Finally, A Proper Striker!
There was a time when a flat 4-4-2 was the goto formation in English football at all levels. This formation was maximized by pairing a big, robust striker with a fast, little one to feed on the big striker's knockdowns. Unlike what we have now where wingers are inverted and expected to cut inwards to their stronger foot to create a chance or blast a shot at goal, wingers back then hogged the line. Their job is straightforward: get the ball, run as fast as you can with it, then cross into the big man in the opposition box. Simple, right? A sweeping change in football tactics and massive influx of foreign managers with diverse football knowledge has more or less killed 4-4-2 in top flight English football. Gradually, the big, slow strikers like Emile Heskey, John Carew to name a few were replaced by small, fast strikers. Defenders are always big and slow, so the idea of playing smaller and faster strikers to outwit the defenders made sense.
Despite the sweeping change in football understanding, some teams stuck to the idea of playing the big striker to varying levels of success. The disparity in quality between the big clubs who can buy whichever footballer they want and the small clubs grew wider. Also, the big clubs tend to hog the ball and claim most of the possession against the small ones. Every team cannot afford midfielders who are capable of playing over 100 passes per game with more than 90% accuracy. So, the small teams got wiser and realised they have to maximize the little openings they'll get from set pieces and throw-ins to stand a chance against the rich clubs. Corner kick routines were practised; creative free kicks were tweaked in training. Stoke City chose to maximize throw-ins. Honestly, I can't really remember if Rory Delap was good on the ball or not. But I do know his throw-ins created more chances for Stoke than some fleet-footed, overrated attacking midfielder ever did. To maximize the floating ball into the box the big guys has to be in there, especially a big striker. Unfortunately, everyone wants a fast striker with killer first touch now and not the clumsy, big strikers.
Burnley thrived under Sean Dyche because he maximized his big strikers. Ashley Barnes, Vydra, Chris Wood. Sean Dyche's Burnley stayed in the Premier League for six years by relying on these big guys. Stoke City did well with big strikers for a while too until they got woke, started buying twinkle toed players like Afellay and Bojan who ended up relegating them despite being ridiculously paid. Now, I'm not against the shift from the big guys to the small ones, but I'm of the belief that the big, lanky dudes can still do a good job at the top level. The success of Erling Haaland and Lewandowski in recent years has further proved big strikers are still a thing. Lukaku, probably the most high profile guy to qualify as a big striker in recent years has had an amazing career at the top level till now, no matter the level of criticism and accusations leveled against him.
Well, my long epistle is to celebrate the acquisition of Wout Weghorst by Manchester United. At 6 '6", Weghorst is a big dude. He's a player the team doesn't have in their profile at the moment, and he's a very cheap and safe plan B. One can argue he's not needed considering United didn't score lots of goals from set-pieces and crosses into the box despite having Ronaldo who is very good in the air last season. My argument for him is simple: Ronaldo depended on out-pacing and out-jumping defenders. Weghorst doesn't need to do that. All he has to do is create chaos in the box with his lanky frame, a capable target man when opposition defence is becoming very hard to unlock with intricate passes.
With Eriksen and Fernandes on the pitch, Weghorst will contribute his quota with headers and knockdowns. He may not be at United beyond this season, but I'm expecting his time there to be a successful one. Who knows? Maybe he'll come in and score a last minute header to win the Manchester Derby tomorrow. That will be one hell of a start!
Image Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/TPMX4g73yAhUAq8S6
I am not really a fan of Weghorst but after watching him play in the world cup I think he will do well in United.
Of course he will do well, as a squad player. He offers another route to goal with his height a big plus from set pieces and crosses into the box.
While he had a solid World Cup, I highly doubt that he will help ManU. He might bring the right attitude but his skill is definetly not the best and ten Haag will quickly realize this in practice sessions.
Of course he's not expected to hold down a regular starting berth for Man U. He will play mostly from the bench. But he can be useful in very tight situations where United needs to pack the opposition box.
This Player is totally unknown to me :-)
By the way, he can be the main striker in future.
He is an above average player who can be useful in incredible situations. He's a squad player at best. Won't play regularly.