Best Striker in the World now

[Hendrixforpope]

It is the one major failing of Eto'o thus far, notably in direct comparison to his peers.

Right now, he has 3 goals in 4 CL matches...not bad

In the season that Barca won the Champions League, he had 6 goals in 11 matches, one of which was scored in the final.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

He only has 13 career CL goals in total.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

He only has 13 career CL goals in total.

If you want to include qualifying goals, which no-one does (not even UEFA) then he has 15 career CL goals in total. He has a lot of work to do.

[Hendrixforpope]

If you want to include qualifying goals, which no-one does (not even UEFA) then he has 15 career CL goals in total. He has a lot of work to do.

22, counting before he was at Barca ;)

[Teso Dos Bichos]

For some reason the site I am using is refusing to create a combined total for all of his clubs when it does so for every other player. :mad: :confused:

From it I have the following:

Mallorca - 1 league, 1 qualifying
Barcelona - 4 knock-out, 9 league, 2 qualifying

CL career total = 14 goals
Qualifying = 3 goals

So I was a single goal out. I can only assume you are including other European tournaments in your figures.

[Hendrixforpope]

So I was a single goal out. I can only assume you are including other European tournaments in your figures.

Wikipedia :o

[Teso Dos Bichos]

In that case it will include his UEFA Cup appearances from 01/02 and 03/04.

[Sweetings Field]

Ronaldo

[jcvf90]

It is the one major failing of Eto'o thus far, notably in direct comparison to his peers.
he just happens to score when it matters in europe unlike most of his peers, ala CL final to tie. He is the best striker in the world, i wouldnt want any other 9 on my team.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Then why have you not won more than 1 CL during his time at the club and why has he only scored 4 knock-out goals in his career, all coming over two full seasons ago? He is even beaten by a fellow Barcelona strike partner. Hell, even Ivan Helguera has more than that. Does that make him the best in his position?

[jcvf90]

Then why have you not won more than 1 CL during his time at the club and why has he only scored 4 knock-out goals in his career, all coming over two full seasons ago? He is even beaten by a fellow Barcelona strike partner. Hell, even Ivan Helguera has more than that. Does that make him the best in his position?
only milan has two CLs in the past few years, and it takes more than just a striker to win a CL. If u mean Henry, mr.no show at big games, wasnt he beat in that CL final.
If u watch barca games in u would see that eto'o gets ball at the top of the area and three man get on him, stats dont show how he opens spaces for others, or his ability to open the ball to the wider positions. After messi he is also get double even triple markings.
Best is in the eyes of the beholder, ur arguments wont change my opinion.

[Duck Manson]

only milan has two CLs in the past few years, and it takes more than just a striker to win a CL. No. Friggin. Way! :eek:

When Torso reads this he'll go completely nuts. It's like being four years old and finding out Santaclaus doesn't exist. What a complete bummer.

[Omideyi]

Dude, if you're going to do that, you at least need to support your claim with a small essay.

okay, well in my mind, he's been the best striker in the world since his first season at Barca. when he's fit, we win trophies, when he has injury-ravaged seasons (such as the last two), we don't. sure there are other factors, but Barca fans and watchers will agree that this is the biggest. bringing his CL goal record into it is a little misleading IMO, since as I sad, he has missed the best part of the last 2 seasons with serious injury. 4 in 7 in his first season, 6 in 11 in his 2nd. sure, they aren't van Nistlerooy-type numbers, but is anyone gonna tell me RvN is a better striker? and whoever made the point about crucial goals is spot-on. many times, Eto'o scores the equaliser, the winner, or the first goal. relatively very few window-dressing goals

basically, right now as of 20:47 on Wednesday December 3rd, there's not another #9 in the world that I would take over him

Eto'o, best striker in the world, Messi best player in the world. thank you and good night

[revelationx]

basically, right now as of 20:47 on Wednesday December 3rd, there's not another #9 in the world that I would take over him


Is that GMT? ;)

[Teso Dos Bichos]

only milan has two CLs in the past few years, and it takes more than just a striker to win a CL. If u mean Henry, mr.no show at big games, wasnt he beat in that CL final.
If u watch barca games in u would see that eto'o gets ball at the top of the area and three man get on him, stats dont show how he opens spaces for others, or his ability to open the ball to the wider positions. After messi he is also get double even triple markings.
Best is in the eyes of the beholder, ur arguments wont change my opinion.

