Rate these Premier League forwards

[Toby]

Shearer
Henry
Bergkamp
Owen
Aguero
Kane
Torres
Zola
Van Nistelrooy
Cole
Di Canio
Hasselbaink


I loved Henry and Bergkamp, but I think Shearer is the finest forward of the Premier League. He was unplayable at Blackburn and would have utterly cleaned up if he'd had gone to Man United.

[PENK]

What’s with people rating Owen so highly? His goals record isn’t all that - especially taking his spells at Newcastle and Man Utd into account - and his all-round game wasn’t exactly on a Bergkamp/Zola level.

He was never the same forward after injury but he was stellar between 1999 and 2004.

He never managed 20 goals in a league season which all the others - except Bergkamp, Zola and Di Canio who weren't really strikers - did. And he didn't offer much else apart from goalscoring. He was consistent for several years but never prolific or spectacular the way that most of the others were. Even Cole and Hasselbaink had brighter moments (and were better team players).

He was a great teenager but never got much better. He didn't add anything else to his game and once he got injured and lost his pace that was it. I think he's still overrated because we got excited about his raw talent.

[PENK]

I would still take a peak Torres above Kane, primarily because of his pace, but I agree it's close.

Torres at his peak was unplayable but that was about two years. It was disastrously downhill from there.

Kane is only six goals shy of Torres' Premier League total - and he's needed not much more than half as many games and half as much time. He's been as good as anyone in the Premier League era over the last year or so.

[PENK]

England had some pretty good forwards in the mid-90s. Shearer, Sheringham, Cole, Ferdinand, Wright, Fowler, Owen emerging.

Compare that to 10-15 years later when James Beattie, Carlton Cole, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Bobby Zamora, Darius Vassell and Michael Ricketts (Michael Ricketts!) were competing for places. You can understand why Wayne Rooney's place was safe for so long.

[The Modernist]

England had some pretty good forwards in the mid-90s. Shearer, Sheringham, Cole, Ferdinand, Wright, Fowler, Owen emerging.

Compare that to 10-15 years later when James Beattie, Carlton Cole, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Bobby Zamora, Darius Vassell and Michael Ricketts (Michael Ricketts!) were competing for places. You can understand why Wayne Rooney's place was safe for so long.

More than "pretty good" I'd say.

[The Modernist]

I would still take a peak Torres above Kane, primarily because of his pace, but I agree it's close.

Torres at his peak was unplayable but that was about two years. It was disastrously downhill from there.

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It was. But I was also thinking of how good he was at Athletico (first time round)' admittedly that may be out of the frame of the question. 65 goals in 102 games for Liverpool though - that's damn impressive on its own.

[Diamond Dog]

Dennis Bergkamp
Thierry Henry

Really? A man who was rotated with Kanu and Wiltord over the greatest player in Britain this century?

Bergkamp had sublime ability and vision but there’s a tendency to overrate him in retrospect because of his highlights reel, I think. He was certainly key to Wenger’s reinvention of the Arse, but was only an automatic pick for three or four years.

But for those years he was the difference. Ask any of that team - they all say it. Ask Wenger - he says it.

[Toby]

Bergkamp was the key I agree. Without doubt the most elegant forward in the Premier League's history. But I think Vieira was their Cantona in terms of one players transformative effect on a club.

[Tapiocahead]

Henry is the best player of the Premier League era but the rest were all fantastic, although I wouldn't include Di Canio in that list

He was better than Hasselbaink.

I overlooked Hasselbaink, I'd probably agree.

[Geezee]

Henry is the best player of the Premier League era but the rest were all fantastic, although I wouldn't include Di Canio in that list

He was better than Hasselbaink.

I overlooked Hasselbaink, I'd probably agree.

I might be misremembering but I think of him more as a midfielder/winger though.

[Geezee]

Without doubt the most elegant forward in the Premier League's history.

After Cantona.

[Toby]

Without doubt the most elegant forward in the Premier League's history.

After Cantona.

Nah, Bergkamp was better than him. Cantona was a great player, but he was lucky enough to grace the Premier League when Manchester United were clearly the best side in it by a mile (around 94 when they started to dominate).

I personally feel Bergkamp shone for longer and against better opposition.

[The Modernist]

He was better than Hasselbaink.

I overlooked Hasselbaink, I'd probably agree.

I might be misremembering but I think of him more as a midfielder/winger though.

You are misremembering. Hasselbaink was very much played as an out and out centre-forward.

[Geezee]

Without doubt the most elegant forward in the Premier League's history.

After Cantona.

Nah, Bergkamp was better than him. Cantona was a great player, but he was lucky enough to grace the Premier League when Manchester United were clearly the best side in it by a mile (around 94 when they started to dominate).

I personally feel Bergkamp shone for longer and against better opposition.

Man Utd before and after Cantona is like night and day. I went to almost every Man Utd game during this period - his impact was incredible. Man Utd were not the best side by a mile - keep in mind that they gutted the core of the team in the middle of Cantona's time there, with no noticeable impact on the actual team - quite the opposite, Cantona played a critical role in coaching through that young team.

Arsenal before and after Bergkamp is also like night and day - but only because Viera and Henry also arrived.

Very similar players and very similar impacts in my mind, but Cantona edges it.

[Geezee]

I overlooked Hasselbaink, I'd probably agree.

I might be misremembering but I think of him more as a midfielder/winger though.

You are misremembering. Hasselbaink was very much played as an out and out centre-forward.

I was referring to Di Canio

[The Modernist]

Aah sorry. I wouldn't describe Di Canio as either of those things, but he did drop deep sometimes to make the play. He was very similar to Cantona actually in his game. Both would drift quite a lot. I'd certainly call him a forward though.

[The Modernist]

I should add I was thinking of his West Ham days with that description above of his playing style, his earlier playing days in Italy might be a different thing.

I was just reading his wiki entry and I realised he was already 31 when he joined West Ham. I didn't think he was as old as that.

[Dr Markus]

No Fowler? RUBBISH LIST!