Strikers and Record Deals : What happens to the rest of the team?

We read countless articles on transfer rumors and player purchases almost everyday. There is always a new story that pops up every time a player wants a new contract. His agent, quite brilliantly, says the player is either unsettled,sad, or ‘angry and confused’ in Rooney’s case. That is a well documented ploy to extract more money from the club for the player. And if the said player is extremely valuable to the club ; all hell breaks loose.

The stories of Ronaldo being sad, or Rooney wanting to leave makes headlines everyday. Though we as fans don’t know the inside story (believe me, when someone says insider news, it’s just hokum), there is a possibility of that particular player making the move to a bigger (richer) club.

Players often leave their club for greener pastures for 2 reasons, and 2 reasons only :

1) The chance of more silverware in the new club and/or

2) Astronomical sums of money.

The only time players leave their current clubs, for a reason not mentioned above, is to return to their boy-hood club (a la Fabregas). We read these stories with excitement everyday, and as fans we find utmost joy at the possibility of a new arrival or feel disappointed that one of our heroes will leave the club in the transfer market.

Though we find big money moves for almost all types of players, the strikers are the ones that demand the maximum amount of money to make the move. When was the last time you saw a goal-keeper making a big money move? Not every player is in the same class as that of say a Buffon. This will be the basis for this article, strikers and their big money moves, which more often than not deprive the team of similar class in other parts of the pitch.

I’m sure of the fact that most of you will disagree with the price tag that Fernando Torres carried when he moved to Chelsea, but the fact remains that he was at his prime in Liverpool: he scored a lot of goals. And there is the point that you must pay a lot for talent. What everyone will now understand is that he is a ‘striker’, and managers believe their strikers are worth their weight in gold.

Look at the current transfer market, other than strikers and attacking mid-fielders who double up as strikers, there are no players who demand a hefty transfer fee. Edinson Cavani, one of the most dangerous modern players, is the most expensive player to be bought in this transfer window so far, and it is no surprise that he is a striker.

What is it that makes good strikers so desirable and expensive? Isn’t it more important to have good players creating chances and decent strikers taking them? I would’ve agreed with that analogy if it were a few years ago, but now there is no doubting that a really talented striker with a decent midfield (and equally decent defence) can single-handedly take the team to victory.

To further prove that point I’ll take 2 players, strikers in fact, playing for 2 of Europe’s best teams. The first one is Lionel Messi. Everyone will know the impact this little ‘big’ man has on the pitch, on both the opposition and Barcelona. The game against PSG aptly puts things into perspective. Had Messi missed that game, it could well have been PSG through to the Semi-Finals of the UCL.

The moment Messi came onto the pitch, everything started to feel different. Messi was indirectly involved in the goal chance that Pedro took and was constantly patrolling the penalty box to maybe score one himself. His presence alone might have made things difficult for the confident Parisian side, and his presence alone lifted Barcelona to a draw and helped them move on.

The second case is that of Fernando Torres. Torres, though arguably one of Spain’s most clinical finishers, has had one of the most publicized form slump in recent footballing history.For a more concrete explanation lets look at Chelsea. A team with fantastic creative players like the Mata-Oscar-Hazard trio or even Lampard for that matter, struggles to put in the goals regularly. When a team has a talent like Mata, you would expect that team to put at least 50 goals in for the chances he alone creates.

That is of course, if you have a good striker, someone better than Torres at least. Torres’ finishing has left the Blues wanting, both domestically and Europe. Other than the Europa League win, Chelsea didn’t win everything they had on the agenda for the season. For a team like Chelsea, with the talent they possess, it is depressing that they couldn’t win anything major apart from the Europa League trophy.

The 2 cases that are presented above are vital in understanding the need for a world class striker, should the budget allow it. With £160m spent on forwards alone in this transfer window, the game has reminded us that strikers are the money men of the game. Since Trevor Francis became the first £1 million forward some 30 years ago, prices have sky-rocketed and Fernando Torres was sold for 50 times that amount!

I believe in a simple fact, and that is the holistic development of the team. Investments should be made in the youth setup, and money should be invested in every area of the pitch, good coaches and scouts must be hired to strengthen all the weak links, as the saying goes – you are only as strong as your weakest link.A majority of managers believe that if they spend the money on strikers, everything will fall into place.

They don’t seem to look at the overall setup of the team. Who is going to create the chances through the midfield? Who is going to keep the score in check if there is a weak defence? Who is going to provide a rock like wall at the goal post? These are questions often left unanswered in our ‘modern’ world.

Former keeper David James mockingly wrote in the guardian: “They shell out for forwards as though they are worth their weight in gold. In fact, the amount Chelsea paid for Torres is well over 25 times his weight in gold. He weighs 78kg and you could buy that much gold for a mere £1.4m. The very idea that footballers are so much more expensive than one of the most precious metals in the world is scary.”

Strikers aren’t the answer. Did Torres alone win Chelsea the Champions League? What if there was no Drogba, standing there like a pillar the team could fall upon when they were down? What happened to Mata and Lampard, and their contributions? Without Petr Cech and John Terry, Chelsea could’ve easily given away at least 30 extra goals.

