Should a Striker be judged on goals?
Credit:
As everyone is well aware by now, tonight will mark the official opening of the new state of
the art Aviva Stadium. Manchester United, one of the world’s finest and most famous clubs,
a team whom I support, will line out against Damien Richardson’s selected squad from
the Airtricity League of Ireland.
In my article last week, I remarked that if I was Padraig Amond, top Airtricity league goal scorer with 15 goals thus far, I would be devastated to have been left out of such an historic game. It was therefore interesting to hear what Damien Richardson had to say on the issue when questioned by Con Murphy on MNS on Monday night.
Damien stated that it is not just goals that he is looking for in his strikers and that the other part of the game is very important. However, unfortunately he didn’t exactly clarify what “the other part of the game” was that he was looking for in his strikers. He was too busy explaining his word of the day, experience, and how essential experience would prove to be in a match like this.
Nevertheless, one thing he did clarify was that what he is wants in a striker is more than just goals and hence, that is the reason for not picking Padraig Amond.
With that said, I deliberated the question, what is it that managers are looking for in their strikers these days and do I agree with Damien Richardson in his thinking that a striker’s success should be based on more than just goals?
In finance and business, cash is King! If a business has no cash or lack of, they cannot continue to operate. Likewise, in football, goals are King! If you don’t score any goals, you cannot win football matches. Therefore, goals are vitally important and essential to the success of a football team.
As a striker and therefore part of the strikers union, I always believed that we should be judged on goals scored. At the end of the game, it is crucially goals that win games. Yes, there are other components of the team that are vitally important and should not be taken for granted but at the end of game, if you do not score, you simply cannot win. At Fingal, we talk about job specifications all the time. Each position on the pitch has both an individual and collective job spec to be performed every game.
As a striker, you have various duties such as first and foremost working hard for the team on and off the ball; holding the ball up; linking and creating play in the final third of the pitch; being a target for others to hit; but most importantly your main job is to put the ball in the back of the net.
When I think of all the great strikers I have seen in the League of Ireland over the last decade or so, I think of Stephen Geoghegan, Glen Crowe, Jason Byrne, all great goal scorers. Putting the ball in the back of the net was by far their main attribute.
What about Gary Twigg, what makes him so special? The fact that he can produce the winning moment by scoring the all important goal at any given opportunity. The fact that he can remain silent for most of a game but then, suddenly, arise and put the ball in the back of the net. I can guarantee that every manager in the league would have a Gary Twigg in their team, a natural goal scorer.
Scoring goals is an art and it is becoming rarer to find natural goal scorers these days. In my view, the most important part of the game is scoring goals and instead of recognising that, there are some people who say that it is not good enough.
I will leave you with this statistic. Padraig Amond has 15 league goals to his name, 5 more than Paddy Madden, 9 more than Karl Sheppard and 12 more than Ryan Guy and yet, according to Damien Richardson, what he has to offer is simply not good enough!
In my article last week, I remarked that if I was Padraig Amond, top Airtricity league goal scorer with 15 goals thus far, I would be devastated to have been left out of such an historic game. It was therefore interesting to hear what Damien Richardson had to say on the issue when questioned by Con Murphy on MNS on Monday night.
Damien stated that it is not just goals that he is looking for in his strikers and that the other part of the game is very important. However, unfortunately he didn’t exactly clarify what “the other part of the game” was that he was looking for in his strikers. He was too busy explaining his word of the day, experience, and how essential experience would prove to be in a match like this.
Nevertheless, one thing he did clarify was that what he is wants in a striker is more than just goals and hence, that is the reason for not picking Padraig Amond.
With that said, I deliberated the question, what is it that managers are looking for in their strikers these days and do I agree with Damien Richardson in his thinking that a striker’s success should be based on more than just goals?
In finance and business, cash is King! If a business has no cash or lack of, they cannot continue to operate. Likewise, in football, goals are King! If you don’t score any goals, you cannot win football matches. Therefore, goals are vitally important and essential to the success of a football team.
As a striker and therefore part of the strikers union, I always believed that we should be judged on goals scored. At the end of the game, it is crucially goals that win games. Yes, there are other components of the team that are vitally important and should not be taken for granted but at the end of game, if you do not score, you simply cannot win. At Fingal, we talk about job specifications all the time. Each position on the pitch has both an individual and collective job spec to be performed every game.
As a striker, you have various duties such as first and foremost working hard for the team on and off the ball; holding the ball up; linking and creating play in the final third of the pitch; being a target for others to hit; but most importantly your main job is to put the ball in the back of the net.
When I think of all the great strikers I have seen in the League of Ireland over the last decade or so, I think of Stephen Geoghegan, Glen Crowe, Jason Byrne, all great goal scorers. Putting the ball in the back of the net was by far their main attribute.
What about Gary Twigg, what makes him so special? The fact that he can produce the winning moment by scoring the all important goal at any given opportunity. The fact that he can remain silent for most of a game but then, suddenly, arise and put the ball in the back of the net. I can guarantee that every manager in the league would have a Gary Twigg in their team, a natural goal scorer.
Scoring goals is an art and it is becoming rarer to find natural goal scorers these days. In my view, the most important part of the game is scoring goals and instead of recognising that, there are some people who say that it is not good enough.
I will leave you with this statistic. Padraig Amond has 15 league goals to his name, 5 more than Paddy Madden, 9 more than Karl Sheppard and 12 more than Ryan Guy and yet, according to Damien Richardson, what he has to offer is simply not good enough!
