Football, like many other things, is all about trends. Those Levi’s 501 jeans were a staple of 1980s and 90s fashion and will be in fashion again at some point in time.
A trend that was very popular in English football nearly 40 years ago is once again starting to make waves in the A-League, with Perth Glory overnight announcing the signing of Israeli striker Ben Azubel.
While his goal record may not be impressive, his height sure it. At 193 centimetres Azubel will join several other tall target men in the league, which is a throwback to English football of days gone by.
The ‘target man’ is a long-forgotten position that seemed to fall out of fashion by the turn of the millennium due in part to the intricate passing of ‘tiki taka’ football in Spain and the ‘gegenpressing’ from Germany that is so popular in today’s game.
Target men were too slow to be able to press with the team and not technically good enough to play the tiki taka style required at that time.
However, in the last few years, all the way from the English Premier League to Australia’s A-League, target men appear to be back in fashion
In the 1980s and 90s target men used to wait at the top of the box for a long ball or a cross without having much of an influence in creating chances or being involved.
Nowadays strikers like Harry Kane come very deep to collect the ball but use their size as well as their technical ability to create chances and dictate the attacking tempo of the match.
Target men previously were very slow to get around the pitch and offered nothing defensively, but players like Leeds United’s Patrick Bamford are well known for their work rate and will hurry and harass opposition players when out of possession
West Ham’s Michail Antonio has shown how devastating target men can be when playing in a counterattacking side, from initially being used to get a side out of trouble to then scoring a goal several moves after that.
While a pressing style is all the rage, the best way to beat a press is still to go over it. Pressing teams are happy for opponents to do that as a long pass is more likely to be low in quality, but the easiest way to improve its effectiveness is to have a player who can make it stick.
The renaissance of the big, strong target man was on show for fans of the A-League last season with Aleksandar Prijovic guiding Western United to the championship and Hiroshi Ibusuki helping Adelaide United to a semi-finals berth.
However, Eli Babalj at the Newcastle Jets and Kusini Yengi from Adelaide United were sparingly able to use their talents in injury-riddled campaigns, while Tomi Juric, Bobo and Tomer Hemed were not able to match the impact they had from two seasons ago.
Perth’s Ben Azubel will not be the only stereotypical burly No. 9 in the A-League next season, with the prolific Charlie Austin signing on for the Roar, and then there’s the return from a season-ending injury of Mariner Matt Simon, whose strength and physicality have left many a defender battered and bruised.
Whether you like or loathe it, the target man is a trend from yesteryear that looks ready to return, especially given how effective it was in 2021-22.
HR
Roar Rookie
As far as massive, physically intimidating forwards go, it's hard to look past Jan Koller. Literally hard - he takes up a massive amount of space. I can't imagine it would have been a great deal of fun for defenders to have to mark a guy who looked like a rugby lock.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
why do you always use such friendly language?
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Funny how the deluded seem to be able to write off Kosta who is only 32 but are in complete dreamland regarding Ninkovic, Hemed and others.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Semi-Retired United hahahahaha
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Kosta's best days are behind him, hope 'nix haven't wasted too much on him.
Chopper
Roar Rookie
Crouchie would be too young for Sydney lol.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Peter Crouch at 41 would make a great addition for SFC.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
A very good read. The author makes a good point about the current trend, which is has now been around for a while. You have to think, there was even a time when a few top clubs, especially in Italy, would not even bother with any specialist striker! (let alone a target man) Having said that, let's not forget that Luca Toni, part of Italy's WC winning team in 2006, himself stood at 193cm. AT the opposite end of the spectrum (from the trend of not using target men), we have Nikola Zigic, I'm sure we all remember him. He towered over everyone at 202cm, in fact, he is probably the tallest footballer I have ever seen (at that sort of level). So when the author talked about target men often being viewed as too slow and lacking in technique, I immediately thought of ol' Nikola, but it is fair to say that he had a reasonably successful career. Let's not forget that we once had our very own 2m Jesus (Josh Kennedy), although he stood at a measly 194cm. Which brings me to the final point. professional football is a squad game, and with a 23 man squad, usually with 3 specialist strikers, maybe 4, why not have your very own 2m Jesus in the mix as an extra string to your bow. More flexibility for the gaffer, always good to have a plan B or C, indeed, always good to spring a surprise on the opposition from the very start of a game - maybe their best central defender is out, and someone like Leigh Broxham has been brought in to fill the breach! Every squad should have a 2m Jesus.
