You're Just A One-Man Team

The days of playing two strikers who complimented each other have well and truly died out. You no longer hear of classic center forward partnerships such as Shearer and Ferdinand, Bergkamp and Henry or Yorke and Cole.

Teams in the Premiership and across Europe have changed formation from 4-4-2 to make 4-5-1/4-3-3 the norm. The lack of a striking partnership and the need for goals from the midfield has left the question to be asked, how many clubs are a one-man team?

Gareth Bale has single handedly kept Tottenham’s aspiration for automatic Champions League football alive this season. Breath taking performances from the Welsh international has seen him mention in the same breath as Ronaldo and Messi. I think it is harsh to call Spurs a one-man club, but without Bale I believe they would be a mid-table club rather than challenging in the top four.

Liverpool for a period of time solely relied on Steven Gerrard. The red’s captain has two finals named after him, Champions League Final in 2005 and the F.A cup final in 2006. Gerrard carried Liverpool for a number of games when he had to produce a bit of magic to get the red side of Merseyside 3 points.

This has now changed with the arrival of Suarez and co. coming to help support Gerrard. Suarez at times took over the label of one-man team when Gerrard was out through injury. But it is fair to say that Liverpool as a one-man team have started to be removed.

When Robin Van Persie was at Arsenal it certainly was a case of one-man Van. The loss of Fabregas and Nasri hurt the Gunners, and Arsene Wenger’s reluctantly to spend big in the transfer market saw the red side of London rely on the big Dutch striker more than any other team has in the past.

One of Van Persie’s reasons for leaving was because he wanted to win trophies. Something one player cannot do in Europe’s top footballing league. Depth in squad is key to winning a title.

Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, prolific goal-scroing partnership

It’s not just at the top where one-man teams prevail. If we look at West Ham in 2007 the only player people will remember from that squad is Carlos Tevez. The Argentinean striker scored seven goals in the Hammer’s last 10 games, including the winner at Old Trafford to keep West Ham in the premiership.

At the end of the day it is a matter of opinion and the fans who start the “one-man team” chants. But how many teams can say they would not one than one player who cannot light up a game for them. Are Fulham happy that they don’t have one player who is above the rest? Can Aston Villa shout of the rooftops because they do not have one player who can score 29 goals a season?

It’s a question that can have many answers. My personal opinion is that if one player is firing in all the goals and leading your club to glory, then what is the problem.