Who is the best Striker in the world NOW?

[hybrid_tiger]

Who is the best Striker in the world at the current point in time?

 

[Matt23]

RVN

 

[half]

i'm not going to delude myself and pretend vieri is the best right now, but i'm sure he will be again by this time next week

i gave my vote to sheva

 

[Phillips]

thierry henry

 

[Tidus_Raider]

Ruud

Honourable mentions go to Forsell. Doing great things at Birmingham.

 

[Mad Dogg]

Ummm, where's Raul?

Ronaldo at his best is, quite simple, the best striker in the world. However, he is inconsistent and injury-prone (although his injuires may be behind him now).

Thierry at his best is 2nd only Ronaldo, but he can also be inconsistent and when he has a bad day he disappears entirely.

Raul and Ruud at their best aren't even close to Ronaldo and Thierry at their best, but they are both incredibly consistent. Even on the rare occasions where they go through bad patches, they still work very hard and offer a huge amount to their teams.

I rate them:

1. Ruud van Nistelrooy
2. Raul
3. Thierry Henry

 

[Raiders_Champion]

1.Alan Shearer
2.Thierry Henry
3.Ronaldo

 

[Ando67]

Thierry Henry. By a country mile

Ruud VN is just a cheat

 

[suburbanknight]

I've voted for Raul. His consistent performances and scoring record at all levels is unmatched. He will go on to smash all sorts of records for his club and country.

I cant see how anybody can vote for Theirry Henry when he consistently fails to find the net in the Champions League. His record in the Premier League is good, but only because he is given the time and space to unleash his undoubted pace.

My top 3 would be:

1. Raul
2. R V Nistelrooy
3. Ronaldo

 

[EdBurton]

Henry.
RVN scores most of his goals from inside the 6 yard box.
Henry can make his own goals.

Ronaldo is too inconsistant.
Shearer is having a BLINDING season
but wait for Crespo to settle at Chlesea. If the poor bloke can stay at a club for long enough, he might reclaim his spot at the top!

I use the term 'poor' VERY lightly.....

 

[Craig]

Top five would be: Veiri, Van Nistlerooy, Shevncko, Treguzet, Ronaldo/De Peiro.

I rate Adrain Mutu very highly and will do very well for Chelsea.

 

[Dog-E]

Thierry Henry. No doubt in my mind!!

The amount of people voting for Van Nistelrooy astounds me!!...What's HE ever done outside the Premier League while we're asking those kind of questions?!?! He is just merely a cut above your standard, garden-variety 'fox in the box' as that queer old fella Arsene Wenger might say!!

Now I know that all goals count the same - no matter how spectacular (or not!). But 30 goals nearly all side-footed in from inside the six-yard box!??! C'mon - that's boooooooring Ruud!!! :lol:

Whereas Henry's goals are VERY nearly as plentiful - and quite often a work of ART!!

And I don't even like Arsenal!!! lol

 

[suburbanknight]

Thierry Henry. No doubt in my mind!!

The amount of people voting for Van Nistelrooy astounds me!!...What's HE ever done outside the Premier League while we're asking those kind of questions?!?! He is just merely a cut above your standard, garden-variety 'fox in the box' as that queer old fella Arsene Wenger might say!!

Now I know that all goals count the same - no matter how spectacular (or not!). But 30 goals nearly all side-footed in from inside the six-yard box!??! C'mon - that's boooooooring Ruud!!! :lol:

Whereas Henry's goals are VERY nearly as plentiful - and quite often a work of ART!!

And I don't even like Arsenal!!! lol

The fact that Henry doesn't score as many goals when playing in Europe would suggest to me that he isn't as good as Van Nistelrooy at the moment. I may be wrong but Van Nistelrooy has been top scorer in the CL over the past two seasons as well as scoring a 5hit load in the Premier League. Thats why people are voting for him. ( before you start, I voted for Raul!!!)

 

[Dog-E]

Thierry Henry. No doubt in my mind!!

The amount of people voting for Van Nistelrooy astounds me!!...What's HE ever done outside the Premier League while we're asking those kind of questions?!?! He is just merely a cut above your standard, garden-variety 'fox in the box' as that queer old fella Arsene Wenger might say!!

Now I know that all goals count the same - no matter how spectacular (or not!). But 30 goals nearly all side-footed in from inside the six-yard box!??! C'mon - that's boooooooring Ruud!!! :lol:

Whereas Henry's goals are VERY nearly as plentiful - and quite often a work of ART!!

And I don't even like Arsenal!!! lol

The fact that Henry doesn't score as many goals when playing in Europe would suggest to me that he isn't as good as Van Nistelrooy at the moment. I may be wrong but Van Nistelrooy has been top scorer in the CL over the past two seasons as well as scoring a 5hit load in the Premier League. Thats why people are voting for him. ( before you start, I voted for Raul!!!)

Top scorer in the CL!?!? For 2 years running!??!...R u SURE???

Wouldn't really surprise me that much I spose, as he's just a very one minded striker - Get ball. Put ball in net with any part of body. Celebrate. BUT - given a straight up choice betweene the two if I were a manager - I would still honestly still take Henry every time....I just reckon he adds that little bit more attacking variation and flair to the side than RvN - and sets up a shedload more goals than Ruud - so my vote still stands!! ;-)

 

[Mad Dogg]

I think Ruud was top scorer in the CL in one of the last 2 seasons, and 2nd on the list in the other year. Don't hold me to it, it's just a feeling I've got. I'll try and get the record later (unless somebody beats me).

