Harry Kane believes Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are to blame for the lack of strikers in the current era of football

Since the past few years, there has been a heavy decline on both quality and quantity of out and out strikers. Football is changing, and gone are the days that the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Diego Forlan, Robin van Persie, Andriy Shevchenko, among many other world class strikers are the main source of presence inside the 18-yard box. 

Many young talents and the current best players in the world right now are actually wingers (and one very potent CDM) as Mohamed Salah, Lamine Yamal, Vinicius Jr., and even Kylian Mbappe’s preferred position is out wide.

Harry Kane and Robert Lewandowski remain the last of what seems to be like a dying breed of complete strikers, and the former believes it is due to the impact of two players, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

For the past 15 years, this legendary duo has dominated the sport so much so that they have undisputedly become the two greatest players the sport has ever seen. This in turn has made their influence tenfold, as all young prospects want to become like them. We already have live examples, as Kylian Mbappe and Alejandro Garnacho have been lifelong Ronaldo fans and their preferred position is the same as the Portuguese. While Lamine Yamal, who has been in La Masia all his life, is obviously more drawn to the Argentinian and thus, has grown into possibly the best right winger the world has seen in decades.

The England captain believes this is the main reason for the shortage of no. 9s, and he recently expressed this feeling over at TNT Sports Brazil.

“The game is changing a little bit” : Harry Kane

The Englishman said that during his youth, there were exceptional strikers which led him to pursue the same position, and that the tactics are different now as more managers tend to have strikers, wingers or attacking midfielders in a false 9 role.

“The game is changing a little bit. The way coaching is now [means] a lot of players grow up wanting to be wingers. I think [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano [Ronaldo] dominated for a long, long time playing off the wings. I think a lot of players wanted to watch them. When I was growing up, I had some of the best strikers in the world [to watch], so I wanted to be a No. 9. That’s just the way football goes. I think, tactically, some managers play with a false nine, or a nine-and-a-half/10 position. It’s a shame because, ultimately, I think scoring goals is the hardest thing in football, so I would like to see more No. 9s coming through, but over the years you’ll see it come and go. But for sure, when I was growing up at No. 9 there were some incredible players.” the Bayern Munich forward addressed.

Harry Kane is also one of the more complete strikers still around, as apart from goals, he can also contribute in terms of creative playmaking. However, he revealed that he admired the way R9 played, from his insane speed and movement to his unplayable dribbling.

“I think we’re totally different players in the way we play, but ultimately, the way he used to finish was as good as anyone, as well as the way he moved with the ball. His dribbling ability. His movement. I think he was as good as anyone in the world. He had a lot more ability than me if I’m totally honest. He had good pace as well. But for me growing up, I tried to watch all the best strikers in the world, and he was in his prime at the time. It was a joy to watch him, and it’s been nice to score a few goals myself and take a few bits from his game.” the 31-year-old revealed.

While football might be changing to a more tactical way and forwards approach being one of minimal risk and keeping possession, it makes the need of special talents bursting out the scene even more. While we may not see Messi’s complete mastery of the game or Ronaldo’s insane goalscoring ability, the likes of Lamine Yamal and his creative playmaking and Jamal Musiala’s close control dribbling are some aspects that the game will never leave out.