The modern game was supposed to have left such centre-forwards behind, so why are they topping the scoring charts?Ever since Hungary swaggered into Wembley in 1953, deploying Nandor Hidegkuti as a “false nine” and shattering England’s superiority complex, the traditional No 9 has been left a yard off the pace, fighting for a place in the beautiful game.These days strikers have to be fit, hard-working and flexible, often leaving the headlines for those who profit from their efforts. It has been 15 years since an out-and-out striker – Milan’s Andriy Shevchenko – won the Ballon d’Or. That marked the end of a golden age for goalscorers, now endangered in an era of relentless pressing and possession. Continue reading…
Via: From Vardy to Lewandowski, vintage traditional No 9s are thriving again
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PIERS MORGAN: A phone call I received from a fired-up Trump should be a warning to Democrats
President Trump called me for a chat on Saturday. It was our first conversation since he unfollowed me on Twitter in April after I wrote a Mail column telling him to ‘Shut the f*ck up Read more…