Steve3557
Roar Rookie
Great memories
Full Time NSD
Guest
Makes sense if all we can do is get to the corner flag and cross and not hold the ball in the final attacking third.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
he had a pretty damn good career, for someone not playing in that time period haha
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
IMHO i think the press could become less effective in the next half decade, while teams continue to find different ways to negate its impact if you look at the successful European teams in the big leagues, they all use a version of the ‘press’ – whether it’s the whole entire team, different thirds of the pitch or for a set period of time. a sure-fire way of breaking it, is with that ball over the top (which surprisingly isnt used enough) and im not talking about a centreback thumping it 70 metres, 20 times a match aimlessly – just for the sake of it (i hate long ball hoofing, probably more than anyone who posts on here haha) what’s that popular term coaches and kids use today instead of ‘parking the bus’? “deep block” where you’ve got your back 4 inside your defensive box, all your midfielders around the d outside the box and a striker just before the half way circle (i think 90% of small sides will set up like that when facing a liverpool, man city, barcelona etc) as the middle is so congested, the threat will come from the full backs – because the wingers will be trying to probe and find holes. If you stop the full backs then the only way they score is with a deft piece of skill or a 25 yard + rocket a well-placed ball over the top could have your striker in a 1 v 1 or 2 v 1 situation, i would take that calculated risk any day of the week – as opposed to trying to play through the press, which is very dangerous if your side doesnt have capable ball players.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
totally agree, and you would think that even today, it would facilitate a far more attacking style of football
Buddy
Roar Rookie
FIL - I mentioned him earlier this morning as I always felt he came along almost a decade too late. He still had the target on his back but would have been far more effective back in the 80's or 70's playing at any one of a number of sides in the old first division in England - his game was just begging for that set up.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Geez, Mike Channon, those were the days. Did you know he came out and played a stint with the old Newcastle KB United. It was a big thing to have a Pom striker playing in Newy back then.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Nice work Scout. You missed out on one of the great target men, Mark Viduka. He was "the" target man in his Leeds days. I have to admit, I have a lot of respect for Ibusuki and the work he has done with the Reds. And the question is, will this lead to a hybrid of the press and the use of a target man, or do you believe that already exists? Whichever way you look at it, next season is shaping up to be a dead set cracker. Keep the faith, support Australian football!
Grem
Roar Rookie
As he left (because of national commitments and Arnold wanting a full squad all season) Bobo came. A reasonable trade off! Or did we have one season of transition where Smeltz and Holosko didn’t quite get it done before Bobo came? A bit like last season! Maybe someone good will arrive soon!
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
teams like liverpool, barca, city encourage the opposition to play through there press - because they know one split second wrong decision or misguided pass will give them the opportunity to pounce and attack with breakneck speed and precision that will generally lead to a shot on target or the net bulging. i dont watch the premier league and sparingly catch la liga, so im not sure how other teams approach those 3 side, but a ball over the top has always seemed like the logical step to get past the press. Im surprised more sides dont do this, but i guess its an issue of having a competent player who is comfortable in the air with the ability to control the ball and hold/go past defenders - not every side has one of them either lol
Marcel
Guest
Surely Sydney should be getting the legacy stadium this time around :)
chris
Guest
Yes agree with your point about playing through a press. What a lot of coaches dont seem to appreciate that whilst playing through a press is fine if you are Barcelona or Man City etc, its not so wise if you dont have the technical abilities of those teams. Even the most basic of teams can play a high press effectively. But playing through them you need technique of the highest order.