World Football: The 10 Coldest Starting Strikers This Season

We all know about the amazing seasons that world class players like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin van Persie are having, but hidden in the background are the goal scorers that are having a rough time finding the back of the net this season.

A goal scorer on a cold streak can prove deadly to a club and possibly even a national team if that player is that highly rated by the international manager.

Here is a list of 10 players who have been notorious for failing to score that have seen consistent playing time this season.

Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres is a perfect example of a striker who has been given a regular opportunity to be in the starting 11 at his club and has not given the club any results.

The Spanish international has played in 21 games for Chelsea in the Premier League this season and has started 13 of those games.

In those 21 games, Torres has scored only twice, adding his Premier League goal total with the club to an astonishing three goals.

The man they used to call El Nino has been recently dropped from Vicente del Bosque's Spain squad and may miss the Euro 2012 tournament if he is not in good form heading into Poland and Ukraine.

Andy Carroll

If Torres is not a good enough example, let me reintroduce you to Andy Carroll, a man who made a fortune last January after Torres left Liverpool so the Reds could sign Carroll from Newcastle.

In what could be referred to as the worst dealing of business in years in the Premier League, Carroll has scored just five league goals in two seasons, with three coming this season.

Maybe with Carroll finally consistently paired with Luis Suarez up front, the Englishman may have a chance to improve his goal total, but Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has tried almost everything already to give Carroll the best opportunity to succeed.

Nicklas Bendtner

So much for Bendtner being able to better improve his trade while on loan at Sunderland from Arsenal this season.

Bendtner has only scored three times for the Black Cats in Premier League play in 16 appearances this season.

Bendtner's lack in form could affect his international status as well, as he will be playing for Denmark in the Euro 2012 tournament this summer.

Nilmar

No this is not a typo, there is a Brazilian player named Nilmar, who is far from the form that fellow countryman Neymar is in this season back in Brazil.

In Spain's La Liga with Villarreal, not only has the club sunk down the table, one place above the relegation spots, but the form of Nilmar has sunk as well.

The Brazilian is not the main striker for the Yellow Submarine on a usual basis, but with Giuseppe Rossi out hurt, people looked for Nilmar to step in and fill the role to some extent that was left vacant by Rossi.

However, Nilmar has not been able to fill that void yet, as the 27-year-old has scored only three times this season in La Liga in 11 total appearances.

Moussa Sow

Moussa Sow was one of the best strikers of the 2010-11 season, but his form has dropped mightily from his 25-goal season in Ligue 1 with Lille last season.

Sow moved from Lille to Turkish giants Fenerbahce in January and is hoping that a change of scenery will help him get his season back on track.

Not only has Sow failed to score much at all this season (six goals in 18 games with Lille and two goals in four games with Fenerbahce), but also the Senegal national team had a rough time at the African Cup of Nations as they could not advance out of the group stage in January's tournament.

Giampaolo Pazzini

Giampaolo Pazzini endured a mildly successful campaign in 2010-11, but he was looked upon at Inter Milan to be one of the top strikers to accompany Diego Milito up front.

Inter and Pazzini have not had the best of seasons so far.

While the Nerazzurri are struggling in seventh place in Serie A, Pazzini is struggling to score with only five goals this season in 23 total league appearances—19 of them being starts.

Pazzini is trying to break into the Italy squad this summer for the Euro 2012 tournament, a common theme among these cold strikers, and will hope the next two months bring him more success than the past seven months.

Peter Crouch

Peter Crouch signed with Stoke from Tottenham in August and has not made the impact in the Premier League that other strikers are making this season.

In 22 Premier League games, Crouch has only produced seven goals, and his lack of scoring has not helped the Potters, who were known for not scoring much before this season. The addition of Crouch looked to leave those comments in the past.

With a striker crisis looming large for the England national team, Crouch could be called into duty if his form gets better in the last two months heading into Poland and Ukraine for the Euro 2012 tournament.

Pablo Osvaldo

After impressing at Espanyol last season, Pablo Osvaldo moved to Roma and has not been able to replicate his goal-scoring form from La Liga to Serie A.

This season, only seven goals have been produced by the 26-year old, who is looking to break into the Italy squad permanently, especially ahead of Euro 2012.

Hulk

Surprisingly, the man they call Hulk is on this list, but his form has dipped since Porto's dream season in 2010-11.

Manager Andre Villas-Boas and star striker Falcao left the club, but Hulk stayed and he has only been able to score seven goals in 17 league games this season.

Compared to his form last season, Hulk is hitting a cold streak, and if he wants a big money move out of the Estadio do Dragao, he will have to be a much better player towards the end of the season.

Bryan Ruiz

Touted as a top prospect last summer in the transfer window, Bryan Ruiz seemed to be a sure-fire hit in the Premier League, but clearly he is not.

After scoring 24 goals for Twente in the Eredivisie, Ruiz has only scored twice in 22 games for Fulham.

In those 22 games, 14 have been starts and eight have been off the bench, but the Costa Rica international has not had an impact at Craven Cottage so far under Martin Jol.