The Price of A Potent, Reliable Goalscorer

For a long time I've always wondered what the fuss was about strikers. In a supposedly team sport where everyone contributes to the success or otherwise of a team, why are the strikers/goal scorers elevated way more than others in a team?

Of the top ten most expensive football transfers of all time, Enzo Fernandez and Declan Rice are the only ones not in the striker/wing forward category. The remaining eight players are either goal scorers or goal creators. The list is all about goals and goals.

Understandably, goals win games. And just like a coach once told me, "A football match starts at 0-0. If a goal is not scored, it will remain at 0-0." That was his explanation when I queried him as to why we practise more attacking scenarios than the defensive ones. That was his way of telling me the importance of a potent goalscorer in theory.

Nicolas Jackson decided to go one step further by actually showing how important a potent striker is when he single handedly ruined Pochettino's only chance of claiming a silverware this season. With each wasted goalscoring opportunity, he epitomized the need for extensive scouting before choosing a player to place the goalscoring burden of a team on.

With the likes of Sterling and Christopher Nkunku flattering to deceive this season, only God knows where Chelsea would've been without Cole Palmer. So when next you wonder why a club is splashing a big one on a forward, just remember that reliable goalscorers at the highest level are not easy to come about. It's one thing to score 50 goals in a season for Gent, it's another thing to score 25 goals in a pressurized zone like in most stadiums of the best European teams.

Klopp, Why?!
For some understandable reason, Mo' Salah is the captain of choice for this double gameweek. And just when FPL managers were beginning to lick their lips at what the mercurial Egyptian will do to the struggling defences of Fulham and Everton, Klopp decided to drop him to the bench against Fulham. If this week went sour, it's safe to say a lot of managers will be sending some insults the way of Mr. Klopp.

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