See below.

okay, well in my mind, he's been the best striker in the world since his first season at Barca. when he's fit, we win trophies, when he has injury-ravaged seasons (such as the last two), we don't. sure there are other factors, but Barca fans and watchers will agree that this is the biggest. bringing his CL goal record into it is a little misleading IMO, since as I sad, he has missed the best part of the last 2 seasons with serious injury. 4 in 7 in his first season, 6 in 11 in his 2nd. sure, they aren't van Nistlerooy-type numbers, but is anyone gonna tell me RvN is a better striker? and whoever made the point about crucial goals is spot-on. many times, Eto'o scores the equaliser, the winner, or the first goal. relatively very few window-dressing goals

basically, right now as of 20:47 on Wednesday December 3rd, there's not another #9 in the world that I would take over him

Eto'o, best striker in the world, Messi best player in the world. thank you and good night

You cannot have it every single way. You both claim that Eto'o's relatively poor scoring record in the Champions League is tempered by him 'scoring when it matters' and scoring 'crucial goals'. In reality his record is as follows:

08/09
Basel - group stage - no goals
Shakhtar - group stage - no goals
Sporting - group stage - second goal (penalty) in 3-1 win

07/08
Man Utd - semi-final - no goals, Barcelona out
Man Utd - semi-final - no goals
Schalke - quarter-final - no goals
Schalke - quarter-final - no goals
Celtic - first knockout - no goals
Celtic - first knockout - no goals
Stuttgart - group stage - scored second goal in 3-1 win

06/07
Liverpool - first knockout - no goals, Barcelona out
Bremen - group stage - no goals
Levski - group stage - scored fourth goal in 5-0 win

05/06
Arsenal - final - equaliser in 2-1 win
Milan - semi-final - no goals
Milan - semi-final - no goals
Benfica - quarter-final - second goal in 2-0 win
Benfica - quarter-final - no goals
Chelsea - first knockout - no goals
Chelsea - first knockout - winner in 2-1 win
Panathinaikos - group stage - scored second, third and fourth goal (hattrick) in 5-0 win
Panathinaikos - group stage - no goals
Udinese - group stage - no goals
Bremen - group stage - no goals

04/05
Chelsea - first knockout - no goals, Barcelona out
Chelsea - first knockout - winner in 2-1 win
Celtic - group stage - first goal in 1-1 draw
Milan - group stage - equaliser in 2-1 win
Milan - group stage - no goals
Shakhtar - group stage - third goal in 3-0 win
Celtic - group stage - no goals

01/02
Panathinaikos - group stage - no goals
Schalke - group stage 1 - no goals
Schalke - group stage 1 - winner in 1-0 win
Panathinaikos - group stage 1 - no goals
Arsenal - group stage 1 - no goals

So in 36 games he has scored 'when it matters' and the 'crucial goal' just 6 times. As I said previously he has only scored 14 Champions League goals in his career to date. It is clearly a weakness of his, notably in comparison to his peers.

[BocaFan]

So in 36 games he has scored 'when it matters' and the 'crucial goal' just 6 times. As I said previously he has only scored 14 Champions League goals in his career to date. It is clearly a weakness of his, notably in comparison to his peers.

Kind of like Cristiano Ronaldo. :cool:

Anyway, this type of debate occurs often in BS and the underlying thought process seems to be that Champions League matches are more important and against tougher opponents. But in reality they’re not, of course. In other words, why even bother disaggregating CL goal scoring rate from domestic league scoring rates? It strikes me as a desperate way to try to "prove" a point.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Pity your need to include Ronaldo only serves to highlight my point.

