Who has noticed the rarity of world class traditional center forwards in football today ? Think about it for a second. The target man has become a dying breed in modern day football. By target men I mean players whose key abilities are strength, aerial ability and finishing whose main duty is to finish up opportunities. The Target man remains in and around the 18 yard box waiting for balls to feed on. These players are usually physically imposing. Footballers in the mold of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mario Gomez, Balotelli or Llorente. Zlatan is the last true great target man and is clearly past his prime. The other players I mentioned are either struggling for playing time, struggling to fulfill potential or just regarded as average. The problem though, is not that they are not good target men, but that few teams today are built round pure target men. Those who dare to usually pay the price, and are rarely among the top teams.

Gone are those days when players like Peter Crouch and Didier Drogba where hailed as top dogs for their respective teams. These days quicker/pacier, low center of gravity and technically gifted forwards are the current trend. Players like Sergio Aguero, Luis Suarez, Tevez, and Messi. These are the type of players top teams are built around today. The game has moved on, pace is now a key attribute, this is why no matter how many goals Giroud scores his lack of pace will always be criticized, and also why Llorente is struggling for game time. Also the reason why Bayern munich went from the much slower and less hardworking Mario Gomez to Mandzukic, then to a much more mobile Lewandowski. A player coming from Dortmund, a team who defends from the front. Lewandowski runs, presses and hassles defenders, he combines well with team mates. He doesn’t just wait for the ball. Take a look at Thomas Muller or Diego Costa, then look at Andy Carol you’ll see the diffrence. Or you could look at Aguero or Messi then watch Zlatan, players who play the same position. This is one of the key reasons Zlatan did not last at Barca.

Modern day center forwards can drop deep, create play for team mates and also help in defensive duties. They release the other forwards, creating opportunities for them, as can be seen in Neymar’s goal vs Villareal

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Another example is Benzema at Madrid, he provides acres of space for Cristiano to operate and score so many goals, while also chipping in with a good amount as well. If a team built around a pure target man faces a team with none, it will be the same as playing 10 against 11, the team of 10 men will likely be overrun.

The Neymars, Ronaldos, Messis and Sanchezs of today are the ones fans usually look up to for goals and special moments. This is probably as a result of the emergence of Messi and Ronaldo. They took the work load off great center forwards like Etoo and Van nisteelroy. They created the platform for similar ilk of upcoming players scattered all over the world, like Hazard, Mario Gotze, Neymar, Sterling, Halihovic, Odeegard etc. Most of this players play from the wings. They are not the archetypal wingers, their job is not to pummel in crosses for a Peter Crouch, they combine with other forwards or cut in and try to score. They make players like Lennon, Valencia, Ashley young, Shawn wright Philips and other true wingers look average. The Target man is about to go extinct, there are very few remaining. Balotelli is the only thing closest to Zlatan in talent, but he has struggled to show this to the world. Zlatan and Pirlo are both at the tail end of their careers, two last greats of there kind, The Target man and the Regista.