It's Erling Haaland versus Darwin Nunez with the proper centre-forward back in business for the new season.
I hope both are going head to head for the Golden Boot come May, because they can be a throwback to when a No9 was seen as a match winner and figurehead, rather than part of a fluid system. We have had a decade of the centre forwards in decline at top European level and here. The attitude has been “we don’t need a centre forward as long as we score the requisite amount of goals.”
Pep Guardiola famously played in Champions League games as Barca boss with no centre forwards, a classic false No9. The fact he has now gone for anything but a false No9, actually a real No9 in Erling Haaland tells you you can tinker with the game and modify for a few years but eventually it comes back full circle to the things in football history that have worked.
One of them is the centre forward. Harry Kane has flown the flag for the traditional No9. But at the summit of the league, among the title contenders, football front units have changed a lot and the trend has been to convert a wide man into a striker.
Whether that be Mo Salah, Raheem Sterling or Cristiano Ronaldo coming in from wide and becoming fantastic goal scorers. But there is something about a centre forward of the ilk I used to be, the skill set that is special.
I look forward this season to seeing Haaland and Nunez as a focal point for the two title contenders. I want to see wide men coming inside to play off them and create for them. I love to see their aerial threat too. We may eventually like in an age where heading is banned but for now it is an important part of the game.
They have that ability to dominate a whole back line. The very best centre forwards don't just play up against a defender, they run channels and bully or dominate a full back.
I would go further. Domineering teams in football history have had a domineering partnership. A duo. For instance I got 100-odd goals with Robbie Fowler. You are looking at Shearer and Sheringham. Shearer and Sutton, Sheringham and Yorke.
Hopefully we will be going back to those times this season. Why? I think defenders, particularly centrally, have got far too used to having one player to play up against. Sometimes defenders look far better than they are because they are not being physically or numerically challenged.
I am delighted that this season, two top teams, two managers who have played anything but a central striker in recent years have gone down that road. If you want to win all the big trophies, having a proper centre forward can give you a real platform, a real focus.
Long may it continue. The centre forward mentality is a belief they are the natural match winner of the pitch.Haaland won’t just want to get 25 goals this season, he will want to win big matches with those goals. Likewise Nunez.
I like to see how teams evolve in the summer. No great manager rests on their laurels. The good coaches like Graham Potter, Patrick Vieira, Brendan Rodgers, Eddie Howe will already be planning how to take points off the top teams. Employing a centre forward to occupy two central defenders, you are moving things forward. It is not necessarily about size either, but a good big ‘un is usually better than a good little one. As long as there is still a bit of physicality allowed in the game.
Despite being multi-title winners, the last time Man City had a Golden Boot winner was Sergio Aguero seven years ago. Haaland can win it this season. But even if he and Nunez don’t end up with the 22 or 23 league recent history says they need, they can be decisive one-man wrecking balls for back fours and will have more than paid for their fees. There is nothing better in the game than seeing a centre forward in full flow.
