Thread by @Football_FV, Atleti are in desperate need of a striker and it shows, this [...]

Atleti are in desperate need of a striker and it shows, this is the least goalscoring season for Simeone. Costa lost his mobility a long time ago and Morata misses too many chances. I’ve prepared a shortlist of 5 strikers who can lead the attack and bang them in.

[THREAD]

5- Raúl de Tomás

25 year old Spaniard at Espanyol. Raúl de Tomás mainly played in a 4-4-2 given a lot of freedom in attack. He is a poacher, doesn’t like to get involved in play a lot, but he is always in the best position to finish his chances.

5- Raúl de Tomás 25 year old Spaniard at Espanyol. Raúl de Tomás mainly played in a 4-4-2 given a lot of freedom in attack. He is a poacher, doesn’t like to get involved in play a lot, but he is always in the best position to finish his chances.

At Benfica he was in a team that wanted to maintain possesion and overload the box, that meant that Raúl rarely could make the runs he excels at and attack spaces. Those runs and non-possesion based football that Atleti love would suit him very well.

As said, he excels at making runs, specially late runs. He arrives late in the box and does so brilliantly, using his pace to attack defenders’ blindside. His runs are something outstanding, they are comparable to an NFL wide receiver in the trajectory and way to attack space.

De Tomás fits Atleti perfectly. He is an ideal counter-attacking player and loves to drift wide. This has been asked by Simeone a lot this season, strikers that drift wide to attack the spaces full-backs leave. He’s also a great header, Trips and Lodi could work well with him.

4- Alfredo Morelos

24 year old Colombian at Rangers. Mainly played as sole striker in a 4-3-3. Pacey, strong and always angry and looking to fight, thing we so love at Atleti. The last part being represented by his 47 yellow cards and 7 red cards during his career.

4- Alfredo Morelos 24 year old Colombian at Rangers. Mainly played as sole striker in a 4-3-3. Pacey, strong and always angry and looking to fight, thing we so love at Atleti. The last part being represented by his 47 yellow cards and 7 red cards during his career.

He is a player that uses his pace and power in a brutish way to get past opponents. It’s almost as if he forced his way through the defence. He can turn and start running without worrying about who is in front of him, using his physical attributes to create a chance for himself.

Off the ball he is a bull. Always running and pressing brilliantly, and can drop back to help defensively. He has great stamina and his work rates are fantastic. So this would be utterly ideal in Simeone’s style of play.

His target man work is also good. As said before, his physicality is his best attribute, so he can hold the ball and wait for teammates. He is quite small though, so no big presence in the air and surely some of those Lodi/Trippier crosses would be squandered.

3- Duván Zapata

29 year old Colombian at Atalanta. Played as sole striker in a 3-4-2-1 and on the left of a 3-4-1-2. He is a target man that always seems to be in the right position to score goals. He is part of the best attack in Europe, an attack which scored 100+ goals.

3- Duván Zapata 29 year old Colombian at Atalanta. Played as sole striker in a 3-4-2-1 and on the left of a 3-4-1-2. He is a target man that always seems to be in the right position to score goals. He is part of the best attack in Europe, an attack which scored 100+ goals.

Duván is a magnificent striker that uses his power and strength a lot. His physical attributes are top notch, using his power to beat opponents tirelessly. He is also 1.87 metres tall, which means he is very good in the air and has a powerful header.

His best trait is his unreal finishing, he is a monster in the box and when he prepares to shoot you already know he is scoring. Zapata’s decision making is top notch as well, always picks the right pass, holds up play the right amount of time or shoots when he should.

Another thing I really highlight is his balance. His strength allows him to get hit by defenders and never fall or lose focus of the ball. It’s like he never gives up on the ball and it clearly shows in his game. His focus is close to unrivaled, never losses sight of the play.

2- Richarlison

23 year old Brazilian at Everton. Mainly played on the right in a 4-2-3-1 or as left striker in a 4-4-2 this season. A very versatile attacker, has played at RW and LW, but imo where he plays his best football is at ST.

2- Richarlison 23 year old Brazilian at Everton. Mainly played on the right in a 4-2-3-1 or as left striker in a 4-4-2 this season. A very versatile attacker, has played at RW and LW, but imo where he plays his best football is at ST.

He makes a deadly ST thanks to his perfect movement and versatility when striking the ball. The latter being a very rare trait, he can score in a lot of different ways and this makes him lethal. He’s also very intelligent, he knows how to move and shoot to maximise efficiency.

Richarlison is also amazing at reactions and has immense speed. He can receive the ball and shoot immedeately because he reacts fast and prepares before the ball reaches him. His upper body is also magnificent, has the strength and physicality to overpower defenders all day long.

The Brazilian has massive defensive abilities too. Can drop back and help with the defence and can also press constantly with lots of desire, brilliant stamina. Finally, even though he isn’t the tallest, he can do great target man work and heads the ball very well.

1- Raúl Jiménez

29 year old Mexican at Wolves. Played as the left striker in a 3-5-2 and as sole striker in a 3-4-3 this season. IMO the second most complete striker in the world (behind Lukaku) and an absolute leader in his team.

1- Raúl Jiménez 29 year old Mexican at Wolves. Played as the left striker in a 3-5-2 and as sole striker in a 3-4-3 this season. IMO the second most complete striker in the world (behind Lukaku) and an absolute leader in his team.

He has the physical qualities of a target man, strong, tall, powerful, yet he is so mobile, such a good passer and great technically. He can do anything you ask him to do, he can pivot, be the poacher, drop deep, he’s truly magnificent and people don’t realise this.

He excels at heading, physical attributes and finishing above all. His balance is also magnificent, so if he has the ball you won’t take it from him. This means he can work as target man excellently. I also want to highlight his creativity, look at this:

Those are assists a #10 does, not a striker. His passing and vision are seriously outstanding. I’d say his major weakness is his speed, but his movement is so good that he doesn’t need that speed. I’ve also seen him press and track back brilliantly.

Among #9 ITW, I’d rank him in the top 5 surely and it makes me so angry that we let him go to Wolves when we had him. A ST partnership of Griezmann and Jiménez would’ve delivered us the UCL in 2016. I am truly lost for word when talking about Jiménez, he’s world class.

I’d say I ranked these player in terms of obtainability, being Jiménez the most difficult to obtain. At first we have the low cost options in Morelos and RDT, then a middle option in Zapata who’d probs cost €40M, then a bit more expensive in Richarlison who’d cost €60M.

And finally we have Jiménez, who would probably cost €80M. Being honest, he is worth every single penny, I would find a way to finance that player no matter what.

I tried picking players that would suit Atleti, all of my picks play mostly in a front 2 like we do.

So, to sum up, we have:

De Tomás: Poacher, speed and movement.
Morelos: Speed, strength and brutish manners (similar to 2013-14 Costa).
Zapata: Target man, finishing and strength.
Richarlison: Movement, speed and versatility.
Jiménez: Everything.

Honorable mentions:

1- Luis Suárez

2- Rafael Santos Borré

3- Chimy Ávila

4- Giovanni Simeone

I’d fully back every single one of these players to lead our attack. I’d go for Jiménez or Richarlison, but we aren’t the wealthiest of clubs. So if we go for Morelos, RDT or one of the HM I’d be happy.

[END OF THE THREAD]

Of course, likes and RTs are well appreciated

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