Gone are the years when a super-star forward would have one major move and then settle down till he retires. They move every few seasons, changing clubs like they would shirts. That might sound blunt, but it is common knowledge that, in Football- strikers are money getters as much as they are goal getters. This is by no means an exaggeration, if you look at the current transfer window!

Shooting ability is one of the most coveted of footballing skills and the prices paid for the likes of Falcao and Cavani and the speculative sums quoted to any potential sale of Gareth Bale confirm this. And anyone who can shoot long distances and run for the whole of the 90 mins at full speed are more revered! Is this the way forward(forgive the pun)?

There is the old adage - “Strikers win you matches, defenders win you league titles”. Strikers may win matches and defenders may win league titles, but only one team can win a league at any one time. Most sides have no chance of winning the league and therefore invest very little in defenders and ‘Keepers; also add in the fact that the average shelf life of a manager in the Premier League is just under 2 seasons and you can see why strikers are that important— every game is as important as the next one for the manager , they need every goal they can get.

Just ask Roberto Di-Matteo, I’m sure he has a thing or two to say about that. Clubs and managers will therefore gamble on strikers like they will with no other position on the pitch, sadly.

Of the top-10 transfer fees of all time(including the current transfer window), eight players are forwards and the other two are creative midfielders who did their best work in the attacking third of the pitch(stats from Forbes.com). Are Defenders and Goal-Keepers just scrap material that you can pick up at your local supermarket?

A fact about football is that defenders and ‘Keepers are not only undervalued in the transfer market, they are also undervalued by fans. Marketability is a major factor in today’s world and it goes a long way in the buying and selling of players in the transfer market. The inclusion of the new financial fair play rules only strengthen the need for marketability.

In the defence of such strikers(notice the irony), their skill-set is more difficult to master than a defenders. The reaction times for forwards is much less than defenders, and what they do is more often than not instinctive. Creativity is another aspect that matters a lot. It is not very easy for a player to be creative. But tackling and stopping play are relatively easier to master.

A lot goes into developing forwards. They must be physically able to withstand challenges, they must be reliable in front of goal and more importantly they should be adept at facing the fear of form slumps that follow big money transfers, most strikers fail in this important aspect of the game. It is this one fear that makes or breaks many careers.

Lets point out Torres’ career again. Ever since he made his move, he clearly looks like a player in desperate need for confidence. Doesn’t he play like a player with absolutely no knowledge of his future? It is a depressing fact that one of the world’s most feared strikers once upon a time is not feared any more. The main reason for his better and more clinical shows for Spain is the fact that he is guaranteed a chance to play, he knows his place and value to the Spanish team.

Strikers must learn to fight this fear from an early age, maybe from the days they decide to become a striker. They must if they want to score goals, any player knows there is nothing worse in football than being told that you won’t score a goal when the team needs it the most.

There is also the point of pay discrepancies that I wanted to make. There is always news of dressing rooms being at war most of the times when there is a pay discrepancy. I also pointed out the common ploy agents use to extract more money for their players. The thing is, most discrepancies happen when players come into the team for astronomical sums of money and don’t live up to the billing.

Andriy Shevchenko’s transfer was one such move, another one may be Hulk’s move to Zenit. The new scenario of Marco Veratti asking for more money only underlines this fact. His performances helped PSG to the quarter finals in the UCL, and yet, according to PSG, he doesn’t deserve a large contract, whilst players like Ibrahimovic, Silva, Lavezzi and newly acquired Cavani earn millions every year. This is the major reason for a breakout.

The steep recession in Spain is well documented. Newly built condos and apartments lying empty, an international airport being deserted, and a whole bank shutting down. Even after so much of an economic crisis, we see Real Madrid and Barcelona, spend giant piles of cash just to land a handful of players.

The Neymar and Isco deals would’ve been enough to buy the whole Scottish league and maybe build a star studded team in the English Championships. Imagine what could be done for teams struggling to clear debts? The debts that Real and Barcelona have, run into millions. Imagine the number of jobs it could create, imagine how many young players could be introduced to the game? The prospects are limitless.

The deal Real are proposing for Gareth Bale is preposterous to say the least! The money Real are ready to pay him would be enough to buy atleast 7-8 talented and cheaper options across the whole pitch, and still have enough to pay talented coaches and scouts.

The global meltdown may have been responsible for the lack of jobs from 2008-2011, but that didn’t stop the Sheiks and Oil Barons from spending bucket loads of money on their teams. Are gate collections and merchandise sales enough to cover the massive debts they already have?And the fact that most of that money went towards acquiring strikers makes it even more saddening. It is disappointing that someone like David Luiz (good all round player, but prone to defensive errors) was the highest paid defensive acquisition in the 2011-2012 season.

Spending on the whole team is the way to go, improving the whole team guarantees more wins and silverware. Shouldn’t that be of higher priority than getting a £50 million striker? Spending money to acquire good mid-fielders and defenders, along with a very talented bunch of youth players will only help the team in the long run. Putting money on good and talented ‘Keepers and Coaches will also benefit the team greatly.

Sadly, the end result is that strikers will always cost more than defenders simply because they score the majority of the goals. Goals mean points and points mean retaining jobs for the managers. At the highest level, goals mean trophies and guaranteed merchandise sales.

It’s all in the money making business, but someday the lack of quality football will only hurt the beautiful game. And that damage, sad to say, cannot be repaired by a £100 million striker.