Giroud, Kane, Mbappe and the evolution of the 'striker'

Football goes through phases and cycles where certain trends dictate the sport, be it specific formations and systems or particular styles of players.

The World Cup quarter-final between France and England will highlight one of these hallmarks of the modern game: the evolution of the striker.

What makes this clash so intriguing in this respect is the presence of three forwards who each represent a different era, with Olivier Giroud, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe likely to attract much of the pre-season attention. match.

And what's more, there's a good chance that the game will be decided - or at the very least influenced - by this trio.

Giroud – Backtracking

For years, the narrative around Giroud suggested he was "underrated". This discussion has been exhausted to the extent that we should all agree by now that it is simply "rated".

That shouldn't detract from the way he's polarized opinion for much of his career, but for the most part it comes down to personal preference on what a striker should offer or be.< /p>

Arsene Wenger, the man who signed Giroud for Arsenal, said it best in 2014 after the striker scored a powerful header in a 4-1 win over Newcastle United: "He's like a centre-forward [in the English way] His first goal he scored was a typical 1970s goal. less now."

Fast forward eight years and Giroud is now France's all-time top scorer after spoofing another former Arsenal star in Thierry Henry.

But as Wenger alluded to, he's almost part of an endangered breed.

Since the start of Giroud's breakout season in 2011-12, when he led Montpellier to the Ligue 1 title, only five players have scored more headed goals than him (34) in the five top leagues - this represents 28.3% of his non-penalty goals.

While 27 players (minimum 40 total goals) scored a greater proportion of their non-penalty goals with headers, only one of them – Anthony Modeste (61) – also scored more than 50 goals without headed goals. Giroud has 86.

It speaks to Giroud's quality as not just a 70s throwback who can tackle almost anything, but also generally a reliable penalty box striker, with his exploits in Qatar a rather succinct summary.

All three of his goals came inside the box, and one of them - his second against Australia - was an imposing header.

Let's not forget that he was criticized at Russia 2018 because some considered him not to be a scoring threat. Granted, he finished the tournament scoreless, but he was a regular throughout the Champions run due to the physical presence he brought, working as something of an attacking pivot.

Four years later, despite a probable exclusion this time, he flourishes in the absence of Karim Benzema.

"Classic" number 9s like Giroud aren't particularly fashionable these days. How many of the top developing forwards under 25 fall under that umbrella? Not much.

But Giroud proves that this sub-genre of attacker remains relevant even if the production line dries up.

Kane – The playmaker

Kane shares some strengths with Giroud - after all, he is one of those five strikers to score more headers (35-34) in the top five leagues than Giroud in the aforementioned period.

But it's fair to say he's a more rounded and refined striker, which of course fits the idea that he and Giroud are essentially from different eras.

Jose Mourinho may not have been hugely popular as a Tottenham manager, but to his credit he clearly played a part in redefining Kane.

In November 2020, Kane said: "I think [Mourinho] saw in my game that I like to go deep, so he made it clear to others that if I go deep, they have to be the ones who are running behind. I think that's the real difference. It allowed me to create space and get the ball, but I also have an option to go forward. But obviously I think that I've always played as a nine too, and I think that's the beauty of what worked well."

Since Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino 12 months before these comments, Kane has averaged 0.24 assists per 90 minutes in the Premier League, double the frequency he had under the Argentine.

His other creative stats haven't improved as dramatically, with key assists only going from 1.2 to 1.4, for example. However, his expected increase in assists (0.08 for 90, to 0.13 p90) shows just how much more menacing Kane's overall creativity is now. Sure, it looks like he's benefiting from his teammates' good finishing, but his influence on the game has obviously increased.

Since the start of the 2019-20 season, only Mohamed Salah (747), Bruno Fernandes (641) and Jack Grealish (588) have been involved in more Premier League finishing streaks than Kane...