Target Men - A dying breed ?

Its been one of my hobby horses since we signed Moore and watched him being told to jump like he was pogo'ing in a mosh pit in the 70's during the Euro's. Are the refs almost making target men extinct, well at least at the elite level ?

Liverpool barely anyone over 5'10", Peps false 9, £100m Lakuku can't start for Chelsea. The taller players are more mobile like the Arsenal lads, Kane is an all rounder who doesn't solely rely on strength, Ronaldo is mobile even for his age.

I can only think of Benzema, Levendoski (spelling ?) at Bayern, but he is mobile.

Even for us, I have seen Moore and Hugil get assaulted and the ref either does nothing or gives it the other way.

I guess the lower down the pyramid the more prevalent target men are.

Would you be happy not to play with a focal point at the city ?

Very good post. For me, the team should start with a target man. I think the target men of old (Thorne, Leo, Kieffer and Bothroyd (to an extent) are a dying breed. You can play as much tippy tippy as you like but if the opposition are well organised then you need a plan B. Look at what Huddersfield did to us a few weeks ago. Their plan A didn’t work so they went long ball/crossed from deep. It worked a treat and 2 goals from long balls kept their unbeaten run and automatic hopes alive.

It may not have been the prettiest but give me 3 points over watching tiki taka anyway of the week. Moore, Bothroyd and Thorne were good because they were quite skilful players too. They weren’t just there to flick the ball on, they would hold it up and bring others into play.

For all of the Earnies, Chopras and Kevin Phillips of this world, they wouldn’t have been half as successful if they didn’t have an able strike partner to do their physical work.

So for me, a target man is a must,, as long as it’s used correctly.

The problem i see with a target man or just a focal point is other teams can find it easier to snub out that player by marking tight or having two players very close to them
I would rather have a number of threats where we can change the focal points as and when needed. Don’t get me wrong i would like a player like Moore to be in that equation thou ( well one the try’s )

Also depends on the strengths in the side too doesn’t it? The elite clubs can buy who they want with the skills they need.

Clubs lower down the pyramid haven’t got de bruyne they have marlon pack. Who is an honest player. But not to the same level. So a target man man work for the players you have at your disposal

Football is cyclical in my opinion. More and more teams will adopt a style that’s proven to be effective until so many teams play that way and know how to counteract it it’ll become less effective as it can be exploited. Then a “new” style will be adopted or an older one revived and teams will slowly convert their squads and tactics to try get ahead of the curve.

Benzema is more of a (modern number 10, who also operates as a number 9)

target man does work, just look at Swansea, the reason it works for them though is the ball is played into the feet, and not over the top, Target man no longer means big tall striker who wins headers anymore, a target man is now the focal point of attack someone who can hold the ball up and bring others into play.

the past few years football has had a transition, from 442, to the 4231, the lone striker with the two wingers/inside forwards, that 3 vs 4 man defence does work well.

the problem is, its now 532, meaning a back 5, vs usually 2/3 players on the attack. so a target man/ striker to hold the ball up is becoming less needed, as a number 9 (poacher) who will make the runs in behind the opposition and use his pace is now alot more effective