This is the way I see it: let me just say that I had always thought that striker
and forward could be used interchangeably, but since several sources
have pointed out that this is not so, let me talk of what I think
are the basic skills (in no particular order) that a good "attacker" should have.
1) Aerial skills.
This is the classic prototype of the British attacker. Strong in
the air, will fight every cross with defenders, and can transform a mild chip
into a powerful and accurate header. Heskey and Zigic excel in this category. In the past, Jan Koller, Zamorano, Batistuta, Shearer, Uwe Seeler, Bettega, Jardel, Van Basten and Bierhoff.
2) Acrobatic skills. The ability to score spectacular goals with volleys, overhead
kicks, scissor kicks and the like. Historical major figures in this category would
be Rivaldo, Vialli, Papin, and Van Basten. Current player that fits into this category: Ibrahimovic.
3) Sheer power. beat your defender by a foot, and blast it at goal from any
position. This is the quality that I personally prefer in an attacker.
The best at this is definitely Rooney and Drogba. In the past, Batistuta, Gigi Riva and Preben Elkjaer.
4) Poaching ability. This is that very special quality that makes an attacker
"smell" where the ball will be, and enables him to tap it in from inside the 6
yard box. The ignorants will say "What did he do? He just had to tap it in!",
but very few attackers had this sixth sense for the goalmouth. The absolute
master at this was Gerd Muller, but Shearer, Paolo Rossi and Lineker also deserve special mention. Today, Klose, Pippo Inzaghi and older Michael Owen.
5) "Run and Shoot". This is becoming a crucial skill in modern football. This is
how most goalscoring opportunities come up today. The midfield recovers the ball,
and needs to quickly vertical-ize by sending a through ball to the attacker who
must be able to beat his defender. This is what Ronaldo (the fat, before he's fat) used to excels at. Eto'o dan Djibril Cisse is great at the "running" part, but absolutely crap at the "shooting" part.
You might disagree with this categorization, but I hope that the general idea
is clear. Then I hates Ronaldo, because he is very good at ability no. 5, but
rather mediocre at all the rest. To my understanding, a true "striker"
must have abilities 1-4, whereas ability no.5 is the stuff of "forwards".
Now you could see why Cristiano Ronaldo (the not so fat), who excels at no.1 to no.5 become top goalpoacher when he's healthy.
In my opinion, as long as the ball is in the back of the net, it doesn't really
matter how it ended up there.
I would be more than happy of having Ronaldo (the fat) on my team, instead of an average
"striker". But of course I am even happier with Pippo Inzaghi...