Overall goal total:
Eto'o - 14
Ronaldo - 11

Group phase total:
Eto'o - 10
Ronaldo - 5

Knockout total:
Eto'o - 4
Ronaldo - 6

'When it matters' / 'crucial goal':
Eto - 6
Ronaldo -6 (all last season)

Champions League matches are important because it is the premier continental competition in Europe. If a player cannot perform in a competition that contains the best teams and players from the entire continent then questions must be asked about their overall talent and standing. I am responding directly to three Barcelona fans who are claiming that Eto'o is the best striker in the world. All I have done is point out his clear weaknesses and the flaws in their argument, notably when comparing him to his peers.

[BocaFan]

If a player cannot perform in a competition that contains the best teams and players from the entire continent then questions must be asked about their overall talent and standing.

The quality of opponents and the importance of CL games are too wide ranging to make the kind of blanket statement you just did. A good chunk of the CL field would get relegated if they played in Spain or England.

As for the importance, Barca's 2 most meaningless matches this season were both Champions League matches and its a similar story for most of the big clubs in Europe. One could even argue that only CL knockout games rank higher on the importance-scale than an early season match against the worst team in La Liga. And while these knockout games are important, there simply aren't enough of them to arrive at meaningful goals-per-game averages.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

The quality of opponents and the importance of CL games are too wide ranging to make the kind of blanket statement you just did. A good chunk of the CL field would get relegated if they played in Spain or England.

As for the importance, Barca's 2 most meaningless matches this season were both Champions League matches and its a similar story for most of the big clubs in Europe. One could even argue that only CL knockout games rank higher on the importance-scale than an early season match against the worst team in La Liga. And while these knockout games are important, there simply aren't enough of them to arrive at meaningful goals-per-game averages.

While teams might have harder/easier runs it is simply down to the inherent nature of a draw and knockout competition. The following is the last five runs for the eventual winner:

Roma, Sporting, Dynamo Kiev, Lyon, Roma, Barcelona and Chelsea.
Lille, AEK, Anderlecht, Celtic, Bayern Munich, Man Utd, Liverpool.
Barcelona, Bremen, Panathinaikos, Chelsea, Benfica, Milan, Arsenal
Monaco, Olympiacos, Deportivo, Leverkusen, Juventus, Chelsea, Milan
Real Madrid, Marseille, Partizan, Man Utd, Lyon, Deportivo, Monaco

There is clearly a lot of quality there be it established giants or form teams. You might get a couple of meaningless games here or there but you get that in any group setting. I would also call seven potential knock-out games against the best teams (be it by talent or form) in Europe is enough to make a meaningful judgment. The fact remains that it is the premier club competition in Europe, if not the world, and one that clubs, players and fans put a lot of stock in. I'm starting to think that your club team might be influencing your opinion because having to defend the Champions League is a baffling situation to be in.

[BocaFan]

While teams might have harder/easier runs it is simply down to the inherent nature of a draw and knockout competition. The following is the last five runs for the eventual winner:

Roma, Sporting, Dynamo Kiev, Lyon, Roma, Barcelona and Chelsea.
Lille, AEK, Anderlecht, Celtic, Bayern Munich, Man Utd, Liverpool.
Udinese, Bremen, Panathinaikos, Chelsea, Benfica, Milan, Arsenal
Monaco, Olympiacos, Deportivo, Leverkusen, Juventus, Chelsea, Milan
Real Madrid, Marseille, Partizan, Man Utd, Lyon, Deportivo, Monaco

There is clearly a lot of quality there be it established giants or form teams. You might get a couple of meaningless games here or there but you get that in any group setting. I would also call seven potential knock-out games against the best teams (be it by talent or form) in Europe is enough to make a meaningful judgment. The fact remains that it is the premier club competition in Europe, if not the world, and one that clubs, players and fans put a lot of stock in. I'm starting to think that your club team might be influencing your opinion because having to defend the Champions League is a baffling situation to be in.

Except not every team plays 7 knockout games. Even the world's best strikers would see their team fail before the semis more often than not, meaning slicing off the last 2 clubs from each of those lists you provided would present a more "typical" CL schedule.

PS... there's a mistake in your 2006 list which I fixed above.