouch (8)
• Frazier Campbell (6)
• Theo Walcott (5)
• Gary Hooper (6)
• Saido Berehino (5)
• Connor Wickham (5)
• Gabriel Agbonlahor (4)
• Darren Bent (3)
• Harry Kane (3)
• Shola Ameobi (2)
• Cameron Jerome (2)

These 17 players, unlike the 17 from the mid 90s, are the only English strikers to have scored more than one Premier League goal. Admittedly, Andy Carroll’s total suffers from injuries, plus Jermaine Defoe has added to his one Premiership goal by scoring in the weaker MLS. However, this list does include two players (Rodriguez and Walcott), who are already out of the World Cup consideration with injury. I have also included the Burundi-born Berehino, who I assume will declare himself available for a call-up having played for England at youth level.

One striker has scored 20 goals (though Rooney has in the recent past and Darren Bent did five years earlier). So the class of 2014 contains only 4 players who have scored in 25% of league matches. Whereas the mid-90s class had 11 who had scored in 50% league games (despite playing at a time when the goals per game average was fewer).

On goal-scoring contribution, the 9^th best striker in the mid-90s was Teddy Sherringham, a hero at Euro ’96 and a man who scored 11 international goals, winning 51 caps. Conversely, the 9^th best striker available to Roy Hodgson is Gary Hooper, who has never declared his international availability, and may yet play for Scotland having never represented England at any level. The most prolific England striker in 2014 would be tied 10^th best in the mid-90s. Even the butt of English striker jokes, Emile Heskey, managed double figures four times in the Premier League.

Recently, the Daily Mail released the 50 worst ever Premier League Strikers ever (of any nationality). However, even some of those who made this list compare well to the class of 2014. According to the list, Ade Akinbiyi is the worst English striker in Premiership history. However, even Ade managed 9 Premier League goals for Leicester in the 2000-01 season. Amazingly, he rates as the 6^th worst striker in Premier League history, yet his 9 goals would be 5^th best in the 2014 list, tied with Danny Welbeck and Andy Carroll. Also on the worst ever list (which is almost exclusively foreigners) is Francis Jeffers, who did still manage six goals in each of three separate injury-plagued seasons. Also on the list is Jon Stead, who also managed six league goals in his first Premiership season. Perhaps even worse, John Fashanu made the Times Newspaper’s 50 worst ever footballers. Yet even Fash scored 3 in 13 league games for Villa one season, despite playing in between presenting Gladiators. His record at Premiership level is comparable to that of Connor Wickham, now being touted for an international call-up.

All this is a long-winded way of saying “good luck Roy. You’ll need it.”