Goals Galore, Strikers Abound: A Look at Europe's Elite

Well, I’ve been at it again.  Comparing, analyzing, figuring which element matters most in the game of football.  

Indeed, the flying tackles are made, the cards are shown, the tactics are decided.  But at the end of the day what really matters is hitting the back of the net.  With this in mind, I’ve evaluated striker-quality across European Football.

Now “quality” is a complicated thing to measure, but while the rating may be subjective, it is also meaningful.  Quality is what separates Manchester United’s Rooney from Lyon’s Benzema.  Both are outstanding players but the former is clearly quite superior to the latter.  

This is not an amateur analysis.  Besides his temper and extraordinary charisma, Rooney is undoubtedly a world class striker, one that any team would love to have.

Everton enjoys the services of Andy Johnson.  No disrespect to Everton (a fine side), but I believe Johnson deserves a bigger club.

Newcastle United is fortunate enough to have Michael Owen, once clearly the best player in the world.  

Liverpool's Fernando Torres, Arsenal's Emmanuel Adeybayor, Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba, Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez, and Spur’s Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane.  These are all world class strikers, capable of mounting an attack any defense would fear.

This impressive assembly outlines the superiority of English Premier League strikers to those of other European leagues.  

In Italy the elite players include Fabio Quagriella of Udinese, Adrian Mutu of Fiorentina, Totti of Roma, and Inter Milan's Ibrahimovic.  Then of course the three from All Milan: Kaka, Pato, and Ronaldo.  To be generous, you might also include Juve's Del Piero and Trezguet.

The only world class hopes in France are Djibril Cisse of Marseille, Niang (in addition to Benzema) at Lyon, Pauleta (and arguably Chamakh) of Bordeaux, and Menez of Monaco.

Spain’s striking assets are nearly comparable to England’s, I think.  We find the likes of Van Nistelrooy, Robinho, Raul (Real Madrid); Ronaldinho, Henry, Messi, and Eto'o (Barca, with the best combination in the world); David Villa (Valencia); and the Fabiano, Kanoute duo (Sevilla).

In Germany, we find just Kurayni of Schalke, and arguably Klose and Podolski of Bayern Munich.

So the question is, exactly why is English football superior to others?  Well Spanish football has a lot of flare and Italian football is all about tactics, but in England it's all happening.  The media looms large and every move is covered.  With such constant attention and scrutiny, even Wigan's Emile Heskey and West Ham's Dean Ashton can lead the attack against the strong opposition because the game has been forced to pick up that physical dimension.