I'm not sure about his up to date stats, but at the end of last season Ruud had played a total of about 23 matches in europe (both for Man Utd and PSV) and scored 21 goals. Now, in what is supposed to be the toughest competition in the world, that record more than speaks for itself. Whereas Henry's record is noticably scratchy.

And Henry doesn't actually set up that many more goals than van Nistelrooy. For much of last season Ruud was actually beating him at that stat, although I think Thierry did pass him at the end to finish with a larger amount.

Give me the consistency of Van Nistelrooy (or Raul) any day over the on-and-off talent of Henry.

 

[suburbanknight]

Sorry, my post wasn't as clear as it should have been. I said he is the leading scorer in the CL over the past two seasons, with one of those, 2001-2002 as leading scorer with 12 if my memory serves me right. Last season he was second to only Inzaghi but over the course of his career in the europe with Man Ure he is the leading CL scorer.

IMO Henry is not an out and out forward like Van Nistelrooy or Raul are. If he managed to get into the box more he would score a 5hit load of goals but until he does that I dont think you can class him as the best forward.

I think the best way of looking at it is how Juventus played him when he was in the toughest defensive league in the world, Serie A.
He was played as a winger because of his pace and control of the ball, his best attributes IMO and the attributes that make him a great player in the Premier League because of the less defensive mindset of the English teams. He can attack from deep in our league and with his pace he scares the 5hit out of most teams. Thats not the case in Serie A nor in European games where defences sit back and wait for the attack to do something. Either that or they just mark you out of the game.

Dont get wrong though, he's still a fabulous player. Just not the best forward in the world right now.

 

[thewizard1o1]

Roy Makaay

Just my opinion, had a great season in spain last year and is in the top 5 goal scorers in the Bundesliga...

 

[Dog-E]

Sorry, my post wasn't as clear as it should have been. I said he is the leading scorer in the CL over the past two seasons, with one of those, 2001-2002 as leading scorer with 12 if my memory serves me right. Last season he was second to only Inzaghi but over the course of his career in the europe with Man Ure he is the leading CL scorer.

IMO Henry is not an out and out forward like Van Nistelrooy or Raul are. If he managed to get into the box more he would score a 5hit load of goals but until he does that I dont think you can class him as the best forward.

I think the best way of looking at it is how Juventus played him when he was in the toughest defensive league in the world, Serie A.
He was played as a winger because of his pace and control of the ball, his best attributes IMO and the attributes that make him a great player in the Premier League because of the less defensive mindset of the English teams. He can attack from deep in our league and with his pace he scares the 5hit out of most teams. Thats not the case in Serie A nor in European games where defences sit back and wait for the attack to do something. Either that or they just mark you out of the game.

Dont get wrong though, he's still a fabulous player. Just not the best forward in the world right now.

Sorry, but I'm still not convinced!!! The sometimes laughable format of the misnamed 'Champions' Leagiue is most definitely NOT the be all & end all - and I don't think it's quite the best individual lone yardstick on which to judge a player by either!

Such vastly different & varied conditions/opponents etc etc etc make the stats from this one comp quite misleading I believe, and banging in 30 goals in your domestic comp regularly -a comp filled with other talented strikers & defenders - is every bit the equal of a few good runs in a randomly drawn cup event IMHO!

Consider: Different players react differently to situations and styles of football - and therefore comparing someone over just ONE of these situations is a little unfair - it does NOT tell the whole picture - Look at dennis bergkamp for eg - one of THE greatest playres of his generation - he was all but LAUGHED out of Inter. Flopped MISERABLY!! Or likewisein reverse - look at someone like Jon-Dahl Tomasson - couldn't hit a cow's @rse with a banjo for Newcastle or later Blackburn in England, yet he is now starring for AC Milan, scoring goals for FUN on a monotonously regular basis!!

I take on board what you're saying about RvN, and whilst he's undoubtedly a very talented striker indeed - he is in the top 3 or 4 forwards in the world or so without ANY shadow of doubt! But his Champs League exploits alone, whilst impressive - are only a small part of the overall package! ;-)

 

[Mad Dogg]

Hmm, apparently RVN was top-scorer in the CL for both of the last two seasons. In 2001/2002 he scored 10, beating Trezeguet by 1. Then last season he scored 14, 2 ahead of Inzaghi.

Van Nistelrooy has had an amazing strike rate no matter what competition he played in (except maybe international matches...but then again the entire Dutch team never works like it should).

In his first year with PSV, he was the competition top-scorer with 31 goals, 2nd in the European Golden Boot, and named dutch player of the year. The following year he scored 29 goals before suffering a major injury towards the end of the season, but again ended up as runner-up in the Golden Boot.

Then in his first year at us he broke the premiership record in scoring in 8 consecutive matches, and being top-scorer in the CL. And last year was even better, scoring a total of 44 goals in all competition (25 in the premiership), the 2nd best in Uniteds long history. And he broke his own record that he had set the previous year when he scored in 9 premiership matches in a row.

In other words...eat my dust Thierry! :twisted:

 

[half]

what do you mean "eat my dust"?!? you're not ruud, you know!